Circuit Elements

Qi Xuan
Ghangzhi Building( 广知楼 ) C323
I will be in the office on Monday, Wednesday, and
Friday
Zhejiang University of
Technology September 2015

Electric Circuits 1
 Structure
• Voltage and Current Sources
• Electrical Resistance (Ohm’s Law)
• Construc<on of a Circuit Model
• Kirchhoff’s Laws
• Analysis of a Circuit Containing Dependent
Source

Electric Circuits 2
 Circuit Elements
• When we speak of Circuit Elements, It is important to
differen<ate between the physical device itself
and the mathema<cal model which we will
use to analyze its behavior in a circuit.
• We will use the expression circuit element to refer to
the mathema&cal model.
• All the simple circuit elements that we will consider
can be classified according to the rela<onship of
current through the element to the voltage
across the element.
Electric Circuits 3
 Five ideal basic circuit elements

Resistor

Inductor
Voltage source Current source

Active elements

Capacitor

Passive elements
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 Electrical safety

The electrical energy that can actually cause injury is due to electrical
current and how it flows through the body. Why, then, does the sign
warn of high voltage?
Because It is easier to determine voltages than currents.

Electric Circuits 5
 Voltage and Current Sources
• Ideal voltage source: a circuit element that
maintains a prescribed voltage across
its terminals regardless of the current flowing
in those terminals.
• Ideal current source: a circuit element that
maintains a prescribed current through
its terminals regardless of the voltage
across those terminals.

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 Independent Sources
• An independent source establishes a voltage
or current in a circuit without relying on voltages
or currents elsewhere in the circuit. The value
of the voltage or current supplied is specified by
the value of the independent source alone.

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 Example #1

✔ ✔ ✗

Which are valid?

✗ ✔
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 Dependent Sources
• A dependent source establishes a voltage or current
whose value depends on the value of a voltage
or current elsewhere in the circuit. You cannot
specify the value of a dependent source unless you
know the value of the voltage or current on which it
depends.
• Four kind of controlled sources,
– current-­‐controlled current source, CCCS;
– voltage-­‐controlled current source, VCCS;
– voltage-­‐controlled voltage source, VCVS;
– current-­‐controlled voltage source, CCVS .
Electric Circuits 9
 The circuit symbols for
(a) An ideal dependent voltage-
controlled voltage source;
(b) An ideal dependent current-
controlled voltage source;
(c) An ideal dependent voltage-
controlled current source;
(d) An ideal dependent current-
controlled current source.

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0
 Example #2

✗ ✔

Which are valid?

✔ ✗
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 Example #3
• For the circuit shown,
– a) What value of vg is required in order
for the interconnec<on to be valid?
– b) For this value of vg, find the power
associated with the 8 A source.

Electric Circuits 1
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 SoluGon for Example #3
• For a), we have
vg = ib/4 = −8/4 = −2(V)
• For b), we have
p = 8vg = 8 × (−2) = −16(W)

Electric Circuits 1
3
 Electrical Resistance (Ohm’s Law)
• Resistance is the capacity of materials to impede the
flow of current or, more specifically, the flow of
electric charge. The circuit element used to
model this behavior is the resistor.
• The linear resistor is the simplest passive element. Its
symbol and characteris<c are as following:

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 Ohm’s Law

Left: in the direction of the voltage drop across the resistor

Right: in the direction of the voltage rise across the resistor

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 Other Forms of Ohm’s Law
• Current is in the direc<on of the voltage drop across
the resistor

• Current is in the direc<on of the voltage rise across

the resistor

• Conductance: the reciprocal of the resistance, which

is symbolized by the leY er G, and is measured in
Siemens (S)

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 Power in Different Forms
Left:
P = vi = (iR)i = i2R
P = vi = v(v/R) = v2/R
Right:
P = −vi = −(−iR)i = i2R
P = −vi = −v(−v/R) = v2/R
The equa<ons for LeZ and right are iden<cal and demonstrate clearly
that, regardless of voltage polarity and current direcGon, the power at the
terminals of a resistor is posi<ve. Therefore, a resistor absorbs power from the
circuit.

