Kirchhoff's Circuit Laws

Download as pdf or txt
Download as pdf or txt
You are on page 1of 4

Kirchhos circuit laws

Kirchhos circuit laws are two equalities that deal with


The algebraic sum of currents in a network of
the current and potential dierence (commonly known
conductors meeting at a point is zero.
as voltage) in the lumped element model of electrical circuits. They were rst described in 1845 by German physi- Recalling that current is a signed (positive or negative)
cist Gustav Kirchho.[1] This generalized the work of quantity reecting direction towards or away from a node,
Georg Ohm and preceded the work of Maxwell. Widely this principle can be stated as:
used in electrical engineering, they are also called Kirchhos rules or simply Kirchhos laws.
n

Both of Kirchhos laws can be understood as corollarIk = 0


ies of the Maxwell equations in the low-frequency limit. k=1
They are accurate for DC circuits, and for AC circuits n is the total number of branches with currents owing
at frequencies where the wavelengths of electromagnetic towards or away from the node.
radiation are very large compared to the circuits.
This formula is valid for complex currents:

Kirchhos current law (KCL)

Ik = 0

k=1

i1

The law is based on the conservation of charge whereby


the charge (measured in coulombs) is the product of the
current (in amperes) and the time (in seconds).

i2

R1

1.1 Uses
A matrix version of Kirchhos current law is the basis of
most circuit simulation software, such as SPICE. Kirchhos current law combined with Ohms Law is used in
nodal analysis.

i4
vg

KCL is applicable to any lumped network irrespective of


the nature of the network; whether unilateral or bilateral,
active or passive, linear or non-linear.

i3

2 Kirchhos voltage law (KVL)


The current entering any junction is equal to the current leaving
that junction. i2 + i3 = i1 + i4

This law is also called Kirchhos second law, Kirchhos loop (or mesh) rule, and Kirchhos second
This law is also called Kirchhos rst law, Kirchhos
rule.
point rule, or Kirchhos junction rule (or nodal rule).
The principle of conservation of energy implies that
The principle of conservation of electric charge implies
that:
The directed sum of the electrical potential differences (voltage) around any closed network is
At any node (junction) in an electrical circuit,
zero, or:
the sum of currents owing into that node is
More simply, the sum of the emfs in
equal to the sum of currents owing out of that
any closed loop is equivalent to the
node
sum of the potential drops in that
or equivalently
loop, or:
1

EXAMPLE

3 Limitations

R1

v1
+

v4

R2
R3
v3

v2
c

R5
v5

The sum of all the voltages around a loop is equal to zero.


v1 + v2 + v3 - v4 = 0

The algebraic sum of


the products of the resistances of the conductors
and the currents in them
in a closed loop is equal
to the total emf available
in that loop.
Similarly to KCL, it can be stated as:
n

Vk = 0

k=1

KCL and KVL both depend on the lumped element


model being applicable to the circuit in question. When
the model is not applicable, the laws do not apply.
KCL, in its usual form, is dependent on the assumption
that current ows only in conductors, and that whenever
current ows into one end of a conductor it immediately
ows out the other end. This is not a safe assumption for
high-frequency AC circuits, where the lumped element
model is no longer applicable.[2] It is often possible to improve the applicability of KCL by considering parasitic
capacitances distributed along the conductors.[2] Significant violations of KCL can occur[3] even at 60 Hz, which
is not a very high frequency.
In other words, KCL is valid only if the total electric
charge, Q , remains constant in the region being considered. In practical cases this is always so when KCL is
applied at a geometric point. When investigating a nite region, however, it is possible that the charge density
within the region may change. Since charge is conserved,
this can only come about by a ow of charge across the
region boundary. This ow represents a net current, and
KCL is violated.
KVL is based on the assumption that there is no uctuating magnetic eld linking the closed loop. This is not
a safe assumption for high-frequency (short-wavelength)
AC circuits.[2] In the presence of a changing magnetic
eld the electric eld is not a conservative vector eld.
Therefore, the electric eld cannot be the gradient of any
potential. That is to say, the line integral of the electric
eld around the loop is not zero, directly contradicting
KVL.

