OpenStax-CNX module: m21447

Linear Algebra: Circuit Analysis

Louis Scharf
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A First Course in Electrical and Computer Engineer-

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In this section we use the linear algebra we have developed to nd the voltages and currents in a simple
electrical circuit, such as the one shown in Figure 1 (Figure 1). There are many reasons why this might be
necessary; in this example we need to know the current owing through the lamp to tell whether or not it
will glow. Too little current will have no visible eect; too much current will cause the lamp to burn out.
We will apply a few physical laws relating the voltages and currents in a circuit, turn these laws into systems
of linear equations, and solve the equations for the voltages and currents.

Figure 1:

A Simple Electrical Circuit

Current, Voltage, and Resistance. We will use three physical quantities in our analysis of electrical

circuits: current, voltage, and resistance.

Current

is the ow of electrical charge from one place to another.

Voltage is a
electromotive force

Electrons owing through a wire or through some other electronic device comprise a current.
dierence in electric potential that makes electrons ow.
because it is like a force that moves electrons.

Voltage is sometimes called

Resistance

is a property of the device through which the

electron current ows. The lower the resistance of a device, the more easily current can ow through the
device.
The analogy of water owing through pipes can help you develop intuition about electrical circuits. In
this analogy, electrical current corresponds to the ow rate of water. Voltage corresponds to the pressure
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that forces the water to ow, and resistance is the friction of ow. A small pipe would impede the ow of
water more than would a large pipe, so the small pipe would correspond to a higher resistance. While this
analogy can be helpful, keep in mind that electricity is not water. All analogies break down at some point.

amperes.

We measure electrical current in

The standard symbol for current is

i,

and the direction of

positive ow is indicated by an arrow on the circuit diagram. The arrow is for reference only; if the true
current is in the opposite direction, we get negative values for

i.

Because electrons are negatively charged,

current is dened as owing in the opposite direction as electron motion.

But to reduce confusion, you

should learn to think in terms of current rather than electron motion.

node. The conservation law

A point in a circuit where several devices are connected together is called a

for current says that what ows in must ow out of a node, a principle known as
Kirchho 's current law states that

entering the node is considered to be a negative current leaving the node.

volts

and is usually written as

(or

e).

Since voltage is a dierence in potential

between two points (nodes), we can show it on a circuit diagram with a

+and

a sign to indicate which two

nodes we are comparing and which one of the nodes is considered negative. As with current, the markings
are for reference only and we may end up with a negative value of
In an electrical circuit, one node is usually chosen as a

v.

reference node

and is considered to have a voltage

of zero. Then the voltage at every other node is measured with respect to the reference node. This saves
us the trouble of always specifying pairs of nodes for voltage measurements and marking + and  signs for
each voltage. Other names for the reference node are
A

constant voltage source

common and ground.

is a device that always forces the voltage between its two terminals to be a

constant value. In Figure 1 (Figure 1) the circle at the left represents a constant voltage source of 5 volts,
so that the voltage at the upper

(+)

end is

always

exactly 5 volts higher than the voltage at the lower (-)

end. A voltage source is something like a battery, but idealized. Real batteries do not maintain a constant
output voltage under all conditions.
Resistance is measured in

ohms

and is denoted by

R.

A resistor is shown as a zig-zag line in circuit

diagrams and labeled with the value of its resistance in ohms. In this chapter we will consider only devices
whose resistance is positive and the same in both directions.

Ohm's law, also called the resistor law, relates

the voltage and current in a resistor. For the resistor shown in Figure 2 (Figure 2), with reference directions
assigned to

and

as shown, Ohm's law is

v = iR.
Note that current ows from + to - through the resistor.

Figure 2:

Ohm's Law

Example 1

Ohm's law and Kirchho 's current law are the only principles we need to write equations that will

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(1)

OpenStax-CNX module: m21447

allow us to nd the voltages and currents in the resistive circuit of Figure 1 (Figure 1). We begin by
choosing a reference node and assigning variables to the voltages at every other node (with respect
to the reference node). These choices are shown in Figure 3 (Figure 3).

Figure 3:

Assigning Node Voltages

The constant voltage source forces

v1

to be exactly 5 volts higher than the reference node. Thus

v1 = 5.

(2)

Next we write equations by applying Kirchho 's current law to each node in the circuit (except
the reference node and

v1 , whose voltages we already know).

At the node labeled

v2

are three paths

for leaving current. The current leaving through the 50 ohm resistor can be found by Ohm's law,
where the voltage across that resistor is

v2 v1

i50 =

v
(v2 v1 )
=
R
50

(3)

v2 . Pay careful attention to the

For current leaving through the 300 ohm resistor, the voltage is
sign; since we are interested in the current

leaving

to apply Ohm's law we should take the voltage as

the node labeled

v2
300

(4)

(v2 v3 )
100

(5)

i300 =
For the 100 ohm resistor, we can write

i100 =

According to Kirchho 's current law, the sum of these three leaving currents is zero:

(v2 v1 )
50

v2
300

(v2 v3 )
100

=0

6 (v2 v1 ) + v2 + 3 (v2 v3 ) = 0

6v1 + 10v2 3v3 = 0.

Notice that when we wrote the equation for the node labeled

v2 ,

the variable

(6)

v2

had

a + sign

each

time it occurred in the equation, while the others had a -sign. This is always the case, and watching
for it can help you avoid sign errors. Now we apply Kirchho 's current law at the node labeled

v3

to get the equation

(v3 v2 )
100

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v3
2

=0

(v3 v2 ) + 50v3 = 0

0v1 1v2 + 51v3 = 0.

(7)

OpenStax-CNX module: m21447

Note that this time it is

v3

that always shows up with

a + sign.

Equations 2 (2), 6 (6), and 7 (7) give us a system of three equations in the three unknown
variables

v1 , v2 ,

and

v3 .

We now write them in matrix form as

10
1

vl

3
v2 = 0
0
v3
51

(8)

Exercise 1

(MATLAB) Use MATLAB to solve Equation 8 (8). You should nd

v1 = 5.0000 volts

(9)

v2 = 3.0178 volts

(10)

v3 = 0.0592 volt.

(11)

What is the determinant of the coecient matrix

A?

Is the solution unique?

We can determine the current owing through the lamp from

v3

to ground in Example 1 (Example 1) by

Ohm's law:

i=

v
v3
=
= 0.0296
R
2

ampere.

(12)

The visible eect will, of course, depend on the lamp. Let us assume that the specications for our lamp
indicate that 0.05 ampere or more is required before it will glow, and more than 0.075 ampere will cause it
to burn out. In this case, our circuit would not make the lamp glow.
Exercise 2

(MATLAB) Write and solve equations for the circuit in Figure 4 (Figure 4). What are the voltages
at the nodes labeled

Figure 4:

v1

through

A Resistive Network

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v4 ?

What is the current labeled

i1

? And

i2 ?