What’s the expression of power if we use conductance, rather than resistance?

Electric Circuits See example 2.3 (P.55)

1
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 Example #4

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 SoluGon for Example #4
• For a), we have
R = vg/ig = 1 kV / 0.005 A = 200 kΩ
p = vgig = 1000 V × 0.005 A = 5 W
• For b), we have
vg ＝ p/ig = 3 W / 0.075 A = 40 V
R = vg/ig = 40 V / 0.075 A = 533.3 Ω

pabsorbed=pdelivered = 3 W
• For c), we have
ig = (p/R)0.5= (0.48 W / 300 Ω)0.5 = 0.04 A
= 40mA
Electric Circuits
v = (pR)0.5= (0.48 W × 300 Ω)0.5 = 12 V
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g
 Construc<on of a Circuit Model

Flashlight

An ideal switch offers no resistance to the current when

it is in the ON state, but it offers infinite resistance to
current when it is in the OFF state.

Electric Circuits 2
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 • In developing a circuit model, the
electrical behavior of each physical
component is of primary interest: a lamp,
a coiled wire, and a metal case.
• Circuit models may need to account
for undesired as well as desired
electrical effects: light and heat.
The arrangement of
• Modeling requires approxima<on.
flashlight components

Electric Circuits 2
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 Example #5
• The voltage and current are measured at the
terminals of the device illustrated in (a), and the
values of vt and it are tabulated in (b). Construct
a circuit model of the device inside the box.

Electric Circuits 2
2
 SoluGon for Example #5

Plo\ n g the voltage as a func<on of In terms of Ohm's

the current yields the graph shown in (a). law, the device inside the
The equa<on of the line in this figure box behaves like a 4 Ω resistor.
illustrates that the terminal voltage is
directly proporGonal to the terminal current,
vt=4it.
Electric Circuits 2
3
 Kirchhoff’s Law

A node is a point where

two or more circuit
elements meet.

Circuit model for the flashlight

Based on Ohm’s law:

Ohm's law may not be enough to

provide a complete soluGon!

Electric Circuits 2
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• Kirchhoff's current law (KCL): The algebraic sum of all
the currents at any node in a circuit equals zero.
• Kirchhoffs voltage law (KVL): The algebraic sum of all
the voltages around any closed path in a circuit equals zero.

Reference direc&on is important!

KCL: Assign a posi<ve sign to a current leaving a node requires
assigning a nega<ve sign to a current entering a node, or vice
versa.
KVL: As we trace a closed path, assign a posi<ve sign to a voltage
rise requires assigning a nega<ve sign to a voltage drop, or vice
versa.

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 Circuit model for the flashlight
KCL

KVL

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 Example #6

Use Kirchhoff's current law (KCL)

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 SoluGon for Example #6

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 Example #7

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 SoluGon for Example #7

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 Example #8
• Use Ohm's law and Kirchhoff’s laws to find the value
of R in the circuit.
vR

iR i1 i2
v2

Kirchhoff’s laws: Ohm's law:

vR + 120 – 200 = 0 R = vR / i R
120 – v2 = 0 24 i1 = 120
iR – i1 – i2 = 0 8 i 2 = v2 R=4Ω
Electric Circuits 3
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 Analysis of a Circuit Containing
Dependent Sources

KCL
KVL

Electric Circuits 3
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 Example #9
a)Use Kirchhoffs laws and Ohm's law to find the voltage vo
as shown in the Figure.
b)Show that your solu<on is consistent with the constraint that
the total power developed in the circuit equals the total power
dissipated.

Electric Circuits 3
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 SoluGon for Example #9
By using Kirchhoff’s voltage law (KVL), we have

Then, by using Ohm’s law, we have

Please check the power balancing!

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 Electrical Safety

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 Summary
• Ideal voltage/current sources
• Independent/dependent sources
• Resistor
• Ohm’s law
• In series, closed path
• Kirchhoff’s voltage/current law

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