DC Circuits Theory 1

Dr Charles S Lubobya

12/04/2025 EEE 2019 1

 Syllabus Components
“Direct application of Ohms Law and Kirchhoff’s
current & voltage Laws”

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 Outline
• Introduction
• Systems of units
• Ohms law
• Resistance and conductance
• Resistance and power
• Branches, Nodes and Loops
• Kirchhoff's Laws
– Current law (KCL)
– Voltage law (KVL)
• Tutorial
• References
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 Introduction
• Ohm’s law and Kirchhoff’s laws, form the
bedrock upon which electric circuit analysis is
built.
• We shall restrict our application of these laws and
techniques to resistive circuits in this lecture.
• know the difference between a node, branch and
loop
• But take note of measurement systems and units.

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 Systems of units

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 Systems of units
Table 1.2

Multiplier Prefix Symbol

1018 exa E
1015 peta P
1012 tera T
109 giga G
106 mega M
103 kilo k
102 hecto h
10 deka da
10 1 deci d
10 2 centi c
10 3 milli m
10 6 micro 
10 9 nano n
10 12 pico p
10 15 femto f
10 18 atto a
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 Ohm’s Law

• Georg Simon Ohm (1787-1854), a German physicist, is credited with finding the
relationship between current and voltage for a resistor.

• Ohm’s law states that the voltage v across a resistor is directly proportional to the
current i flowing through the resistor provided internal or external conditions
remain constant.

• That is,
vi (1)

• Ohm defined the constant of proportionality for a resistor to be the resistance, R.

• The resistance being a material property can change with respect to change in
internal or external conditions of the element such as temperature.
• Thus, Eqn (1) becomes
v  Ri (2)

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 Ohm’s Law Cont’d
• Eqn (2) is the mathematical form of Ohm’s law and R therein is measured in the
unit of ohms, designated  .

• The resistance R of an element denotes its ability to resist the flow of electric
current; it is measured in ohms (  ).

• It follows from Eqn (2) that

v
R (3)
i
• so that,
1 1V A

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 Ohm’s Law Cont’d
• For a passive element, by convention, current flows from a higher potential to a
lower potential which yields v  Ri .
• If current flows from a lower potential to a higher potential, v  Ri .

i i 0
Linear Linear
v 0 R 0 v R 
Circuit Circuit

(a) (b)

Figure 1: (a) Short circuit R  0 , (b) Open circuit R  .

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 Ohm’s Law Cont’d
 A resistor is either fixed or variable.

(a)
(a)

(b)
Figure 2: Variable (a) composition
type, (b) slider pot type.

(b)
Figure 3: Fixed (a) wirewound type,
(b) carbon film type.
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 Ohm’s Law Cont’d
 A common variable resistor is known
as potentiometer or pot for short, with
the symbol shown in Figure 5(b).
 The pot is a three-terminal element
with a sliding contact or wiper.
 By sliding the wiper, the resistance
between the wiper terminal and the
(a) (b) fixed terminals vary.
 It should be pointed out that not all
Figure 4: Circuit symbol for: (a) a
resistors obey Ohm’s law.
variable resistor in general, (b) a
 A resistor that obeys Ohm’s law is
potentiometer (pot).
said to be a linear resistor.
 Its i-v graph is a straight line passing
through the origin, as depicted in
Figure 6(a).

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 Ohm’s Law Cont’d
v

Slope  R

0 i Slope  R

(a) 0 i
Figure 5: The i-v characteristic of: (a) (b)
a linear resistor, (b) a nonlinear resistor.

 A nonlinear resistor does not obey Ohm’s law. Its resistance varies with current and
its i-v characteristic is typically shown in Figure 5(b).
 Examples of devices with nonlinear resistance are the light bulb and the diode.

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 Resistance and conductance
 A useful quantity in circuit analysis is the reciprocal of resistance R, known as
conductance and denoted by G:
1 i
G   (4)
R v
 The conductance is a measure of how well an element will conduct electric current.
 The unit of conductance is mho (ohm spelled backward) or reciprocal of ohm, with
symbol , the inverted omega.
 Although engineers often use the mho, in our discussion we prefer to use the
siemens (S), the SI unit of conductance.
1S 1 1A V (5)

 Conductance is the ability of an element to conduct electric current; it is measured

in mhos ( ) or siemens (S).

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 Resistance and power
• The same resistance can be expressed in ohms or siemens. For instance, 10 is
the same as 0.1 S.
• From Eqn (4) it follows that,

i Gv
(6)

• Vividly, the power dissipated by a resistor in terms of R is of the form,

2
v
p vi i 2R  (7)
R
• Thus, the power dissipated by a resistor in terms of G is of the form,

2i2
p vi v G  (8)
G

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 Resistance and power
 Vividly, from Eqns (7) and (8) we should note two things:
 The power dissipated in a resistor is a nonlinear function of either current or
voltage.
 Since R and G are positive quantities, the power dissipated in a resistor is
always positive. Thus, a resistor always absorbs power from the circuit. This
confirms that a resistor is a passive element incapable of generating energy.

