Midterm Exam 1
Professor Victor DeBrunner
February 7, 2017
Name:
Please examine all pages and problems before starting. Make sure
that you have 4 pages of questions. If for any reason you need to
use the back of a page, please indicate clearly where you have
continued. I reserve the right to dismiss any student during the
exam. A calculator may be used on this exam. No wireless devices
are allowed. Please feel free to ask me any questions by raising
your hand during the exam.
Pledge: I have neither given nor received aid on this exam.
Signature:
Problem Points Score
1 25
2 25
3 25
4 25
1. 25 points – General: True or False. Mark TRUE only if the statement is
always true. Otherwise, mark FALSE.
TRUE FALSE
(a) Ohm’s Law may be applied to sources.
(b) You may determine whether two circuit elements are in series by
determining whether the current through both elements is exactly
the same current.
(c) An inductor is essentially an open in a DC circuit.
(d) Two circuit elements are said to be in parallel when they are both
connected to the same nodes in the circuit.
(e) Linear circuits obeys superposition.
(f) KCL is used to write 3 valid equations for a particular circuit. The
MATLAB code below could solve that circuit:
>> A = [1 5 3;2 -1 3;7 2 -9];
>> b = [1 2 3];
>> v = A/b
(g) The power consumed by a resistor must always be greater than 0.
(h) There are materials known to humans whose resistance is not linear
to either the voltage across the material or the current through the
material.
(i) Resistors produce heat (and light).
(j) The voltage at a particular point in a circuit determines the po-
tential energy for work that any electron at that point possesses.
(k) Thévenin equivalent circuits provide more information to the engi-
neer than do Norton equivalent circuits.
(l) The current at any point in a circuit is determined by the number
of electrons passing through that point.
1
2. 25 points – Basic Circuits: Consider the circuit:
where vs = −12V , R1 = 2Ω, and R2 = 8Ω.
(a) Determine the current through R1 .
(b) Determine the voltage v2 .
(c) Determine the power produced by the voltage source.
(d) Determine the power consumed by R2 .
2
3. 25 points – Circuit Laws: Consider the circuit with R1 = 3Ω, R2 = 8Ω,
R3 = 6Ω R4 = 4Ω, is = 21 A and vs = 6V :
(a) Determine the 3 loop equations. You should simplify the equations
to the point where you can produce a matrix representation.
i. Solve for the 3 loop currents i1 , i2 , and i3 .
ii. What is the voltage across R2 ?
(b) Determine the number of nodes this circuit has, label them, and
write appropriate nodal equations. Again, you should simplify these
equations to the point where you can produce a matrix representa-
tion.
3
4. 25 points – Equivalent Circuits: Consider the circuit:
with R1 = 24kΩ, R2 = 8kΩ, R3 = 9kΩ, and R4 = 18kΩ. R0 is the load
resistance.
(a) Determine the Thévenin equivalent circuit to the load resistor R0
and draw it.
(b) Determine the Norton equivalent circuit and draw it.
(c) What should the load be for maximum power transfer?
(d) How much power is consumed by that load?
