EEE 1

(Essentials of Electrical and

Electronics Engineering)

Lecture 3
Voltage and Current Division, Mesh and Nodal Analysis

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EEE 1 (Essentials of Electrical and Electronics Engineering)
 Kirchhoff’s Laws
• Node
– a point in a circuit where two or more circuit components are joined
• Loop
– any closed path that passes through no node more than once
• Mesh
– a loop that contains no other loop

• Examples
– A, B, C, D, E and F are nodes
– the paths ABEFA, BCDEB and
ABCDEFA are loops
– ABEFA and BCDEB are meshes

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EEE 1 (Essentials of Electrical and Electronics Engineering)
 KCL
• Current Law
At any instant, the algebraic sum of all the currents
flowing into any node in a circuit is zero
– if currents flowing into the node are positive,
currents flowing out of the node are negative,
then  I  0

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EEE 1 (Essentials of Electrical and Electronics Engineering)
 KVL
• Voltage Law
At any instant the algebraic sum of all the voltages
around any loop in a circuit is zero
– if clockwise voltage arrows are positive and
anticlockwise arrows are negative then V  0

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EEE 1 (Essentials of Electrical and Electronics Engineering)
By the end of this class, the students will
be able to:
• identify the step by step procedure of different
circuit analysis techniques:
• use voltage and current division to analyze simple
circuits
• apply nodal analysis in solving simple circuit currents
and voltages
• apply mesh analysis in solving simple circuit currents
and voltages

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EEE 1 (Essentials of Electrical and Electronics Engineering)
 Voltage and Current Division
Voltage Division
R1

+ + VR1 - +

Vs i R2 VR2

- -

- Getting voltage across R2

- Using KVL: vs = vR1 + vR2
- Using Ohm’s Law: vs = iR1 + vR2  vR2 = vs – iR1 (eqn 1)
- But i = vs / (R1 + R2) (eqn 2)
- Substitute eqn 2 to eqn 1 and manipulate to get:
vR2 = vs [R2 / (R1 + R2)]
vR1 = vs [R1 / (R1 + R2)]
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EEE 1 (Essentials of Electrical and Electronics Engineering)
 Voltage and Current Division
Current Division

+ i1 i2
V is
G1 G2
-

- Getting current through R2 or G2

- Using KCL: is = i1 + i2
- Using Ohm’s Law: is = v/R1 + i2  i2 = is – v/R1 (eqn 1)
- But v = is [1/(1/R1 + 1/R2)] = is [R1R2/(R1+R2)] (eqn 2)
- Substitute eqn 2 to eqn 1 and manipulate to get:
iR2 = is [R1 / (R1 + R2)] = iG2 = is [G2 / (G1 + G2)]
iR1 = is [R2 / (R1 + R2)] = iG1 = is [G1 / (G1 + G2)]
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EEE 1 (Essentials of Electrical and Electronics Engineering)
 Some Useful Techniques of Circuit Analysis

A. Mesh Analysis

- Mesh analysis is applicable only to planar circuits.

- Path: formed whenever a set of adjoining basic
circuit elements is traced, in order, without passing
through a connecting node more than once
- Branch: a path that connects two nodes

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EEE 1 (Essentials of Electrical and Electronics Engineering)
 Planar vs. Non-Planar

+ +
- -

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EEE 1 (Essentials of Electrical and Electronics Engineering)
 Procedure
(no dependent sources)

1. Assign a clockwise (or counterclockwise) mesh current in

each mesh.

2. Get an equation for each mesh by applying KVL around

each mesh. Express voltage in terms of mesh currents.

Note: number of equations = number of meshes

3. Solve the equations for the values of the mesh currents.

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EEE 1 (Essentials of Electrical and Electronics Engineering)
 Example

+ i2 +
1 2
- + 3 - -
i1
-7 + 1(i1-i2) + 6 + 2(i1-i3) = 0
+
7V +
- 6V
- + -1(i1-i2) + 2i2 – 3(i3-i2) = 0
i3 1
+ - -2(i1-i3) – 6 + 3(i3-i2) + 1i3 = 0
2
-

i1 = 3 A i2 = 2 A i3 = 3 A

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EEE 1 (Essentials of Electrical and Electronics Engineering)
 Procedure
(with dependent sources)

1. Treat controlled sources (dependent sources) as

independent sources

2. Incorporate them in KVL equations (as normal sources)

3. Write a constraint equation for them (in terms of mesh

currents) and substitute in the KVL equations

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EEE 1 (Essentials of Electrical and Electronics Engineering)
 Example
+ +
1 I2 2
- 3 -
15A I1 1 + vx -
v +
9 x
+ I3 1
2 -
-

The current in mesh 1 is dictated by the current

source. Thus, I1=15 Amps.
The KVL equation for mesh 2 is

2 I 2  3( I 3  I 2 )  1( I1  I 2 )  0
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EEE 1 (Essentials of Electrical and Electronics Engineering)
We cannot write a KVL equation for mesh 3.
However, we can write an equation for the
dependent source.
1 1
I3  I1  vx  [ 3 ( I3  I2)]
9 9
Solving simultaneously, we get

I1  15 A I2  11 A I3  17 A

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EEE 1 (Essentials of Electrical and Electronics Engineering)
 Some Useful Techniques of Circuit Analysis

B. Nodal Analysis

- Extending the analysis of a single-node circuit

to multiple-nodes by getting KCL equations
for each additional essential node (nodes that
join three or more elements) with an
additional unknown voltage

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EEE 1 (Essentials of Electrical and Electronics Engineering)
 Procedure
(no dependent sources)

1. Chose a reference node. The best choice is normally the

one with most branches connected to it.

