Kirchhoff's circuit laws

Kirchhoff's circuit laws are two equalities that deal with the current and potential difference (commonly
known as voltage) in the lumped element model of electrical circuits. They were first described in 1845
by German physicist Gustav Kirchhoff.[1] This generalized the work of Georg Ohm and preceded the
work of James Clerk Maxwell. Widely used in electrical engineering, they are also called Kirchhoff's
rules or simply Kirchhoff's laws. These laws can be applied in time and frequency domains and form the
basis for network analysis.

Both of Kirchhoff's laws can be understood as corollaries of Maxwell's equations in the low-frequency
limit. They are accurate for DC circuits, and for AC circuits at frequencies where the wavelengths of
electromagnetic radiation are very large compared to the circuits.

Kirchhoff's current law

This law, also called Kirchhoff's first law, or Kirchhoff's
junction rule, states that, for any node (junction) in an electrical
circuit, the sum of currents flowing into that node is equal to the
sum of currents flowing out of that node; or equivalently:

The algebraic sum of currents in a network of

conductors meeting at a point is zero.

Recalling that current is a signed (positive or negative) quantity

reflecting direction towards or away from a node, this principle
can be succinctly stated as: The current entering any junction is
equal to the current leaving that
junction. i2 + i3 = i1 + i4

where n is the total number of branches with currents flowing towards or away from the node.

Kirchhoff's circuit laws were originally obtained from experimental results. However, the current law can
be viewed as an extension of the conservation of charge, since charge is the product of current and the
time the current has been flowing. If the net charge in a region is constant, the current law will hold on
the boundaries of the region.[2][3] This means that the current law relies on the fact that the net charge in
the wires and components is constant.

Uses
A matrix version of Kirchhoff's current law is the basis of most circuit simulation software, such as
SPICE. The current law is used with Ohm's law to perform nodal analysis.
The current law is applicable to any lumped network irrespective of the nature of the network; whether
unilateral or bilateral, active or passive, linear or non-linear.

Kirchhoff's voltage law

This law, also called Kirchhoff's second law, or Kirchhoff's loop
rule, states the following:

The directed sum of the potential differences (voltages)

around any closed loop is zero.

Similarly to Kirchhoff's current law, the voltage law can be stated as:

The sum of all the voltages

around a loop is equal to zero.
v1 + v2 + v3 + v4 = 0
Here, n is the total number of voltages measured.

Derivation of Kirchhoff's voltage law

A similar derivation can be found in The Feynman Lectures on Physics, Volume II,
Chapter 22: AC Circuits.[3]

Consider some arbitrary circuit. Approximate the circuit with lumped elements, so that
time-varying magnetic fields are contained to each component and the field in the region
exterior to the circuit is negligible. Based on this assumption, the Maxwell–Faraday
equation reveals that

in the exterior region. If each of the components has a finite volume, then the exterior
region is simply connected, and thus the electric field is conservative in that region.
Therefore, for any loop in the circuit, we find that

where are paths around the exterior of each of the components, from one terminal to
another.

Note that this derivation uses the following definition for the voltage rise from to :
 However, the electric potential (and thus voltage) can be defined in other ways, such as
via the Helmholtz decomposition.

Generalization
In the low-frequency limit, the voltage drop around any loop is zero. This includes imaginary loops
arranged arbitrarily in space – not limited to the loops delineated by the circuit elements and conductors.
In the low-frequency limit, this is a corollary of Faraday's law of induction (which is one of Maxwell's
equations).

This has practical application in situations involving "static electricity".

Limitations
Kirchhoff's circuit laws are the result of the lumped-element model and both depend on the model being
applicable to the circuit in question. When the model is not applicable, the laws do not apply.

The current law is dependent on the assumption that the net charge in any wire, junction or lumped
component is constant. Whenever the electric field between parts of the circuit is non-negligible, such as
when two wires are capacitively coupled, this may not be the case. This occurs in high-frequency AC
circuits, where the lumped element model is no longer applicable.[4] For example, in a transmission line,
the charge density in the conductor may be constantly changing.

