Dr.-Ing.

Ahmed Said, PhD in Electrical Engineering, Paderborn University, Germany

Chapter 3
Superposition:

Consider the circuit below that contains two voltage sources.

R 1 V2
_ +

V +_ R 2
1

R 3

We assume that V1and V2 acting together produce current I.

 Dr.-Ing. Ahmed Said, PhD in Electrical Engineering, Paderborn University, Germany

R 1 R 1 V 2
_ +

I1 I2
V 1
+_ R 2 R 2

R 3 R 3

V1 produces current I1 V2 produces current I2

Superposition states that the current, I, produced by both sources

acting together is the same as the sum of the currents, I1 + I2, where

I1 is produced by V1 and I2 is produced by V2.

 Dr.-Ing. Ahmed Said, PhD in Electrical Engineering, Paderborn University, Germany

Ex. 1: Given the circuit below. Demonstration by solution that

superposition holds. V
2  _
B 3 
+

Solution IT
+ _
V A _ V C +
With all sources acting:
IL = 6 A
V A = 10 V, V B = 5 V, V C = 15 V

With VA + VB acting, VC = 0: IA+B = 3 A

With VC acting, VA + VB = 0: IC = 3 A

We see that superposition holds.

 Dr.-Ing. Ahmed Said, PhD in Electrical Engineering, Paderborn University, Germany

Ex.2: Given the circuit below. Find the current I by using

superposition. 12 

I
Solution +
IS = 3 A 6  _ V S = 54 V

First, deactivate the source IS and find I in the 6  resistor.

Second, deactivate the source VS and find I in the 6  resistor.

Sum the two currents for the total current.

Dr.-Ing. Ahmed Said, PhD in Electrical Engineering, Paderborn University, Germany
12 

IV s
IVs = 3 A
+
6  _ V S = 54 V

3 x12 Is 12 
IS  2 A
(3  12) IS = 3 A 6 

Total current I: I = IS + Ivs = 5 A

 Dr.-Ing. Ahmed Said, PhD in Electrical Engineering, Paderborn University, Germany

Ex. 3: Use the superposition theorem to find v in the circuit shown

below.
3A is discarded
by open-circuit

6 6V is
V1  ( )(4)  2V discarded by
48
short-circuit
8
i2  3( )  2A
48
v = 2 + 8 = 10V
V2  ( 2)(4)  8V
 Dr.-Ing. Ahmed Said, PhD in Electrical Engineering, Paderborn University, Germany
Ex. 4: For the circuit in the figure, use the superposition
theorem to find i.

Solution

Combining 4 Ω (on the right hand side) in series with 8 Ω gives 12 Ω.

The 12 Ω in parallel with 4 Ω gives (12 × 4)/16 = 3 Ω. Thus,
Dr.-Ing. Ahmed Said, PhD in Electrical Engineering, Paderborn University, Germany
Dr.-Ing. Ahmed Said, PhD in Electrical Engineering, Paderborn University, Germany
 Dr.-Ing. Ahmed Said, PhD in Electrical Engineering, Paderborn University, Germany

Source Transformation
• It is the process of replacing a voltage source vS in series

with a resistor R by a current source iS in parallel with a

resistor R, or vice versa.
 Dr.-Ing. Ahmed Said, PhD in Electrical Engineering, Paderborn University, Germany

Ex. 5: Use source transformation to find Vo in the circuit in the figure.

Solution

Vo = (0.4)(8) = 3.2 V
 Dr.-Ing. Ahmed Said, PhD in Electrical Engineering, Paderborn University, Germany

Ex. 6: Use source transformation to find Vx in the circuit in the figure.

Solution
 Dr.-Ing. Ahmed Said, PhD in Electrical Engineering, Paderborn University, Germany

Thevenin’s Theorem
It states that a linear two-terminal circuit (Fig. a) can
be replaced by an equivalent circuit (Fig. b) consisting
of a voltage source VTH in series with a resistor RTH,
where

• VTH is the open-circuit voltage at the

terminals.

• RTH is the equivalent resistance at the

terminals when the independent sources are
turned off.
 Dr.-Ing. Ahmed Said, PhD in Electrical Engineering, Paderborn University, Germany

• We now deactivate all sources of the network

• To deactivate a voltage source, we remove

the source and replace it with a short circuit.