[Example 1]
 An electric iron draws 2 A at 120 V. Find its resistance.

[Solution]
 From Ohm’s law, v 120
R   60 
i 2
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[Example 2]
• In the circuit shown in Figure 6,
calculate the current i, the
conductance G, and the power p. i
30V 5k v
[Solution]
• Vividly, Ohm’s law yields, Figure 6:
v  30  • Finally, power is of the form,
i   3
 6mA
R  5 10 
p vi  30(6 10 3) 180mW
• Thus, conductance is of the form, • or
1  1  p i 2R (6 10 3)2(5 103) 180mW
G   3
 0.2mS • or
R  5 10 
p v2G (30)2(0.2 10 3) 180mW

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[Example 3]
 A voltage source of 20sin  t V is connected across a 5k resistor. Find the
current through the resistor and the power dissipated.

[Solution]
 Applying Ohm’s law yields,
v 20sin  t
i    4sin  t mA
R (5 10 )
3

 Hence, power dissipated is of the form,

p vi  80sin2  t mW

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 Nodes, Branches, and Loops
 A network can be regarded as an interconnection of elements or devices, whereas a
circuit is a network providing one or more closed paths.
 In network topology, we study the properties relating to the placement of elements
in the network and the geometric configuration of the network.
 Such elements include branches, nodes, and loops.

 A branch represents a single element such as a voltage source or a resistor.

 Simply put, a branch represents any two-terminal element.

 A node is the point of connection between two or more branches.

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 Nodes, Branches, and Loops Cont’d
a 5 b
 The two circuits in Figures 7 and
8 are as a matter of fact identical.
 Nevertheless, for the sake of
10V 2 3 2A
clarity, nodes b and c are spread
out with perfect conductors as
c
Figure 7: illustrated in Figure 7.

 Figure 7 shows a circuit having

b
five branches, namely 10 V 5
voltage source, 2 A current
source, and the three resistors.
a 2 3 2A
 The circuit in Figure 7 has three
nodes a, b, and c.
 We demonstrate that the circuit 10V
c
in Figure 7 has three nodes by Figure 8:
redrawing it in Figure 8.
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Nodes, Branches, and Loops Cont’d

 A loop is any closed path in a circuit.

 A loop is a closed path formed by starting at a node, passing through a set of nodes,
and returning to the starting node without passing through any node more that
once.
 A loop is independent if it contains at least one branch which is not part of any
other independent loop, and results in an independent equation.
 A network with b branches, n nodes, and l independent loops will satisfy the
fundamental theorem of network topology of the form,
b l  n  1 (9)

 It is worthy noting that circuit topology is of great value to the study of voltages
and currents in an electric circuit..

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Nodes, Branches, and Loops Cont’d
 Two or more elements are in series if they exclusively share a single node and
consequently carry the same current.
 Two or more elements are in parallel if they are connected to the same two nodes
and consequently have the same voltages across them.

[Example 4]
 Determine the number of branches 5
and nodes in circuit shown in
Figure 9.
 Identify which elements are in 10V 6 2A
series and which are in parallel.
Figure 9:

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[Example 4] [Solution]
1 5 2

10V 6 2A

3
Figure 10:

• Since there are four elements in the circuit, the circuit has four branches: 10V ,
5 6 2A
, , and .
• The circuit
5 has three nodes as identified in Figure 10.
10V
• The 6 resistor is in series with the 2A voltage source.
• The resistor is in parallel with the current source because both are
connected to the same nodes 2 and 3.

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Kirchhoff’s Laws
 Ohm’s law coupled with Kirchhoff’s laws form a sufficient powerful set of tools
for analyzing a huge variety of electric circuits.

 Kirchhoff’s current law (KCL) states that the algebraic sum of currents entering a
node (or a closed boundary) is zero.

 Mathematically, KCL which is based on the law of conservation of charge is of the

form,
N

i
n 1
n
0 (10)

 where N is the number of branches connected to the node and in is the nth
current entering (or leaving) the node.
 By KCL currents entering the node may be regarded as positive, while currents
leaving the node may be taken as negative or vice versa.

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 Kirchhoff’s Laws Cont’d
• Kirchhoff’s second law is based on the law of conservation of energy.

• Kirchhoff’s voltage law (KVL) states that the algebraic sum of all voltages around
a closed path (or loop) is zero.

• Mathematically, KVL is of the form,

M

v
m1
m
0 (11)

• where M is the number of voltages in a loop (or the number of branches in the
loop)vand
th
m m
is the voltage.
• When applying KVL the sign on each voltage is the polarity of the terminal
encountered first as we travel around the loop.