Here, n is the total number of voltages measured. The


It is often possible to improve the applicability of KVL by
voltages may also be complex:
considering parasitic inductances (including mutual inductances) distributed along the conductors.[2] These are
n
treated
as imaginary circuit elements that produce a volt
Vk = 0
age drop equal to the rate-of-change of the ux.
k=1

This law is based on the conservation of energy whereby


voltage is dened as the energy per unit charge. The total 4 Example
amount of energy gained per unit charge must be equal to
the amount of energy lost per unit charge, as energy and Assume an electric network consisting of two voltage
charge are both conserved.
sources and three resistors.
According to the rst law we have

2.1

Generalization

In the low-frequency limit, the voltage drop around any i1 i2 i3 = 0


loop is zero. This includes imaginary loops arranged arbitrarily in space not limited to the loops delineated by The second law applied to the closed circuit s1 gives
the circuit elements and conductors. In the low-frequency
limit, this is a corollary of Faradays law of induction
(which is one of the Maxwell equations).
R2 i2 + E1 R1 i1 = 0
This has practical application in situations involving
"static electricity".
The second law applied to the closed circuit s2 gives

6 References

R1
s1

i2

R2
s2

i1
i3

[1] Oldham, Kalil T. Swain (2008). The doctrine of description: Gustav Kirchho, classical physics, and the purpose
of all science in 19th-century Germany (Ph. D.). University of California, Berkeley. p. 52. Docket 3331743.
[2] Ralph Morrison, Grounding and Shielding Techniques
in Instrumentation Wiley-Interscience (1986) ISBN
0471838055
[3] simonjz05,. High Voltage Cable Inspection (video).

Paul, Clayton R. (2001). Fundamentals of Electric


Circuit Analysis. John Wiley & Sons. ISBN 0-47137195-5.

R3

Serway, Raymond A.; Jewett, John W. (2004).


Physics for Scientists and Engineers (6th ed.).
Brooks/Cole. ISBN 0-534-40842-7.
R3 i3 E2 E1 + R2 i2 = 0
Thus we get a linear system of equations in i1 , i2 , i3 :

i1 i2 i3
R2 i2 + E1 R1 i1

R3 i3 E2 E1 + R2 i2

=0
=0
=0

Which is equivalent to

i1 + i2 + i3
R1 i1 + R2 i2 + 0i3

0i1 + R2 i2 R3 i3

Tipler, Paul (2004). Physics for Scientists and Engineers: Electricity, Magnetism, Light, and Elementary
Modern Physics (5th ed.). W. H. Freeman. ISBN
0-7167-0810-8.
Graham, Howard Johnson, Martin (2002). Highspeed signal propagation : advanced black magic
(10. printing. ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall PTR. ISBN 0-13-084408-X.

=0
= E1
= E1 + E2

Assuming
R1 = 100, R2 = 200, R3 = 300(ohms) ; E1 = 3, E2 = 4(volts)
the solution is

i1 = 1100

4
i2 = 275

3
i3 = 220
i3 has a negative sign, which means that the direction of i3
is opposite to the assumed direction (the direction dened
in the picture).

See also
Faradays law of induction
Kirchhos laws (disambiguation)
Lumped matter discipline

7 TEXT AND IMAGE SOURCES, CONTRIBUTORS, AND LICENSES

Text and image sources, contributors, and licenses

7.1

Text

Kirchhos circuit laws Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kirchhoff{}s_circuit_laws?oldid=730615470 Contributors: Jdpipe,


