Solutions for Chapter 1

Exercise 1.1
(a) R = 5k + 10k = 15kΩ
R1 R2 5k · 10k
(b) R = = = 3.33kΩ
R1 + R2 5k + 10k

Exercise 1.2
(12V)2
 
V
P = IV = V = = 144W
R 1Ω

Exercise 1.3
Consider a simple series resistor circuit.

Figure 1: A basic series circuit.

I
+

V1 R1

+ −
V − +

V2 R2

By KVL and Ohm’s law

V = V1 + V2 = R1 · I + R2 · I = (R1 + R2 ) · I = R · I

where
R = R1 + R2
is the resistance of R1 and R2 in series. Now, consider a simple parallel resistor circuit.

1
 Figure 2: A basic parallel circuit.

I
I1 I2

+ R1 R2
V −

By KCL and Ohm’s law  

V V 1 1
I = I1 + I2 = + = + ·V
R1 R2 R1 R2
solving for V as a function of I we get
1 R1 R2
V = 1 1 ·I = ·I =R·I
R1 + R2
R1 + R2

where
1 R1 R2
R= 1 1 =
R1 + R2
R1 + R2

is the resistance of R1 and R2 in parallel.

Exercise 1.4
We known that the resistance R12 1 of two resistors R1 and R2 in parallel is given by
1
R12 = 1 1
R1 + R2

Now, the resistance R123 of three resistors R1 , R2 and R3 in parallel is equal to the resistance of two
resistors R12 (the resistance between R1 and R2 in parallel) and R3 in parallel, then
1 1
R123 = 1 1 = 1 1 1
R12 + R3 R1 + R2 + R3

We will prove by induction that the resistance R1···n of n resistances R1 , R2 , . . . , Rn in parallel is given
by
1
R1···n = Pn 1
i=1 Ri

First, it’s trivial to show that with n = 1 the equality holds. Now, we will assume that the equality is
satisfied for n = k, that is
1
R1···k = Pk 1
i=1 Ri

1 Here we have only assigned a name to the resistance in parallel between R1 and R2 .

2
 Then, we must show that equality holds for n = k +1. Thus, the resistance R1···(k+1) of (k +1) resistances
R1 , R2 , . . . , Rk+1 in parallel is equal to the resistance of two resistors R1···k and Rk+1 in parallel, then
1 1 1
R1···(k+1) = 1 1 = Pk 1 1
= Pk+1 1
R1···k + Rk+1 i=1 Ri + Rk+1 i=1 Ri

where we have proved that equality holds for n = k + 1. Finally, the resistance of n resistors in parallel is
given by
1 1
R1···n = Pn 1 = 1 1
i=1 Ri R1 + R2 + . . . + R1n

Exercise 1.5
V2
Given that P = , we know that the maximum voltage we can achieve is 15V and the smallest resistance
R
we can have across the resistor in question is 1kΩ. Therefore, the maximum amount of power dissipated can
be given by
V2 (15V)2
P = = = 0.225W
R 1kΩ
This is less than the 1/4W power rating.

Exercise 1.6
P 1010 W
(a) The total current required by New York City that will flow through the cable is I = V = 115 V =
86.96 MA. Therefore, the total power lost per foot of cable can be calculated by:
 
2 6 2 −8 Ω W
P = I R = (86.96 × 10 A) × 5 × 10 = 3.78 × 108
ft ft

(b) The length of cable over which all 1010 W will be lost is:

1010 W
L= W
= 26.45 ft
3.78 × 108 ft

q
P
(c) To calculate the heat dissipated by the cable, we can use the Stefan-Boltzmann equation T = 4 Aσ ,
with A corresponding to the cylindrical surface area of the 26.45 foot long section of 1 foot diameter
cable. Note that σ is given in cm2 , so we will need to use consistent units.

A = πDL = π × 30.48 cm × 806.196 cm = 7.72 × 104 cm2

Therefore, r s
4 P 1010 W
T = = 4
W
= 12, 121 K
Aσ 7.72 × 104 cm2 × 6 × 10−12 K4 cm2

This is indeed a preposterous temperature, more than twice that at the surface of the Sun! The solution
to this problem is that power should be transmitted along long distances at high voltage. This greatly
reduces I 2 R losses. For example, a typical high voltage line voltage is 115kV. At this voltage, the
power loss per foot of cable is only 378 W per foot. Intuitively, we know that reducing current allows
for lower power dissipation. We can deliver the same amount of power with a lower current by using
a higher voltage.

