Circuit Elements

• An element is the basic building block of a circuit

• There are two types of elements found in electric circuits: passive
elements and active elements
• An active element is capable of generating energy while a passive
element is not
Circuit Elements

Examples of passive elements

Circuit Elements

Examples of active elements: Op amp, Battery, and AC Generator

Circuit Elements
• The most important active elements are voltage or current sources
that generally deliver power to the circuit connected to them
• There are two kinds of sources: independent and dependent sources
Circuit Elements
• An ideal independent source is an active element that provides a
specified voltage or current that is completely independent of other
circuit variables
Circuit Elements
• An ideal independent voltage source delivers to the circuit whatever
current is necessary to maintain its terminal voltage
Circuit Elements
• An ideal independent current source is an active element that
provides a specified current completely independent of the voltage
across the source
Circuit Elements
• An ideal dependent (or controlled) source is an active element in
which the source quantity is controlled by another voltage or current
• Dependent sources are useful in modelling elements such as
transistors, operational amplifiers and integrated circuits
• Dependent sources are usually designated by diamond-shaped
symbols and can generally be classified into four types
Circuit Elements
Voltage Controlled Voltage Source (VCVS)
Circuit Elements
Current Controlled Voltage Source (CCVS)
Circuit Elements
Voltage Controlled Current Source (VCCS)
Circuit Elements
Current Controlled Current Source (CCCS)
Example 4
Compute the power absorbed or supplied by each component of the
circuit shown below
Ohm’s Law
• Materials in general have a characteristic behaviour of resisting the
flow of electric charge
• This physical property, or ability to resist current, is known as
resistance and is represented by the symbol R
Ohm’s Law
Ohm’s Law
• The circuit element used to model the current-resisting behaviour of
a material is the resistor
• For the purpose of constructing circuits, resistors are usually made
from metallic alloys and carbon compounds
Ohm’s Law
Ohm’s law states that the voltage across an element is directly
proportional to the current flowing through the element. The
constant of proportionality is the resistance of the element.
Mathematically,

Wherein is measured in the units of ohm ( )

Ohm’s Law
The resistance R of an element denotes its ability to resist the flow of
electric current; it is measured in ohms ( ).

Therefore
Ohm’s Law
Since the value of R can range from zero to infinity, it is important
that we consider the two extreme possible values of which is a short
circuit and an open circuit.
Ohm’s Law
An element in which is called a short circuit. For a short circuit,

Note: The voltage might practically be zero, but the current is not! The
current may take on any value
Ohm’s Law
In practice, a short circuit is usually a connecting wire assumed to be a
perfect conductor
Ohm’s Law
An element in which is known as an open circuit. For an open
circuit

Note: The current is be zero, but the voltage is not! The voltage may
take on any value
Ohm’s Law
An open circuit is a circuit element with resistance approaching infinity
Ohm’s Law
• It should be pointed out that not all resistors obey Ohm’s law
• A resistor that obeys Ohm’s law is known as a linear resistor
• A nonlinear resistor does not obey Ohm’s law
• In this course, we will assume that the resistances are linear 
Ohm’s Law
The characteristic curve of a linear resistor is a straight line
Ohm’s Law
The characteristic curve of a non-linear resistor is not a straight
line
Ohm’s Law
Another useful quantity in circuit analysis is the reciprocal of resistance
, known as conductance and denoted by . Conductance is the ability
of an element to conduct electric current; it is measured in mhos ( )
or siemens (S)

Wherein
Ohm’s Law
The power dissipated by an element can be represented in terms of its
resistance

Or in terms of its conductance

Circuit Topology
• In circuit/network topology, we study the properties relating to the
placement of elements in the network and the geometric
configuration of the network
• Such elements include branches, nodes, and loops
Circuit Topology
A branch represents a single element such as a voltage source or a
resistor.
Circuit Topology
A node is the point of connection between two or more branches.
Circuit Topology
• A node is usually indicated by a dot in a circuit
• If a short circuit (a connecting wire) connects two nodes, the two
nodes constitute a single node
Circuit Topology
• A loop is any closed path in a circuit
• A loop is a closed path formed by starting at a node, passing
through a set of nodes, and returning to the starting node without
passing through any node more than once (except for the starting
node!)
Circuit Topology
• Two or more elements are in series if they are cascaded or connected
sequentially and consequently carry the same current
• Two or more elements are in parallel if they are connected to the
same two nodes and consequently have the same voltage across
them
Example 5
How many branches and nodes does the circuit in show below have?
Identify the elements that are in series and in parallel
Kirchhoff’s Laws
• Ohm’s law by itself is not sufficient to analyse circuits
• However, when it is coupled with Kirchhoff’s two laws, we have a
sufficient, powerful set of tools for analysing a large variety of electric
circuits
• These laws are formally known as Kirchhoff’s current law (KCL) and
Kirchhoff’s voltage law (KVL)
Kirchhoff’s Laws
- Kirchhoff’s first law is based on the law of conservation of charge
- Meaning, the algebraic sum of charges within a system cannot
change
- Kirchhoff’s Current Law (KCL) states that the algebraic sum of
currents entering a node (or a closed boundary) is zero
Kirchhoff’s Laws

Where is the number of branches connected to the node

and is the nth current entering (or leaving) the node
Kirchhoff’s Laws
Kirchhoff’s Laws
- Kirchhoff’s second law is based on the principle of conservation of
energy
- Kirchhoff’s Voltage Law (KVL) states that the algebraic sum of all
voltages around a closed path (or loop) is zero
Kirchhoff’s Laws
Expressed mathematically, KVL states that

Wherein is the number of branches (or voltages) in the loop and

is the nth voltage
Kirchhoff’s Laws
- KVL can be applied in both clockwise and counter clockwise direction.
Either way, the sum of the voltages around the loop is equivalent to
zero
- For non-source elements, voltage polarities should be assigned (if not
stated by the problem!)
- KVL can also be reinterpreted as
Kirchhoff’s Laws
- When voltage sources are connected in series, KVL can be applied to
obtain the total voltage
Example 6
For the circuit shown, find the voltages and
Example 7
For the circuit shown, find the voltages and
Example 8
For the circuit shown, find the voltages and