• To deactivate a current source, we remove

the source.
I2
V3
_ + A
A R 1 R 3
R 2
R1 R3
R 4

R2 R4 _+ V1 _ I1
V2 +
B B
 Dr.-Ing. Ahmed Said, PhD in Electrical Engineering, Paderborn University, Germany

Ex. 7: Find the Thevenin equivalent

circuit of the circuit shown in the figure,
to the left of the terminals a-b. Then find
the current through RL = 6, 16 and 36 Ω.

Solution

We find RTh by replacing the 32-V voltage

with
a short circuit and the 2-A current source with
an open circuit
 Dr.-Ing. Ahmed Said, PhD in Electrical Engineering, Paderborn University, Germany

To find VTh, applying mesh analysis

32  4(i1 )  12(i1  i2 )
i2  2 A
 i1  0.5 A
 Dr.-Ing. Ahmed Said, PhD in Electrical Engineering, Paderborn University, Germany

Ex. 8: (a) Find VX by first finding VTH and RTH to the left of A-B.
12  4  A

+

30 V +_ 6  2  V X
_

B

Solution
12  4  A


(30)(6) +_ 6 
VAB   10V 30 V
6  12

B
Dr.-Ing. Ahmed Said, PhD in Electrical Engineering, Paderborn University, Germany

12  4  A

RTH
6 


B

RTH = 12||6 + 4 = 8 
R TH A

8  +
V + 10 V V
TH _ 2  X
(10)( 2) _
VX   2V
28 B

 Dr.-Ing. Ahmed Said, PhD in Electrical Engineering, Paderborn University, Germany

Ex. 9: For the circuit below, find VAB by first finding the Thevenin
1 .5 A
circuit to the left of terminals A-B.
5 
 A
Solution 10 

20 V _+ 20  17 


20(20) 1 .5 A
VOS  VAB  VTH  (1.5)(10) 
(20  5)
5 
 VTH  31V  A
10 

20 V _+ 20 


 Dr.-Ing. Ahmed Said, PhD in Electrical Engineering, Paderborn University, Germany

5 
5(20)  A
RTH  10   14  10 
(5  20)
20 


R TH A

14  +
VAB  17V V TH
+
_ 31 V 17  V A B

_
B

 Dr.-Ing. Ahmed Said, PhD in Electrical Engineering, Paderborn University, Germany

Ex. 10: Find the voltage across the 100  load resistor by first finding
the Thevenin circuit to the left of terminals A-B.
IS A

Solution 50  40 
30 
_+ 86 V
100 

6 IS
B

 86  80 I S  6 I S  0  I S  1 A IS A

VAB  6 I S  30 I S   36V 50  40 
30 
_+ 86 V

6 IS
B

 Dr.-Ing. Ahmed Said, PhD in Electrical Engineering, Paderborn University, Germany

IS A
We cannot find RTH of the above 
50  40 
circuit, as it stands. We must apply 30  R TH

either a voltage or current source at

6 IS
the load and calculate the ratio of B

this voltage to current to find RTH.

IS 1 A

50 I S  30( I S  1)  6 I S  0 50  40 
30 
IS + 1 V 1 A
15
IS  A 6 IS
43
Dr.-Ing. Ahmed Said, PhD in Electrical Engineering, Paderborn University, Germany

IS 1 A

 15  50  40 
50    1(40)  V  0
 43  30 
IS + 1 V 1 A = I
6 IS
V  57.4 volts

V V
RTH    57.4 
I 1 R TH

5 7 .4 

36 x100 V +_ 36 V
V100   22.9 V TH 100 
57.4  100
 Dr.-Ing. Ahmed Said, PhD in Electrical Engineering, Paderborn University, Germany

NORTON’S THEOREM:
Assume that the network enclosed below is composed of independent
sources and resistors.

Network

Norton’s Theorem states that this network can be replaced by a current

source shunted by a resistance R.
I R
 Dr.-Ing. Ahmed Said, PhD in Electrical Engineering, Paderborn University, Germany

In the Norton circuit, the current source is the short circuit current of the
network, that is, the current obtained by shorting the output of the
network. The resistance is the resistance seen looking into the network
with all sources deactivated. This is the same as RTH.

ISS R N = R TH
 Dr.-Ing. Ahmed Said, PhD in Electrical Engineering, Paderborn University, Germany

We recall the following from source transformations.