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[Example 5]
 For the circuit of Figure 12(a), find
2
voltages v1 and v2 .
v1

2 20V v2 3
i
v1
20V v2 3 (b)

Figure 12:
(a)  From Ohm’s law,
v1  2i ; v2  3i (2.5.1
[Solution] )
 We apply Ohm’s law and KVL  Applying KVL to the loop yields,
assuming current i flows through the  20  v1  v2  0 (2.5.2
loop as illustrated in Figure 12(b). )

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[Example 5] [Solution]

 Substituting Eqn (2.5.1) into Eqn (2.5.2) yields,

 20  2i  3i  0; i.e., 5i  20;  i  4A
 Substituting i into Eqn (2.5.1) finally gives,

v1  2(4)  8V ; v2  3(4)  12V

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[Example 6]
 Determine v and i in the circuit
0
2v0
shown in Figure 13(a). 4

i
12V 4V
i 2v0
4 6

v0
12V 4V (b)
6
Figure 13:
v0
(a)  Applying Ohm’s law,
v0  6i (2.6.2
[Solution]  Substituting Eqn (2.6.2) into Eqn
)
 Applying KVL around the loop yields,
(2.6.1) yields,
 12  4i  2v0  4  6i  0 (2.6.1  16  10i  12i  0;  i  8A
)
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[Example 6] [Solution]
 Thus,
v0  6( 8)  48V

[Example 7]
 Find current i 0 and voltage v0 in [Solution]
the circuit shown in Figure 14.
 Applying KCL to node a yields,
a
i0 3  0.5i 0 i 0;  i 0  6A
0.5i 0 v0 4 3A  For the 4 resistor, Ohm’s law
gives,
v0  4i 0  24V
Figure 14:
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[Example 8]
 Find currents and voltages in the
8 i1 i3
circuit shown in Fig. 15. a
v1 i2
8 i1 i3
a 30V loop 1 v2 3 loop 2 v3 6
v1 i2

30V v2 3 v3 6 (b)

Figure 15:
(a)
 From Ohm’s law,
v1  8i 1 ; v2  3i2; v3  6i 3 (2.8.1
[Solution] )
 We apply Ohm’s law and Kirchhoff’s  At node a, KCL yields,
laws to Fig. 15(b). i1  i2  i 3  0 (2.8.2
)

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[Example 8] [Solution]
 Applying KVL to loop 1 yields,

 30  v1  v2  0

 It follows that,
(30  3i2) (2.8.3
 30  8i1  3i2  0; i.e., i1  ;
8 )
 Applying KVL to loop 2 gives,
 v2  v3  0; i.e., v3 v2 (2.8.4
)
 as expected since the two resistors are in parallel.
 Substituting Eqn (2.8.1) into Eqn (2.8.4) yields,
i2
6i 3  3i2; i.e., i 3  (2.8.5
2 )
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[Example 8] [Solution]
 Substituting Eqns (2.8.3) and Eqn (2.8.5) into (2.8.2) yields,
30  3i2 i2
 i2  0
8 2
 That is,
i2  2A
 Substituting the value of i into Eqns (2.8.1) to (2.8.5) gives
2

i1  3A; i 3 1A; v1  24V; v2  6V; v3  6V;

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 Tutorial
1. A voltage source and a resistor 2. A current source and a resistor
are connected in parallel in the are connected in series in the
circuit shown in figure 1. cicuit as shown in figure 2.
suppose that Vs is 10V and R is suppose the source current is
5 ohm. Calculate the current i in 3A and R is 7 ohm. Calculate the
the resistor and power absorbed voltage v across the resistor
by the resistor: Answer: i=2A, and the power absorbed by the
p=20W. resistor. Answer v=21V, P=63W

Figure 2
Figure 1

Calculate the conductance too

Calculate the conductance too
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 Tutorial
3. Find the v1 and v2 for 4. Find Vx and Vo in the
the circuit shown in circuit shown in figure 4
figure 3:

Figure 4

figure 3
Answer: 10 V, −5 V.
Answer: 12 V, −6 V.

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 Tutorial
5. Find vo and io in the circuit 6. Find the currents and
of figure 5 voltages in the circuit shown
in Figure 6
Figure
5
Figure 6

• Answer: v1 = 3 V, v2 = 2 V, v3
Answer: 8 V, 4 A. = 5 V, i1 = 1.5 A, i2 = 0.25 A,
i3 =1.25 A.
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 References
[1] William H. Roadstrum and Dan H. Wolaver, Electrical Engineering for All
Engineers, (2008), John Wiley and Sons, ISBN :10:0471271780
[2] Jimmie Cathey and Sayed Nasar, Basic Electrical Engineering, Schaum’s
Outline Series, (1996), McGraw Hill 2nd edition, ISBN -10: 0070113556
[3] Charles I. Hubert , DC/AC Electric Circuits, (1982), McGraw Hill, ISBN-
10: 0070308454; ISBN-13: 978-0070308459
[4] Charles K. Alexander and Matthew N. O. Sadiku, Fundamentals of Electric
Circuits, 5th Ed., 2012, McGraw-Hill, ISBN-13: 978-0077753603
[5] Theraja B.L., Theraja A.K., Tarnekar S.G., Electrical Technology-Basic
Electrical Engineering, vol. I, 1st Multicolor Ed., 2005, S. Chand, ISBN 81-
219-24405.

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