On the other hand, the voltage law relies on the fact

that the actions of time-varying magnetic fields are
confined to individual components, such as inductors.
In reality, the induced electric field produced by an
In a transmission line, the net charge in different
inductor is not confined, but the leaked fields are parts of the conductor changes with time. In the
often negligible. direct physical sense, this violates KCL.

Modelling real circuits with lumped

elements
The lumped element approximation for a circuit is accurate at low frequencies. At higher frequencies,
leaked fluxes and varying charge densities in conductors become significant. To an extent, it is possible to
still model such circuits using parasitic components. If frequencies are too high, it may be more
appropriate to simulate the fields directly using finite element modelling or other techniques.

To model circuits so that both laws can still be used, it is important to understand the distinction between
physical circuit elements and the ideal lumped elements. For example, a wire is not an ideal conductor.
Unlike an ideal conductor, wires can inductively and capacitively couple to each other (and to
themselves), and have a finite propagation delay. Real conductors can be modeled in terms of lumped
elements by considering parasitic capacitances distributed between the conductors to model capacitive
coupling, or parasitic (mutual) inductances to model inductive coupling.[4] Wires also have some self-
inductance.

Example
Assume an electric network consisting of two voltage
sources and three resistors.

According to the first law:

Applying the second law to the closed circuit s1, and

substituting for voltage using Ohm's law gives:

The second law, again combined with Ohm's law, applied to

the closed circuit s2 gives:

This yields a system of linear equations in i1, i2, i3:

which is equivalent to

Assuming

the solution is
The current i3 has a negative sign which means the assumed direction of i3 was incorrect and i3 is
actually flowing in the direction opposite to the red arrow labeled i3. The current in R3 flows from left to
right.

See also

Electronics portal

Duality (electrical circuits)

Faraday's law of induction
Lumped matter discipline
Tellegen's Theorem

References
1. Oldham, Kalil T. Swain (2008). The doctrine of description: Gustav Kirchhoff, classical
physics, and the "purpose of all science" in 19th-century Germany (Ph. D.). University of
California, Berkeley. p. 52. Docket 3331743.
2. Athavale, Prashant. "Kirchoff's current law and Kirchoff's voltage law" (http://www.ams.jhu.e
du/~prashant/KCL_KVL.pdf) (PDF). Johns Hopkins University. Retrieved 6 December 2018.
3. "The Feynman Lectures on Physics Vol. II Ch. 22: AC Circuits" (https://feynmanlectures.calt
ech.edu/II_22.html). feynmanlectures.caltech.edu. Retrieved 2018-12-06.
4. Ralph Morrison, Grounding and Shielding Techniques in Instrumentation Wiley-Interscience
(1986) ISBN 0471838055

Paul, Clayton R. (2001). Fundamentals of Electric Circuit Analysis. John Wiley & Sons.
ISBN 0-471-37195-5.
Serway, Raymond A.; Jewett, John W. (2004). Physics for Scientists and Engineers (6th ed.)
(https://archive.org/details/physicssciengv2p00serw). Brooks/Cole. ISBN 0-534-40842-7.
Tipler, Paul (2004). Physics for Scientists and Engineers: Electricity, Magnetism, Light, and
Elementary Modern Physics (5th ed.). W. H. Freeman. ISBN 0-7167-0810-8.
Graham, Howard Johnson, Martin (2002). High-speed signal propagation : advanced black
magic (10. printing. ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall PTR. ISBN 0-13-084408-X.

External links
Divider Circuits and Kirchhoff's Laws (http://www.ibiblio.org/kuphaldt/electricCircuits/DC/DC_
6.html) chapter from Lessons In Electric Circuits Vol 1 DC (http://www.ibiblio.org/kuphaldt/el
ectricCircuits/DC/index.html) free ebook and Lessons In Electric Circuits (http://www.ibiblio.o
rg/kuphaldt/electricCircuits/) series

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