Lab 7: Thevenin and Maximum Power Transfer Theorem

1. Objective

The objective of this Lab is to Verify Thévenin’s theorem by obtaining the Thévenin
equivalent voltage (VTH) and Thévenin equivalent resistance (RTH) for the given circuit and to
verify the Maximum Power Transfer Theorem.

2. Equipments

Breadboard, Digital Multimeter ,DC Power Supply,Various Resistors

3. Theory

Thevenin's Theorem states that it is possible to simplify any linear circuit, no matter how
complex, to an equivalent circuit with just a single voltage source and series resistance
connected to a load.

Thevenin’s Theorem can be used for two purposes:

1. To calculate the current through (or voltage across) a component in any circuit,
or
2. To develop a constant voltage equivalent circuit which may be used to simplify
the analysis of a complex circuit.

Any linear one-port network can be “replaced with” a single voltage source in series
with a single resistor (see Fig. 1 below). The voltage source is called the Thevenin
equivalent voltage, and the resistor is called the Thevenin equivalent resistance. This means
that the single voltage source and series resistor must behave identically to the actual
network it is replacing.

You can use Thevenin’s theorem to solve a complex DC circuit.

Figure 1 A network replaced with its Thevenin equivalent circuit

Maximum Power Transfer Theorem states that an independent voltage source in series
with a resistance RS or an independent current source in parallel with a resistance R S,
delivers a maximum power to that load resistance RL for which RL = RS.

Assume that we have a voltage source VS connected to two resistors RS and RL connected in
series as shown in Figure(5) below. The resistor R S might represent the internal resistance
of this source or the Thevenin’s equivalent of a resistive network.

Rs

Vs RL VL

Figure (5)
VS R L
VL 
The voltage across the load RL is given by:
RS  RL
V L2 V s2 R L
PL  
And hence the power dissipated by this load is given by:
RL ( RS  RL ) 2 .

The value of RL that dissipates the maximum power is obtained by differentiating PL with
respect to RL and equating the derivative to zero, which yields: RL=RS. This is the condition
for Maximum Power Transfer.

In terms of a Thévenin Equivalent Circuit, maximum power is delivered to the load

resistance RL; when RL is equal to the Thévenin equivalent resistance RTH of the circuit. If
the load resistance is lower or higher than the Thevenin/Norton resistance of the source
network, its dissipated power will be less than the maximum.

4. Pre-Lab

1) Read the theory related to Thevenin and Maximum Power Transfer from your Text
Book.
2) Simulate the circuits in Fig 8 to Fig 11 using Multisim and measure all the voltages
and currents as outlined in the procedure (steps 1 to 7) for these figures.
3) Fill the Table 2 and 3 with the Multisim results
 5 Lab Work

Procedure
Part A: Thevenin’s Theorem
Measurement of Thevenin’s Equivalent Circuit
The circuit shown in Figure (7) is a simple circuit with a DC voltage source of 12V, and an
Load RL. We want to find the Thevenin’s equivalent circuit for this network as seen by R L
using basic DMM measurements

Figure 7

1) Measure the value of resistors given to you using DMM and record it in Table 1.
2) Connect the circuit as shown below in Figure 8 and measure the value of IL through
the load resistor RL and record it in Table 2.

Figure 8

Now to find the Thevenin’s equivalent circuit for the network in Figure 1:

3) First of all; RL must be taken out of the circuit and replaced with the DMM as shown
in Figure (9) in order to be used as a Voltmeter and as an Ammeter, respectively.
Then measure the open circuit voltage, Vth and the short circuit current, ISC and
record your readings in the table below.
 Figure 9

4) Now Rth can be determined directly from the measured open circuit voltage and the
short circuit current using the relation Rth= Vth/Isc
5) Another way of finding Rth is by disconnecting the power supply from the network
and replacing it with a link (wire) as shown in Figure (10). Next, use the DMM as an
Ohmmeter to measure Rth at the node-pair 3-0 and record the reading in the same
table above.

Figure 10

6) Construct the Thevenin network of the circuit as shown below in Figure 11. Adjust
the power supply to Vth. (obtained in step 3) and the variable resistance is adjusted
to measured value of Rth (as obtained in step 3 or step 5)

Figure 11
 7) Measure the load current IL flowing through RL

IL=

8) Compare this value of IL with the one obtained in step 2. (The value of IL in step 2 is
the current measured with the simple circuit Fig 8 and the I L in step 7 is the current
flowing through the Thevenin equivalent of the simple circuit) .Write your comment
on the results.

Part B: Maximum Power Transfer Theorem

The Power Delivered to the Load

1) In this part; we will examine the amount of power that can be delivered by the
network to an arbitrary load and investigate the condition where this power is
maximum.
2) Replace the 390 Ω load resistance in your circuit (which is still connected as in Figure
11) with a decade resistance box to set for different loads.
3) Change the load resistance from 100Ω to 1000 Ω in regular steps of 100 Ω, and in
each step measure the load voltage (VL) and calculate the power delivered to the
load (PL). Record your values in the table shown below.
4) Record the readings in Table 3.

6. Measurements and Results

Data Table #1
R1 R2 R3 RL

Data Table #2
RL % Difference
Multisim Measured Calculated
IL (Through the load)
VTH (Open circuit voltage)
RTH (Short circuit resistance)
Data Table #3
Load Voltage across Voltage across Calculated power
Resistor load load across RL
RL (Multisim) (Practical) PL (mW)
VL (V) VL (V)
100
500
1000
1500
2000
2500
3000
3500
4000

7. Post Lab

1. Theoretically calculate the Thevenin Resistance, Thevenin Voltage for the Figure 1
and draw the equivalent circuit and also calculate the Current through the load and
record it in Table 2. (Show your calculations )
2. Plot a graph of PL Vs RL using Excel with the readings obtained in Table 3 and mark
the point where the plot shows the peak value for power. Which is this point and
under which condition is it obtained? Write your note here.
3. Write a suitable conclusion for the experiment (show comparative analysis if any).