R
+ V
_ V R I =
R

In view of the above, if we have the Thevenin equivalent circuit of a

network, we can obtain the Norton equivalent by using source
transformation.
 Dr.-Ing. Ahmed Said, PhD in Electrical Engineering, Paderborn University, Germany

Ex. 11: Find the Norton equivalent circuit to the left of terminals A-B for
the network shown below. Connect the Norton equivalent circuit to the
load and find the current in the 50  resistor.

10 A

20  40  A


+_ 50 V 60  50 


B

Solution
 Dr.-Ing. Ahmed Said, PhD in Electrical Engineering, Paderborn University, Germany

10 A
It can be shown by standard circuit
analysis that 20  40 

I SS 10.7 A +_ 50 V 60 
ISS

It can also be shown that by

deactivating the sources, We find
the resistance looking into terminals A-B is

RN  55 
1 0 .7 A 55  50 
 Dr.-Ing. Ahmed Said, PhD in Electrical Engineering, Paderborn University, Germany
Ex. 12. For the circuit shown below, find the Norton equivalent
circuit to the left of terminals A-B.
Solution 1 k IS A

VOC
RN  +
I SS _+ 3 V 2 5 IS V 40 
5 V X X

VOC  VX  (25 I S )(40) _

  1000 I S B

We note that 1 k IS A
ISS = - 25IS. Thus,
+
VOC  1000I S 5 V _+ 3 V X 2 5 IS V X 40  ISS
RN  
I SS  25I S _

 40  B
 Dr.-Ing. Ahmed Said, PhD in Electrical Engineering, Paderborn University, Germany
1 k IS A

From the mesh on the left

we have; +
5 V _+ 3 V X 2 5 IS V X 40 
_

 5  1000 I S  3( 1000 I S )  0
From which, I S   2.5 mA

I SS   25 I S  62.5mA A

I N = 6 2 .5 m A R N = 40 

B
Dr.-Ing. Ahmed Said, PhD in Electrical Engineering, Paderborn University, Germany

Maximum Power Transfer

If the entire circuit is replaced by its
Thevenin equivalent, the power delivered
to the load is:

2
 VTh 
P  i 2 RL    RL
 RTh  RL 

For maximum power dissipated in RL,

2
V
RL  RTH  Pmax  Th
4 RL The power transfer profile with different RL
 Dr.-Ing. Ahmed Said, PhD in Electrical Engineering, Paderborn University, Germany

Ex. 13: Find the value of RL for

maximum power transfer in the
circuit. Find the maximum power.

Solution
 Dr.-Ing. Ahmed Said, PhD in Electrical Engineering, Paderborn University, Germany

Ex. 14: Determine the Norton equivalent

of the circuit shown in the figure.

Solution
 Dr.-Ing. Ahmed Said, PhD in Electrical Engineering, Paderborn University, Germany

Ex. 15: Determine the Norton equivalent

of the circuit shown in the figure.

Solution
 Dr.-Ing. Ahmed Said, PhD in Electrical Engineering, Paderborn University, Germany

Ex. 16: Determine the Norton equivalent

of the circuit shown in the figure.

Solution
 Dr.-Ing. Ahmed Said, PhD in Electrical Engineering, Paderborn University, Germany

Ex. 17: Find the Thevenin equivalent circuit for

Solution
v - 25 v
1 + 1 -3 =0
5 20
v = 32Volts
1

Rth  4  5 // 20  8
 Dr.-Ing. Ahmed Said, PhD in Electrical Engineering, Paderborn University, Germany

Ex. 18: Using Thevenin’s theorem, find the equivalent circuit

to the left of the terminals in the circuit shown in the figure.
Then find i.
Solution
 Dr.-Ing. Ahmed Said, PhD in Electrical Engineering, Paderborn University, Germany

Ex. 19: Using Thevenin’s theorem, find the equivalent circuit

to the left of the terminals in the circuit shown in the figure.
Solution

Because of the presence of the

dependent source, we excite the
network with a voltage source
Vo connected to the terminals. We may
set Vo = 1 V to ease calculation, since the circuit is linear. Our goal is to
find the current io through the terminals, and then obtain RTh = 1/io.
Dr.-Ing. Ahmed Said, PhD in Electrical Engineering, Paderborn University, Germany
Dr.-Ing. Ahmed Said, PhD in Electrical Engineering, Paderborn University, Germany