Addis Ababa Institute of Technology

Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering

Laboratory Report

Course No.: Eceg 1204

Experiment No.: II

Title:-KVL, KCL, Thevenin’s theorem and Norton’s theorem

By: Tsinatalem Zergaw ID NO ATR/1390/

ID No.:

Group: 15B/2

Date of Experiment: 23/04/2012

Date of Submission: 30/04/2012

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1. Introduction

The experiment we conducted is intended to verify two laws and theorems. The first laws are
Kirchhoff’s laws and the second one is Thevenin’s and Norton’s theorems. Kirchhoff’s laws,
which were introduced by a German physics Gustav Robert Kirchhoff, are classified in to two.
They are Kirchhoff’s current law (KCL) and Kirchhoff’s voltage law (KVL). These laws are widely
implemented for the first part of the experiment. During conducting the experiment, the
polarities of the resistors were taken into consideration because unless it is assigned properly,
we can’t measure the current flow through the given resistor this is due to the passive sign
convention. Thevenin’s theorem, which was stated by a French telegraph engineer M.Leone
Thevenin (1857-1926), was applied to the second part of the experiment. This part of the
experiment consists of a 10v independent D.C source to the left of the circuit and an open
terminal of a-b to the right of the circuit. For this set up of the experiment, we have measured
Thevenin’s voltage (VTh) by connecting a voltmeter at the open terminal of the circuit. We also
measured the Thevenin’s resistance (RTh) by turning off the independent source which we
connected earlier. Norton’s theorem was formulated by E.L.Norton, an American engineer in
1926. We applied this theorem for the same setup of circuit we used for the Thevenin’s
theorem. But this time rather than calculating the voltage, we measured Norton’s current (I N).
The Norton’s current is the short circuit current through the terminal when all the independent
sources are turned off.
To summarize the introductory part in this experiment, we tried to measure the currents and
the voltages of each element with the given apparatus in the laboratory. We try to record all
the datum appropriately even though there were problems in reading our data accurately due
to human errors.

Component used

No. Description Type Quantity

1 Resistor 330 Ω 1
2 Resistor 100 Ω 1
3 Resistor 560 Ω 1
4 Resistor 470 Ω 1
5 Resistor 220 Ω 1
6 Resistor 1kΩ 1

I. Objective

1. Verification of Kirchhoff’s laws

2. Verification of Thevenin’s and Norton’s theorem

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II. Theory

Kirchhoff’s laws
Kirchhoff’s laws were first introduced in 1847 by the German physicist Gustav Robert Kirchhoff
(1824-1887). These laws are formally known as Kirchhoff’s current law (KCL) and Kirchhoff’s
voltage law (KVL). Kirchhoff’s first law is based on the law of conservation of charge, which
required that the algebraic sum of charges within a system cannot change.
KCL states that the algebraic sum of current entering a node (or a closed boundary) is zero.

Mathematically, where, N is the number of branches

connected to the node and is
the nth current entering or
leaving the node.
By this law, currents entering a node can be regarded as positive while currents leaving the
node may be taken as negative or vice-versa. We can also restate KCL as “The sum of currents
entering a node is equal to the sum of the currents leaving the node.” A simple application of
KCL is combining current sources in parallel. The combined current is the algebraic sum of the
current supplied by the individual sources. For example, the current sources shown in figure 1.
below can be combined as shown in figure 2.
KCL (at the upper node)
a
IT=I1-I2+I3
I1 I2 I3

b
Fig. 1

IT=I1-I2+I3

b
Fig. 2

See that a circuit can’t contain two different currents, I 1 and I2 in series, unless I1=I2.
otherwise KCL will be violated.
Kirchhoff’s second law is based on the principle of conservation of energy:
Kirchhoff’s voltage law (KVL) states that the algebraic sum of all voltages around a closed path
or loop is zero.

Mathematically, where, M is the number of

voltages in the loop or the

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number of branches in the
loop and is the mth voltage.

To illustrate KVL, consider the circuit in figure 3. below. The sign on each voltage is the polarity
of the terminal encountered first as we travel around the loop. We can start with any branch
and go around the loop either clockwise or counterclockwise. Suppose we start with the
voltage source and go clockwise around the loop as shown; then voltage would be –v 1,+v2, +v3, -
v4, and +v5 in that order for example, as we reach branch 3, the positive terminal is met first,
hence, -v4
V2 V3

V1 V4

V5

KVL (around the loop)

-V1+V2+V3-V4+V5=0

Rearranging the terms;

V2+V3+V5=V1+V4

The above equation may be interpreted as:

Sum of voltage drops = sum of voltage rises
This is an alternative form of KVL. Notice that, if we had traveled counterclockwise, the signs
would be reversed but the equation will remain constant.
Thevenin’s theorem

It often occurs in practice that a particular element in a circuit is variable (usually called the
load) while other elements are fixed. As a typical example, a house hold outlet terminal may be
connected to different appliances constituting a variable load. Each time the variable element is
changed, the entire circuit has to be analyzed all over again. to avoid this problem, Thevenin’s
theorem provides a technique by which the fixed part of the circuit is replaced by an equivalent
circuit.
According to thevenin’s theorem, the linear circuit in figure 4(a) can be replaced by that in
figure 4(b). The circuit to the left of the terminals a-b in figure 4(b) is known as Thevenin’s
equivalent circuit; it was developed in 1833 by M. Leon Thevenin (1857-1926), a French
telegraph engineer.
RTh
I Load
Linear two- Load
terminal circuit V V

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Thevenin’s theorem states that a linear two terminal circuit can be replaced by an equivalent
circuit consisting of a voltage source VTh in series with a resistor RTh where VTh is the open circuit
voltage at the terminals and RTh is the input or the equivalent resistance at the terminal when
the independent sources are turned off.