3
Exercise 1.7
A 20, 000Ω/V meter read, on its 1V scale, puts an 20, 000Ω/V · 1V = 20, 000Ω = 20kΩ resistor in series with
an ideal ammeter (ampere meter). Also, a voltage source with an internal resistance is equivalent to an ideal
voltage source with its internal resistance in series.
(a) In the first question, we have the following circuit:

Figure 3: A voltage source with internal resistance and a 20, 000Ω/V meter read in its 1V scale.

10kΩ
I

20kΩ

+
1V −

Then, we have that the current in the ideal ammeter and the voltage in the meter resistance are given
by2
1V
I= = 0.0333mA and V = 0.0333mA · 20kΩ = 0.666V
10kΩ + 20kΩ
(b) In the second question, we have the following circuit:

Figure 4: A 10kΩ − 10kΩ voltage divider and a 20, 000Ω/V meter read in its 1V scale.

10kΩ

+
1V − A

10kΩ 20kΩ

Now, we can to obtain the Thévenin equivalent circuit of circuit in Figure 4 with
10kΩ · 10kΩ
RTh = = 5kΩ
10kΩ + 10kΩ
2 When a meter only measures currents, it puts a resistance in series to measures the current through that resistance and

internally converts that current into voltage to measure voltages.

4
 and
10kΩ
VTh = 1V · = 0.5V
10kΩ + 10kΩ
Then, we have the following equivalent circuit:

Figure 5: Thévenin equivalent circuit of circuit in Figure 4.

RTh
I

+
VTh −

20kΩ

Finally, we have that the current in the ideal ammeter and the voltage in the meter resistance are
given by
0.5V
I= = 0.02mA and V = 0.02mA · 20kΩ = 0.4V
5kΩ + 20kΩ

Exercise 1.8
(a) In the first part, we have the following circuit:

Figure 6: 50µA ammeter with 5kΩ internal resistance (shown in blue) in parallel with shunt resistor.

Is Rs

Im 5kΩ
A

We want to measure I for 0-1 A, and the ideal ammeter measures up to 50 µA. To find what shunt
resistance Rs allows us to do so, we set I = 1A and Im = 50µA. By KCL we know Is = 0.999950A.
To determine Rs , we still need to find the voltage across it. We can find this voltage by doing

V = Im Rm = 50µA · 5kΩ = 0.25V

Then we simply do
V 0.25V
Rs = = = 0.25Ω
Is 0.999950A

5
(b) In the second part, we have the following circuit:

Figure 7: 50µA ammeter with 5kΩ internal resistance (shown in blue) with a series resistor.

5kΩ
A
I
+ Rs
V −

We want to measure V for 0-10 V, and the ideal ammeter measures up to 50 µA. To find the series
resistance Rs , we set V = 10V and I = 50µA. Then we solve
V
= 5kΩ + Rs
I
10V
Rs = − 5kΩ = 195kΩ
50µA

Exercise 1.10
(a) With two equal-value resistors, the output voltage is half the input voltage.

1 30V
Vout = Vin = = 15V
2 2

(b) To treat R2 and Rload as a single resistor, combine the two resistors which are in parallel to find that
the combined (equivalent) resistance is 5kΩ. Now, we have a simple voltage divider with a 10kΩ resistor
in series with the 5kΩ equivalent resistor. The output voltage is across this equivalent resistance. The
output voltage is given by
5kΩ 30V
Vout = Vin = = 10V
10kΩ + 5kΩ 3
TODO: Add a diagram to make this clearer
(c) We can redraw the voltage divider circuit to make the “port” clearer.

Figure 8: Voltage divider with port shown.

+
R1
+
− Vin R2 Vout
−

We can find VTh by leaving the ports open (open circuit) and measuring Vout , the voltage across R2 .
This comes out to be half the input voltage when R1 = R2 , so Vout = 15V. Thus VTh = 15V .

6
 To find the Thévinen resistance, we need to find the short circuit current, ISC . We short circuit the
port and measure the current flowing through it.

Figure 9: Voltage divider with short circuit on the output.

R1
+
− Vin R2 ISC

Vin
In this circuit, no current flows through R2 , flowing through the short instead. Thus we have ISC = .
R1
VTh
From this, we can find RTh from RTh = . This gives us
ISC
VTh VTh 15V
RTh = = = = 5kΩ
ISC Vin /R1 30V/10kΩ

The Thévenin equivalent circuit takes the form shown below.

Figure 10: Thévenin equivalent circuit.

