KIRCHHOFF CURRENT LAW

ONE OF THE FUNDAMENTAL CONSERVATION PRINCIPLES

IN ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING

“CHARGE CANNOT BE CREATED NOR DESTROYED”

 NODES, BRANCHES, LOOPS A NODE CONNECTS SEVERAL COMPONENTS.
BUT IT DOES NOT HOLD ANY CHARGE.

TOTAL CURRENT FLOWING INTO THE NODE

MUST BE EQUAL TO TOTAL CURRENT OUT
OF THE NODE

(A CONSERVATION OF CHARGE PRINCIPLE)

NODE: point where two, or more, elements

are joined (e.g., big node 1)
LOOP: A closed path that never goes
twice over a node (e.g., the blue line)
The red path is NOT a loop NODE

BRANCH: Component connected between two

nodes (e.g., component R4)
 KIRCHHOFF CURRENT LAW (KCL)
SUM OF CURRENTS FLOWING INTO A NODE IS
EQUAL TO SUM OF CURRENTS FLOWING OUT OF
THE NODE


5A  5A
A current flowing into a node
is equivalent to the negative
flowing out of the node
ALGEBRAIC SUM OF CURRENT (FLOWING) OUT OF
A NODE IS ZERO

ALGEBRAIC SUM OF CURRENTS FLOWING INTO A

NODE IS ZERO
A node is a point of connection of two or more circuit elements.
It may be stretched out or compressed for visual purposes…
But it is still a node
A GENERALIZED NODE IS ANY PART OF A
CIRCUIT WHERE THERE IS NO ACCUMULATION
OF CHARGE

... OR WE CAN MAKE SUPERNODES BY

AGGREGATING NODES

Leaving 2 : i1  i6  i4  0
Leaving 3 :  i2  i4  i5  i7  0
Adding 2 & 3 : i1  i2  i5  i6  i7  0
INTERPRETATION: SUM OF CURRENTS LEAVING
NODES 2&3 IS ZERO
VISUALIZATION: WE CAN ENCLOSE NODES 2&3
INSIDE A SURFACE THAT IS VIEWED AS A
GENERALIZED NODE (OR SUPERNODE)
PROBLEM SOLVING HINT: KCL CAN BE USED WRITE ALL KCL EQUATIONS
TO FIND A MISSING CURRENT
SUM OF CURRENTS INTO
b NODE IS ZERO
5 A  I X  (3 A)  0
IX  ? I X  2 A
5A
c a
Which way are charges
flowing on branch a-b?
3A
d

...AND PRACTICE NOTATION CONVENTION AT

THE SAME TIME...

I ab  2 A, NODES: a,b,c,d,e
BRANCHES: a-b,c-b,d-b,e-b
I cb  3 A
d
I bd  4 A -3 A
c 4A
I be  ?
Ibe = ?
b
2A THE FIFTH EQUATION IS THE SUM OF THE
a e FIRST FOUR... IT IS REDUNDANT!!!

I be  4 A  [(3 A)]  (2 A)  0

 FIND MISSING CURRENTS

R3 = 3.89 k ohm

KCL DEPENDS ONLY ON THE INTERCONNECTION.

THE TYPE OF COMPONENT IS IRRELEVANT
KCL DEPENDS ONLY ON THE TOPOLOGY OF THE CIRCUIT
WRITE KCL EQUATIONS FOR THIS CIRCUIT
•THE LAST EQUATION IS AGAIN LINEARLY
DEPENDENT OF THE PREVIOUS THREE
•THE PRESENCE OF A DEPENDENT SOURCE
DOES NOT AFFECT APPLICATION OF KCL
KCL DEPENDS ONLY ON THE TOPOLOGY
 Here we illustrate the use
of a more general idea of
node. The shaded surface
encloses a section of the
circuit and can be considered
as a BIG node

SUM OF CURRENTS LEAVING BIG NODE  0

I 4  40mA  30mA  20mA  60mA  0
I 4  70mA
THE CURRENT I5 BECOMES INTERNAL TO THE
NODE AND IT IS NOT NEEDED!!!
 Find I1 Find I T Rt < R1,R2,R3

I1  50mA IT  10mA  40mA  20mA

More resistance less current
More resistance more voltage

Find I1 and I2
Find I1
I 2  3mA  I1  0 I1  4mA  12mA  0

10mA  4mA  I1  0
 Find ix

10i x  i x  44mA  0
i x  10i x  120mA  12mA  0
i x  4mA

I 3  I 2  I1  0 I5  I 4  I3  0
I1 I3 I5
I 1 = 14
_ _mA
_____
+
-
I5 = _ _ _ _ _ _ _
I2 I4

I 2 = 6 m A, I 3 = 8 m A, I4 = 4 m A
 DETERMINE THE CURRENTS INDICATED
I3

2I 2
I1 I4 
I4
+
-

+
-
I6
I 5  5mA
5mA I5 I 2 8mA
THE PLAN

I1  2mA, I 2  3mA, I 3  5mA MARK ALL THE KNOWN CURRENTS

FIND NODES WHERE ALL BUT ONE CURRENT

I 6  I1  2 I 2  0  I 6  8mA ARE KNOWN

I5  I 2  I 6  0
I 4  I3  I5  0
 FIND I x
Ix  3mA

I X  I1  2 I X  0

I1  4mA  1mA  0
VERIFICATION
I b  1mA  I X  2mA
I1  3mA 1mA 2 I X  4mA  I b
Ib

2I x 4mA
 This question tests KCL and
convention to denote currents
Use sum of currents leaving node = 0
A F
I X  (5 A)  (3 A)  10 A  0
5A
I EF
Ix D E
B I EF  4 A  10 A  0
I DE  10A
I EG  4 A