Norton’s theorem

In 1926, about forty three years after Thevenin published his theorem, E. L. Norton, an
American engineer at Bell Telephone Laboratories proposed a similar theorem.
Norton’s theorem states that a linear two-terminal circuit can be replaced by an equivalent
circuit consisting a current source IN in parallel with the resistor RN where IN is the short circuit
current through the terminals and RN is the input or equivalent resistance at the terminals
when the independent sources are turned off.

IN =
III Method of Experiment

II.1 List of Equipment/Apparatus

No. Description Code/Lab. Reference Quantity

1 DC source AAU 08-1150 1
2 Termistor ----- 1

II.2 Basic Procedure

1. The circuit was set up as shown in fig. 1 & 2 below:

2. Before including VOM in the circuit, the position and range of the function switch for
ammeter, or voltmeter positions was checked by the instructor.
3. The DC source was adjusted to 10v.
4. Finally we measured the current and voltage of each element.

Setup 1 R1=100Ω R2=560 Ω

R3=330Ω
10v R6=470Ω

R4=1KΩ

R5=220Ω

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 Fig. 1 circuit for KVL and KCL verification

Setup 2 470Ω R5=220Ω

10v 330Ω

Fig. 2 Network whose Thevenin’s equivalent is to be found

III. Data Collection

Setup 1

E I100 I220 I330 I470 I560 I1K V100 V220 V330 V470 V560 V1K
10V 22 5 17.5 5.25 5.25 1 2.65 0.95 6.7 2.5 3.2 0.95
(Values of all currents are in mA and that of voltages are in V)

Setup 2

RTh RN VTh IN
400Ω 400Ω 4V 9.25mA

v. Data Analysis
Setup 1

Calculation
100Ω 560 Ω

Loop 1 Loop 2 470 Ω

330Ω

1K Ω

Loop 3

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 220 Ω

KVL (loop 1)

-10+100I1+330(I1-I2) =0

43I1-33I2=1 equation 1

KVL (loop 2)

560I2+470I2+1000(I2-I3) +330(I2-I1) =0

-33I1+236I2-100I3=0 equation 2

KVL (loop 3)

1000(I3-I2) +220I3=0

-100I2+122I3=0 equation 3

Solving the above three equations simultaneously,

I1=20mA

I2=4.28mA

I3=3.5mA

From the above calculation, we can determine the currents of each element as follows.

I100=I1=20mA

I330=I2-I3=(4.28-3.5)mA=0.78mA

I560=I2=4.28mA

I470=I2=4.28mA

I1K=I1-I2=(20-4.28)mA=15.72mA

I220=I3=3.5mA

To determine the voltage,

V100=20mA×100Ω=2V

V330=0.78mA ×330 Ω =0.26V

V560=4.28mA ×560 Ω =2.39V

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 V470=4.28mA ×470 Ω =2.01V

V220=3.5mA× 220 Ω =0.77V

V1K=V220 =0.77V because the resistors are in parallel

To analyze the values that calculated above

E I100 I220 I330 I470 I560 I1K V100 V220 V330 V470 V560 V1K
Measured 10 30 5 22.5 7.5 7.5 9.5 2.7 1.1 6.9 2.7 3.2 1
Calculated 20 3.5 0.78 4.28 4.28 15.72 2 0.77 0.26 2.01 2.39 0.77
(Values of all currents are in mA and that of voltages are in V)

Setup 2

Calculation

RTh=220+ (470//330)

RTh=220+193.875

RTh=413.87Ω

RN=RTh=413.87 Ω

To find the Thevenin’s voltage, apply voltage dividers rule. i.e.

VTh= ×10

VTh=4.125v

To find the Norton’s current, make the give circuit short.

By applying the source transformation and combination of resistors, Norton’s equivalent circuit
will be:

470Ω

193.875Ω Isc

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 Isc= ×

Isc=6.21×10-4=0.621mA

To analyze the values calculated

RTh RN VTh IN
Measured 400Ω 400 Ω 4V 9.25mA
Calculated 413.87Ω 413.87Ω 4.125V 0.621mA

Setup 2

RTh RN VTh IN
100Ω 100Ω 4V 9.25mA

Where, RTh and VTh are Thevenin’s resistance and Voltage and
RN and IN are Norton’s resistance and current

IV. Result and Conclusion

Even though experimental error and human error exists while we measure the reading of
current and voltage, the circuits can be analyzed either of the Kirchhoff’s rules.

Therefore the two laws of Kirchhoff that is Kirchhoff’s current and voltage law and also
Thevenin’s and Norton’s theorems are always valid for any given circuit.

References

1. Fundamentals of electric circuits by Charles K. Alexander