RTh

+
+
− VTh Vout
−

In terms of behavior at the ports, this circuit is equivalent to the circuit in Figure 8.
(d) We connect the 10kΩ load to the port of the Thévenin equivalent circuit in Figure 10 to get the
following circuit.

Figure 11: Thévenin equivalent circuit with 10kΩ load.

RTh
+
+ 10kΩ
− VTh Vout

From here, we can find Vout , treating this circuit as a voltage divider.
10kΩ 10kΩ
Vout = VTh = · 15V = 10V
RTh + 10kΩ 5kΩ + 10kΩ

7
 This is the same answer we got in part (b).
(e) To find the power dissipated in each resistor, we return to the original three-resistor circuit.

Figure 12: Original voltage divider with 10kΩ load attached.

R1
Vin + R2 Rload
−

From part (d), we know that the output voltage is 10V and that this is the voltage across the load
2
resistor. Since P = IV = VR , we find that the power through Rload is

V2 (10V)2
Pload = = = 10mW
Rload 10kΩ
Similarly, we know that the power across R2 is the same since the voltage across R2 is the same as the
voltage across Rload . Thus we have
P2 = 10mW
To find the power dissipated in R1 , we first have to find the voltage across it. From Kirchoff’s loop
rule, we know that the voltage around any closed loop in the circuit must be zero. We can choose the
loop going through the voltage source, R1 , and R2 . The voltage supplied by the source is 30V. The
voltage dropped across R2 is 10V as discussed before. Thus the voltage dropped across R1 must be
30V − 10V − 20V. Now we know the voltage across and the resistance of R1 . We use the same formula
as before to find the power dissipated.

V2 (20V)2
P1 = = = 40mW
R1 10kΩ

Exercise 1.11
Consider the following Thévenin circuit where Rsource is just another name for the Thévenin resistance, RTh .

Figure 13: Standard Thévenin circuit with attached load.

Rsource

VTh + Rload
−

We will first calculate the power dissipated in the load and then maximize it with calculus. We can find
the power through a resistor using current and resistence since P = IV = I(IR) = I 2 R. To find the total

8
current flowing through the resistors, we find the equivalent resistance which is Rsource + Rload . Thus the
VTh
total current flowing is I = Rsource +Rload . The power dissipated in Rload is thus
2
VTh Rload
Pload = I 2 Rload =
(Rsource + Rload )2
To maximize this function, we take the derivative and set it equal to 0.
dPload (Rsource + Rload )2 − 2Rload (Rsource + Rload )
= VTh =0
dRload (Rsource + Rload )4
=⇒ Rsource + Rload = 2Rload
=⇒ Rsource = Rload

Exercise 1.12
V2
(a) Voltage ratio: V1 = 10db/20 = 103/20 = 1.413
P2
Power ratio: P1 = 10db/10 = 103/10 = 1.995
V2
(b) Voltage ratio: V1 = 10db/20 = 106/20 = 1.995
P2
Power ratio: P1 = 10db/10 = 106/10 = 3.981
V2
(c) Voltage ratio: V1 = 10db/20 = 1010/20 = 3.162
P2
Power ratio: P1 = 10db/10 = 1010/10 = 10
V2
(d) Voltage ratio: V1 = 10db/20 = 1020/20 = 10
P2
Power ratio: P1 = 10db/10 = 1020/10 = 100

Exercise 1.13
There are two important facts to notice from Exericse 1.12:
1. An increase of 3dB corresponds to doubling the power
2. An increase of 10dB corresponds to 10 times the power.
Using these two facts, we can fill in the table. Start from 10dB. Fill in 7dB, 4dB, and 1dB using fact 1.
Then fill in 11dB using fact 2. Then fill in 8dB, 5dB, and 2dB using fact 1 and approximating 3.125 as π.
dB ratio(P/P0 )
0 1
1 1.25
2 π/2
3 2
4 2.5
5 3.125 ≈ π
6 4
7 5
8 6.25
9 8
10 10
11 12.5

9
Exercise 1.14
Recall the relationship between I, V , and C: I = C dV
dt . Now, we perform the integration:
Z Z t1
dU = V Idt
t0
Z t1
dV
U= CV dt
t0 dt
Z Vf
=C V dV
0
1
U= CV 2
2 f

Exercise 1.15
Consider the following two capacitors in series.

Figure 14: Two capacitors in series.