3A
C G
Ix  -8A
__ to D
On BD current flows fromB __
I EF  6A
OnEF current flows from__
E toF__
 KIRCHHOFF VOLTAGE LAW

ONE OF THE FUNDAMENTAL CONSERVATION LAWS

IN ELECTRICAL ENGINERING

THIS IS A CONSERVATION OF ENERGY PRINCIPLE

“ENERGY CANNOT BE CREATE NOR DESTROYED”
 A “THOUGHT EXPERIMENT”
KIRCHHOFF VOLTAGE LAW (KVL)
KVL IS A CONSERVATION OF ENERGY PRINCIPLE
B VB
W  qV AB
A POSITIVE CHARGE GAINS ENERGY AS IT MOVES 

V B
AB
TO A POINT WITH HIGHER VOLTAGE AND RELEASES V

C
ENERGY IF IT MOVES TO A POINT WITH LOWER


VOLTAGE q  W  qVBC
B VC
W  q (VB  V A ) VB VA  VCA 
W  qVCA
IF THE CHARGE COMES BACK TO THE SAME
q  INITIAL POINT THE NET ENERGY GAIN
VA MUST BE ZERO (Conservative network)
OTHERWISE THE CHARGE COULD END UP WITH
INFINITE ENERGY, OR SUPPLY AN INFINITE
AMOUNT OF ENERGY
q q (V AB  VBC  VCD )  0
  Vab 
LOSES W  qVab
a b KVL: THE ALGEBRAIC SUM OF VOLTAGE
q DROPS AROUND ANY LOOP MUST BE ZERO
  Vcd 
GAINS W  qVcd
c d V    (V ) 
A B A B
A VOLTAG E RISE IS
A NEGATIVE DROP
 PROBLEM SOLVING TIP: KVL IS USEFUL
TO DETERMINE A VOLTAGE - FIND A LOOP
INCLUDING THE UNKNOWN VOLTAGE
THE LOOP DOES NOT HAVE TO BE PHYSICAL


Vbe

 VS  V R  VR  VR  0
1 2 3

VR  12V EXAMPLE : VR1 , VR3 ARE KNOWN

2

DETERMINE THE VOLTAGE Vbe

VR  18V
1

V R  Vbe  V R  30[V ]  0
1 3

The first sign you reach is

The sign you put
LOOP abcdefa
BACKGROUND: WHEN DISCUSSING KCL WE SAW A SNEAK PREVIEW ON THE NUMBER OF
THAT NOT ALL POSSIBLE KCL EQUATIONS LINEARLY INDEPENDENT EQUATIONS
ARE INDEPENDENT. WE SHALL SEE THAT THE IN THE CIRCUIT DEFINE
SAME SITUATION ARISES WHEN USING KVL
N NUMBER OF NODES
B NUMBER OF BRANCHES
N 1 LINEARLY INDEPENDENT
KCL EQUATIONS
B  ( N  1) LINEARLY INDEPENDENT
KVL EQUATIONS

EXAMPLE: FOR THE CIRCUIT SHOWN WE HAVE

N = 6, B = 7. components
HENCE THERE ARE ONLY TWO INDEPENDENT
KVL EQUATIONS

Any point that combines two components

We call it a node

THE THIRD EQUATION IS THE SUM OF THE

OTHER TWO!!
 DEPENDENT SOURCES ARE HANDLED WITH THE
FIND THE VOLTAGES Vae ,Vec SAME EASE

Start from a til e

GIVEN THE CHOICE USE THE SIMPLEST LOOP

 Vad  12V
Vac  4  6  0 10V
Vac  ______

6V
Vbd  ______

11V
Vbd  _______
MUST FIND VR FIRST
Vbd  2  4  0 1

 12  VR  1  10VR  0  VR  1V
1 1 1

DEPENDENT SOURCES ARE NOT REALLY

DIFFICULT TO ANALYZE
REMINDER: IN A RESISTOR THE VOLTAGE AND
CURRENT DIRECTIONS MUST SATISFY THE
Veb  4  6  12  0 PASSIVE SIGN CONVENTION

Vad  12  8  6  0

V
Vad  _______, Veb  ________   V 
 SAMPLE PROBLEM

 4V  b  Vx  DETERMINE
 R  2k 
Vx  4V
V1 +
-
+
- V2
Vab  -8V
 
Power disipated on
V1  12V , V2  4V a
the 2k resistor Remember
past topics
P2k 
We need to find a closed path where only one voltage is unknown

FOR V X V X  V2  Vab  0
V X  V2  V1  4  0
Vab  V X  V2
V X  4  12  4  0
 There are no loops with only
10k 5k one unknown!!!

  Vx  - Vx/2 +
+ Vx
25V
+
- V1 -
4
 
The current through the 5k and 10k
resistors is the same. Hence the
VX VX
voltage drop across the 5k is one half
of the drop across the 10k!!!V1   0
4 2
VX VX
 25[V ]  V X   0 V
2 4 V1   X  5[V ]
V X  20[V ] 4