notes2

431/531 Class Notes 2
1.5 Thevenin Theorem (contd.)

Recall that the Thevenin Theorem states that any collection of resistors and EMFs is equiv-
alent to a circuit of the form shown within the box labelled \Circuit A" in the gure below.
As before, the load resistor RL is not part of the Thevenin circuit. The Thevenin idea,
however, is most useful when one considers two circuits or circuit elements, with the rst
circuit's output providing the input for the second circuit. In Fig. 6, the output of the
rst circuit (A), consisitng of VTH and RTH , is fed to the second circuit element (B ), which
consists simply of a load resistance (RL ) to ground. This simple con guration represents, in
a general way, a very broad range of analog electronics.
Circuit A
Circuit B
R TH
V TH Vout R
L
Figure 6: Two interacting circuits.
1.5.1 Avoiding Circuit Loading

VTH is a voltage source. In the limit that RTH ! 0 the output voltage delivered to the load
RL remains at constant voltage. For nite RTH , the output voltage is reduced from VTH by
an amount IRTH, where I is the current of the complete circuit, which depends upon the
value of the load resistance RL: I = VTH =(RTH + RL ).
Therefore, RTH determines to what extent the output of the rst circuit behaves as an
ideal voltage source. An approximately ideal behavior turns out to be quite desirable in most
cases, as Vout can be considered constant, independent of what load is connected. Since our
combined equivalent circuit (A + B ) forms a simple voltage divider, we can easily see what
the requirement for RTH can be found from the following:
Vout = VTH R + R = 1 + (RVTH =R )
RL

TH L TH L
5
Thus, we should try to keep the ratio RTH =RL small in order to approximate ideal behavior
and avoid \loading the circuit". A maximum ratio of 1=10 is often used as a design rule of
thumb.
A good power supply will have a very small RTH , typically much less than an ohm. For
a battery this is referred to as its internal resistance. The dimming of one's car headlights
when the starter is engaged is a measure of the internal resistance of the car battery.
1.5.2 Input and Output Impedance
Our simple example can also be used to illustrate the important concepts of input and output
resistance. (Shortly, we will generalize our discussion and substitute the term \impedance"
for resistance. We can get a head start by using the common terms \input impedance" and
\output impedance" at this point.)
The output impedance of circuit A is simply its Thevenin equivalent resistance RTH .
The output impedance is sometimes called \source impedance".
The input impedance of circuit B is its resistance to ground from the circuit input. In
this case it is simply RL.
It is generally possible to reduce two complicated circuits, which are connected to each
other as an input/output pair, to an equivalent circuit like our example. The input and
output impedances can then be measured using the simple voltage divider equations.
2 RC Circuits in Time Domain

2.0.3 Capacitors
Capacitors typically consist of two electrodes separated by a non-conducting gap. The
quantitiy capacitance C is related to the charge on the electrodes (+Q on one and ,Q on
the other) and the voltage di erence across the capacitor by
C = Q=VC
Capacitance is a purely geometric quantity. For example, for two planar parallel electrodes
each of area A and separated by a vacuum gap d, the capacitance is (ignoring fringe elds)
C = 0A=d, where 0 is the permittivity of vacuum. If a dielectric having dielectric constant
is placed in the gap, then 0 ! 0 . The SI unit of capacitance is the Farad. Typical
laboratory capacitors range from 1pF to 1F.
For DC voltages, no current passes through a capacitor. It \blocks DC". When a time
varying potential is applied, we can di erentiate our de ning expression above to get
I = C dVdtC (1)
for the current passing through the capacitor.
6
R
Vin I C Vout
Figure 7: RC circuit | integrator.
2.0.4 A Basic RC Circuit

Consider the basic RC circuit in Fig. 7. We will start by assuming that Vin is a DC voltage
source (e.g. a battery) and the time variation is introduced by the closing of a switch at
time t = 0. We wish to solve for Vout as a function of time.
Applying Ohm's Law across R gives Vin , Vout = IR. The same current I passes through
the capacitor according to I = C (dV=dt). Substituting and rearranging gives (let V VC =
Vout):
dV + 1 V = 1 V (2)
dt RC RC in
The homogeneous solution is V = Ae,t=RC , where A is a constant, and a particular solution
is V = Vin. The initial condition V (0) = 0 determines A, and we nd the solution
h i
V (t) = Vin 1 , e,t=RC (3)
This is the usual capacitor \charge up" solution.
Similarly, a capacitor with a voltage Vi across it which is discharged through a resistor
to ground starting at t = 0 (for example by closing a switch) can in similar fashion be found
to obey
V (t) = Vie,t=RC
2.0.5 The \RC Time"
In both cases above, the rate of charge/discharge is determined by the product RC which
has the dimensions of time. This can be measured in the lab as the time during charge-up or
discharge that the voltage comes to within 1=e of its asymptotic value. So in our charge-up
example, Equation 3, this would correspond to the time required for Vout to rise from zero
to 63% of Vin.
2.0.6 RC Integrator
From Equation 2, we see that if Vout Vin then the solution to our RC circuit becomes
V = 1 Z
V (t)dt (4)
out
RC in
7
Note that in this case Vin can be any function of time. Also note from our solution Eqn. 3
that the limit Vout Vin corresponds roughly to t RC . Within this approximation, we
see clearly from Eqn. 4 why the circuit above is sometimes called an \integrator".
2.0.7 RC Di erentiator
Let's rearrange our RC circuit as shown in Fig. 8.
Vin I R Vout
Figure 8: RC circuit | di erentiator.
Applying Kircho 's second Law, we have Vin = VC + VR, where we identify VR = Vout.
By Ohm's Law, VR = IR, where I = C (dVC =dt) by Eqn. 1. Putting this together gives
Vout = RC dtd (Vin , Vout)
In the limit Vin Vout, we have a di erentiator:
Vout = RC dVdtin
By a similar analysis to that of Section 2.0.6, we would see the limit of validity is the opposite
of the integrator, i.e. t RC .

notes2

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

notes2

Uploaded by

Document Information

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

notes2

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

431/531 Class Notes 2

1.5 Thevenin Theorem (contd.)

Figure 6: Two interacting circuits.

1.5.1 Avoiding Circuit Loading

2 RC Circuits in Time Domain

Figure 7: RC circuit | integrator.

2.0.4 A Basic RC Circuit

Figure 8: RC circuit | di erentiator.

You might also like