C1 C2

+ Vtotal −

To prove the capacitance formula, we need to express the total capacitance of both of these capacitors
in terms of the individual capacitances. From the definition of capacitance, we have
Qtotal
Ctotal =
Vtotal
Notice that Vtotal is the sum of the voltages across C1 and C2 . We can get each of these voltages using the
definition of capacitance.
Q1 Q2
Vtotal = V1 + V2 = +
C1 C2
The key observation now is that because the right plate of C1 is connected to the left plate of C2 , the charge
stored on both plates must be of equal magnitude.3 Therefore, we have Q1 = Q2 . Let us call this charge
stored Q (i.e. Q = Q1 = Q2 ). Now, we know that the total charge stored is also Q.4 Therefore, we know
that Qtotal = Q. Now, we have
Qtotal Q Q 1
Ctotal = = = =
Vtotal Q1 /C1 + Q2 /C2 Q/C1 + Q/C2 1/C1 + 1/C2

4 If this were not true, then there would be a net charge on these two plates and the wire between them. Because we assume

that the capacitors started out with no net charge and there is no way for charge to leave the middle wire or the two plates it
connects, this is impossible.
4 If you are having trouble seeing this, suppose we apply a positive voltage to the left plate of C relative to the right plate
1
of C2 . Suppose this causes the left plate of C1 to charge to some charge q. We now must have a charge of −q on the right plate
of C1 because q units of charge are now pushed onto the left plate of C2 . Now the left of C2 has q units of charge which causes
a corresponding −q charge on the right side of C2 . Thus the overall total charge separated across these two capacitors is q.

10
Exercise 1.16
Equation 1.21 gives us the relationship between the time and the voltage (Vout ) across the capacitor while
charging. To find the rise time, subtract the time it takes to reach 10% of the final value from the time it
takes to reach 90% of the final value.

Vout = 0.1Vf = Vf (1 − e−t1 /RC )

0.1 = 1 − e−t1 /RC
t1 = −RC ln(0.9)

Similarly, we find that t2 = −RC ln(0.1). Subtracting these two gives us

t2 − t1 = −RC(ln(0.1) − ln(0.9)) = 2.2RC

Exercise 1.17
The voltage divider on the left side of the circuit can be replaced with the Thévenin equivalent circuit found
Exercise 1.10 (c). Recall that VTh = 21 Vin and RTh = 5kΩ. This gives us the following circuit.

Figure 15: Thévenin equivalent circuit to Figure 1.36 from the textbook.

RTh

+ +

VTh C V (t)
− −

Now we have a simple RC circuit which we can apply Equation 1.21 to. The voltage across the capacitor
is given by
1 −4
V (t) = Vfinal (1 − e−t/RC ) = VTh (1 − e−t/RTh C = Vin (1 − e−t/5×10 )
2
TODO: Add graph

Exercise 1.18
From the capacitor equation in the previous paragraph, we have

V (t) = (I/C)t = (1mA/1µF)t = 10V

This gives us
t = 0.01s

11
Exercise 1.19
Suppose a current I is flowing through a loop of wire with cross-sectional area A. This induces a magnetic
field B, and the flux Φ through the loop is
Φ = BA
Now suppose the same current I flows through a wire coiled into n loops, each with the same cross-sectional
area A. This induces a magnetic field of n times the strength, Bn = nB. Since each loop has area A, the
total cross-sectional area of the coil can be considered An = nA. Then the magnetic flux through the coil is

Φn = Bn An = n2 BA = n2 Φ

Since inductance is defined as flux through a coil divided by current through the flux, we can see that
Φn = n2 Φ implies L ∝ n2 .

Exercise 1.20
We can use the formula for the full-wave rectifier ripple voltage to find the capacitance.
Iload
= ∆V ≤ 0.1Vp-p
2f C
The maximum load current is 10mA and assuming a standard wall outlet frequency of 60 Hz, we have
10mA
C≥ = 833µF
2 × 60Hz × 0.1V
Now we need to find the AC input voltage. The peak voltage after rectification must be 10V (per the
requirements). Since each phase of the AC signal must pass through 2 diode drops, we have to add this to
find out what our AC peak-to-peak voltage must be. Thus we have

Vin,p-p = 10V + 2(0.6V) = 11.2V

Exercise 1.30
Vout is simply the voltage at the output of an impedance voltage divider. We know that ZR = R and
1
ZC = jωC . Thus we have

1
ZC jωC 1
Vout = Vin = 1 Vin = 1 + jωRC Vin
ZR + ZC R + jωC

The magnitude of this expression can be found by multiplying by the complex conjugate and taking the
square root.
∗ 1
sqrtVout Vout =√ Vin
1 + ω 2 R2 C 2

12