CSE 201 - Circuit Analysis

Lecture 6
 Methods of Analysis of Resistive Circuits
Till now, we are familiar with 3 methods used in circuit analysis

Ohm Law: V = IR

KCL: Sum of current entering a node = sum of current leaving that node

KVL: Algebraic sum of voltages in a loop is zero

Next, we will study two more techniques for circuit analysis.

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 Nodal Analysis
Nodal analysis is a method that provides a general procedure for analyzing circuits using
node voltages as the circuit variables

Also called Node-Voltage Method

The Node Voltage Method is based on Kirchhoff’s Current Law

Non-Reference Node: Node which has a definite Node-Voltage

Reference Node: It is the node which acts as reference point to all the other node

Also called Ground Node

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 Nodal Analysis
Steps to find Node Voltages:
➢ Total nodes

➢ Select a node as the reference (ground) node

➢ Assign voltages v1, v2, v3,……., vn-1 to the remaining n-1 nodes

➢ Apply KCL to each of the n-1 non-reference nodes

➢ Use Ohm’s law to express the branch currents in terms of node voltages

➢ Solve the resulting ‘n-1’ simultaneous equations to obtain the unknown node voltages

For ‘n’ nodes there will be ‘n-1’ simultaneous equations to be solved to get all the node
voltages

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 Nodal Analysis
Example circuits depicting Nodes:

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 Nodal Analysis
Calculate Node Voltages in the given circuit.

Solution:

There are 3 nodes:

0: ground

1 & 2: non-reference nodes

Node voltages (v1 and v2 ) are assigned

Apply KCL to nodes 1 and 2

KCL at Node 1: i1 = i2 + i3

KCL at Node 2: i2 + i4 = i1 + i5

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 Nodal Analysis
Calculate Node Voltages in the given circuit.

Solution:

Apply Ohm’s Law to KCL equations

Ohm’s Law to KCL equation at Node 1:

Now, Ohm’s Law to KCL equation at Node 2:

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 Nodal Analysis
Find Va, Vb and current across each resistor

Solution:

Circuit has three nodes - a, b, c

Node c – reference node

We also call out N-1= 2 node voltages on the schematic, labeled in orange as Va and Vb

The voltage Va is easy to figure out. Node a connects to voltage source that connects to
reference node c . That makes it an easy node. The voltage at node Va is 140V

The current (blue arrow) flowing into node b from the 20 ohm resistor can be written as

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 Nodal Analysis
The current in the 6Ω and 5Ω resistors instantly goes into the equation as

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 Nodal Analysis
Solve for unknown currents using Ohm's Law

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 Mesh Analysis
Mesh analysis provides another general procedure for analyzing circuits, using mesh

currents as the circuit variables

Also called Mesh-Current Method

The Mesh Current Method is based on Kirchhoff’s Voltage Law

Two terms: loop and mesh

Loop: It is a closed path with no node passed more than once.

Mesh: A mesh is a loop that does not contain any other loop within it.

paths abefa and bcdeb are meshes, but path abcdefa is not a mesh

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 Mesh Analysis
The current through a mesh is known as mesh current

Trace the loops in the clockwise direction

There are three loops

The difference between mesh and nodal analysis is that nodal analysis is an application of
Kirchhoff’s current law, which is used for calculating the voltages at each node in an
equation. While mesh analysis is an application of Kirchhoff’s voltage law which is used for
calculating the current

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 Mesh Analysis
Steps to determine mesh currents:
➢ Assign mesh currents i1, i2, . . . , in to the n meshes

➢ Apply KVL to each of the n meshes. Use Ohm’s law to express the voltages in terms of the
mesh currents

➢ Solve the resulting n simultaneous equations to get the mesh currents

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 Mesh Analysis

Identify the meshes

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 Mesh Analysis
Find the current I (current through 10 ohm resistor) using Mesh Analysis

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 Source Transformation
Source transformation states that
➢ a voltage source in series with a resistor in a circuit can be replaced by a current source in
parallel with the same resistor, without affecting the voltages or the currents of the remaining
elements in original the circuit

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 Source Transformation
Source transformation states that
➢ a current source in parallel with a resistor in a circuit can be replaced by a voltage source in
series with the same resistor, without affecting the voltages or the currents of the remaining
elements in the original circuit

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 Source Transformation
Consider the two circuits below. In particular, look at the current and voltage of RL in each
circuit. Using any of the techniques we seen so far, it is easy to find iRL and vRL for each
case.

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 Combining Current Sources in Parallel
Another point that helps in source transformation: If multiple current sources are connected
in parallel, they can be replaced by a single current source of a value equal to the sum of
the original current sources’ values
➢ Since, this does not affect the KCL eqns at the top or bottom nodes of the original i-sources

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 Combining Current Sources in Parallel
If one of the current sources is in opposite direction, it should be subtracted in the sum, as
shown below:

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 Parallel Elements Reordering
Elements in parallel can be reordered without changing the current in or the voltage across
any of the parallel-connected elements

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 Combining Voltage Sources in Series
Similarly, if multiple voltage sources are connected in series, they can be replaced by a
single voltage source of a value equal to the sum of the original voltage sources’ values
➢ Since, this does not affect the KVL eqns in the circuit

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 Combining Voltage Sources in Series
If one of the voltage sources is in opposite direction, it should be subtracted in the sum, as
shown below:

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 Series Elements Reordering
Elements in series can be reordered without affecting the voltage across or the current in
any of the series-connected elements

This reordering will help us to combine v-sources in series

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 Source Transformation
Find iR4 in the circuit at right

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 Nodal Analysis
Find V1, V2

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 Mesh Analysis
Consider circuit shown below with two meshes, currents are assigned in clockwise direction
in mesh. Let us analyze mesh for calculating current using KVL in each mesh

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