Circuit analysis

EveryCircuit is cool and all, but what if you had to analyze a circuit by pen and paper. One method is to first simplify circuit A by merging resistors connected in series or in parallel: B. Resistors in series: 3 Ω + 3 Ω = 6 Ω C. Resistors in parallel: 3 Ω || 6 Ω = 2 Ω D. Resistors in series: 3 Ω + 2 Ω = 5 Ω Now that we have a very simple equivalent circuit D, we can start computing voltages and currents using Ohm's law and work our way back to the original circuit A: D. Calculate current: 30 V / 5 Ω = 6 A C. Calculate voltage: 2 Ω × 6 A = 12 V B. Calculate current: 12 V / 3 Ω = 4 A B. Calculate current: 12 V / 6 Ω = 2 A A. Calculate voltage: 3 Ω × 2 A = 6 V That's all.

published 12 years ago