Heron, Michael Hardy, Karada, Stevenj, Julesd, Glenn, Andres, Maximus Rex, Omegatron, Robbot, Romanm, Texture, Nonick, Giftlite,
Aulis Eskola, Ot, Mormegil, Rich Farmbrough, Paul August, Baruneju, Wood Thrush, Robotje, Smalljim, Podo, Hooperbloob, Alansohn, Gene Nygaard, OwenX, AirBa~enwiki, BillC, Robert K S, Knuckles, Sdschulze, Zzyzx11, Zeroparallax, Grammarbot, Trlovejoy,
SMC, The wub, Gurch, Vonkje, Chobot, Banaticus, Roboto de Ajvol, Oliviosu~enwiki, RussBot, Pi Delport, JabberWok, CambridgeBayWeather, Thane, ENeville, Merosonox, Searchme, Hirak 99, That Guy, From That Show!, True Pagan Warrior, SmackBot, Hydrogen
Iodide, Gilliam, Skizzik, Kmarinas86, Gruzd, Can't sleep, clown will eat me, Bowlhover, Thehakimboy, Daniel.Cardenas, Ozhiker, Ortho,
Beetstra, Rock4arolla, Rogerbrent, Dicklyon, Mets501, Doczilla, Pgadfor, Chetvorno, Nfwu, Nczempin, Jsd, NickW557, Myasuda, Jon
Stockton, Skittleys, DumbBOT, Chrislk02, Editor at Large, Thijs!bot, Epbr123, JAnDbot, Bongwarrior, Sikory, User A1, Cpl Syx, Glen,
Enok.cc, Pharaoh of the Wizards, Jerry, Atulgogtay, Bigbug21, Paolous, Philip Trueman, Oshwah, The Original Wildbear, Sabih omar,
Gnomeza, Ripepette, Tsi43318, Amog, Andy Dingley, Enigmaman, Dirkbb, Purgatory Fubar, Spinningspark, Paverider, SieBot, Gerakibot,
Yintan, Msadaghd, Flyer22 Reborn, Haitao32668011, CutOTies, Berserkerus, Wdwd, ClueBot, Ideal gas equation, The Thing That Should
Not Be, Kristolane, Drmies, DragonBot, Awickert, Excirial, Erebus Morgaine, Danmichaelo, Wstorr, Suppiesman123, Roxy the dog, Mrball25, Addbot, Ashokreddy2, Betterusername, CarsracBot, Peti610botH, Lightbot, Zorrobot, Victorjimi, Luckas-bot, Grebaldar, Ipatrol,
Materialscientist, Citation bot, LouriePieterse, ArthurBot, Xqbot, Drilnoth, Yhljjang, A. di M., Kwinkunks,
, RGForbes, AliRajabi,
Xianyang, I dream of horses, Yahia.barie, 124Nick, Waqasb, Vrenator, , Vampikay, Suusion of Yellow, Noommos, EmausBot, WikitanvirBot, Hovhannest, Trinibones, Dcirovic, Solomonfromnland, Hhhippo, Narendran95, Plesna, Coasterlover1994, RockMagnetist, NTox, Terraorin, DASHBotAV, ClueBot NG, PoqVaUSA, Widr, Helpful Pixie Bot, Billybobjoethethird, Who.was.phone,
AvocatoBot, Dan653, Robert the Devil, Salvador85, Jionpedia, Mllyjn, JYBot, Lugia2453, Isarra (HG), Fox2k11, Lsmll, Jodosma, DigitalPhase, Svjo-2, Clee845, LouAng, Radhakanth14, Vieque, Kavya l, Sankalpa Sarkar, Sharanayya R Tenginamath, Shreyash shende,
Chaithanya Prabhu M and Anonymous: 302

7.2

Images

File:Commons-logo.svg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/4/4a/Commons-logo.svg License: CC-BY-SA-3.0 Contributors: ? Original artist: ?


File:KCL_-_Kirchhoff{}s_circuit_laws.svg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/46/KCL_-_Kirchhoff%
27s_circuit_laws.svg License: CC-BY-SA-3.0 Contributors:
KCL.png Original artist: KCL.png: Podo
File:Kirchhoff_voltage_law.svg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/40/Kirchhoff_voltage_law.svg License:
CC BY-SA 3.0 Contributors: ? Original artist: Kwinkunks
File:Kirshhoff-example.svg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/77/Kirshhoff-example.svg License: CC0 Contributors: Own work Original artist: Svjo
File:Nuvola_apps_ksim.png Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8d/Nuvola_apps_ksim.png License: LGPL
Contributors: http://icon-king.com Original artist: David Vignoni / ICON KING
File:Text_document_with_red_question_mark.svg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a4/Text_document_
with_red_question_mark.svg License: Public domain Contributors: Created by bdesham with Inkscape; based upon Text-x-generic.svg
from the Tango project. Original artist: Benjamin D. Esham (bdesham)

7.3

Content license

Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0

You might also like