UNIT 1:
Fundamental of DC and AC Circuits
Lecture 3
Prepared by Dr. Krishan Kumar, Professor, SEEE
Unit I: Fundamental of DC and AC Circuits
Kirchhoff’s laws, voltage division rule,
current division rule
KEYWORDS
KVL
KCL
Node
Loop
Kirchhoff’s Law
• Ohm’s law by itself is not sufficient to analyze circuits.
• However, when it is coupled with Kirchhoff’s two laws, we have a sufficient,
powerful set of tools for analyzing a large variety of electric circuits.
• These laws are:
1. Kirchhoff’s Voltage Law (KVL)
2. Kirchhoff’s Current Law (KCL)
Kirchhoff’s Laws
• First introduced in 1847 by the German physicist Gustav Robert Kirchhoff
• Kirchhoff's laws are used to understand how current and voltage work within a
circuit.
• Kirchhoff's laws also be used to analyze complex circuits that can't be reduced
to one equivalent resistance using what you already know about series and
parallel resistors.
Nodes, Branches, and Loops
• A branch represents a single element such as a
voltage source or a resistor.
• A node is the point of connection between two or
more branches.
• A loop is any closed path in a circuit
NOTE:
• 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 voltage across them.
Nodes, Branches, and Loops
• BRANCH: A branch represents a single element such as a voltage
source or a resistor.
• NODE: A node is the point of connection between two or more
branches.
• LOOP: A loop is any closed path in a circuit.
A network with b branches, n nodes, and l independent loops will
satisfy the fundamental theorem of network topology:
Kirchhoff’s Current Law (KCL)
Sign Convention for KCL:
Entering Current: Taken as +ve
Leaving Current: Taken as -ve
The sum of the currents entering a node is equal to the sum of the currents leaving the node.
Example for KCL
Example
Solution
QUICK QUIZ (Poll 1)
Kirchhoff’s Voltage Law (KVL)
• Kirchhoff’s voltage law (KVL) states that the algebraic sum of all voltages around
a closed path (or loop) is zero.
• mathematically, KVL states that
Kirchhoff’s Voltage Law (KVL)
Sign Convention of KVL for R, L and C
Let us Recall!
Example-2 for KVL
Equivalent Circuit
Sum of voltage rises=Sum of voltage drops
Summary KVL and KCL
External video shared
Link: [Link]
Voltage Division Rule
• The important relations are:
Example for Voltage Division Rule
Current Division Rule
• The important relations are:
QUICK QUIZ (Poll 3)
Applications of Kirchhoff’s Laws
• They can be used to analyze any electrical circuit.
• Computation of current and voltage of complex circuits.
Limitations of Kirchhoff’s Laws
• The limitation of Kirchhoff’s both laws is that it works under the
assumption that there is no fluctuating magnetic field in the closed
loop and the current flows only through conductors and wires.
QUICK QUIZ (Poll 4)
How many branches, nodes and
independent loops are present in the given
circuit?
A. b=3, n=5, l=6
B. b=5, n=3, l=6
C. b=5, n=3, l=3
D. b=3, n=5, l=3
Question/Answer
THANKS