2. Write KCL equations at each non-reference node in terms

of the node-voltage variables.

Note: number of equations = number of nodes – 1

3. Solve the equations for the node voltages.

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EEE 1 (Essentials of Electrical and Electronics Engineering)
 Example
va + 4S - vc
-3A vb

+ - + 2S -

3S + +
-8A 1S 5S
- -25A -
ref

-8 + -3 = 3(va-vb) + 4(va-vc)
va = 1 V
3(va-vb) = -3 + 2(vb-vc) + 1vb vb = 2 V
vc = 3 V
2(vb-vc) + 4(va-vc) = -25 + 5vc
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EEE 1 (Essentials of Electrical and Electronics Engineering)
 Procedure
(with dependent sources)

1. Treat the controlled sources as independent sources.

2. Incorporate them in the KCL equations (as normal

sources)

3. Write a constraint equation for them (in terms of

node voltages) and substitute in the KCL equations

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EEE 1 (Essentials of Electrical and Electronics Engineering)
 Example

2 k
+ - v1  v 3
0 .005  0 .4 i10 
2000
0.4 i10
v2 10 k v2 v 2  v3
v1 v
+
+ i
- 3
+
0.4i10  
5 mA 5 k
10 20 k 5000 10000
- - v1  v3 v 2  v3 v3
ref  
2000 10000 20000
v1 = 65.2 V
v2 = 12 V
v3 = 52 V
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EEE 1 (Essentials of Electrical and Electronics Engineering)
 Special Cases

Mesh Analysis
a. Case 1:
- When current source is not between two meshes
- In this case, the mesh current is equal to the current
of the source.
b. Case 2:
- When the current source is between two meshes
- Forms a supermesh

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EEE 1 (Essentials of Electrical and Electronics Engineering)
Example: Find the 5V
+ 5 - + -
currents I1, I2 and
I3 using mesh I2
analysis (current
1 - 3 -
source between + +
two meshes). + +
36V I1 3A I3 2
- -

- 4 +
We cannot write a KVL equation for mesh 1 or for
mesh 3 because of the current source. Form a
supermesh and write a KVL equation for it.

supermesh: 36  1( I1  I 2 )  3( I 3  I 2 )  2 I 3  4 I1  0
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EEE 1 (Essentials of Electrical and Electronics Engineering)
The KVL equation for mesh 2 is unchanged.

5I 2  5  3( I 3  I 2 )  1( I1  I 2 )  0
The third equation is dictated by the current source.

I1  I3  3 A
Solving simultaneously, we get

I1 = 5.45 A I2 = 0.86 A I3 = 2.45 A

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EEE 1 (Essentials of Electrical and Electronics Engineering)
 Special Cases

Nodal Analysis
a. Case 1:
- When voltage source is between the reference node
and a non-reference node
- In this case, the node voltage (not the reference
node) is equal to the voltage source.
b. Case 2:
- When the voltage source is between two non-
reference nodes
- Forms a supernode

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EEE 1 (Essentials of Electrical and Electronics Engineering)
Example: Find the voltages Va, Vb and Vc using
nodal analysis (a voltage source between 2 nodes).

+
8 -

6 + V 6V +Vc
+ - b + -
+Va
+ +
3A 3 4 5A
- -

REF
The KCL equations for node a and the supernode

Va  Vb Va  Vc
node a: 3  
6 8
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EEE 1 (Essentials of Electrical and Electronics Engineering)
 Vab Vba Vac Vca Vb Vc
supernode: 5   
6 8 3 4
For the voltage source, we get Vb-Vc=6 volts.

The equations can be simplified into

72  7Va  4Vb  3Vc

6  Vb  Vc
120  7Va  12 Vb  9Vc
Solving simultaneously, we get

Va = 24 V Vb = 16.3 V Vc = 10.3 V

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EEE 1 (Essentials of Electrical and Electronics Engineering)
 Choice of Method
Given the choice, which method should be used? Nodal
analysis or loop analysis?

Nodal analysis: The number of voltage variables equals

number of nodes minus one. Every voltage source
connected to the reference node reduces the number of
unknowns by one.
Mesh Analysis: The number of current variables equals the
number of meshes. Every current source in a mesh
reduces the number of unknowns by one.

Note: Choose the method with less unknowns.

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EEE 1 (Essentials of Electrical and Electronics Engineering)