Circuit Analysis (DC Conventional): Current & Voltage in Series Circuits

Upon completion of this course, you will understand:

• Current in a series circuit is the same throughout
• Series elements may be interchanged
• Series circuit voltages
• Interchange of series circuit voltage sources
• What an ideal voltage source is
• What a current source is
• Schematic notation
• Use of ammeters and voltmeters

Who the course is for

There are at least two general approaches to presenting Circuit Analysis course material. One way is a "plug and play" approach that is useful to someone who wants a quick fix for some particular problem. Many times a formula can be extracted from the course material that will provide this kind of solution. For this approach, a minimal amount of time is required on the part of the student and he can be prepared to solve basic problems such as addressed in the course. As an example, the student can memorize the three versions of Ohm's Law and be able to find any of the three quantities - current, voltage, or resistance - knowing only two of them.

A second method requires a bit more time on the part of the student to understand the material more thourghly and be able to adapt his thinking to a situation that was not covered exactly in the course material. An example of this kind of approach would be the student who may not remember all three versions of Ohm's Law, but understands that he can derive the other two if he knows any one of them.

This course is presented in such a way that both types of student needs are met. Equations are presented in their final form and used to illustrate their application. The first type of student can use the equation to solve a problem with no further ado. The second type of student can take the time to understand the basis for the equation and be better prepared to adapt it to a problem that is slightly different than the one covered by the basic formula.

Part of a series

The course presented here is a part of a series of courses on the subject of Circuit Analysis. This course assumes that the user has the knowledge presented in the previous courses in the series, or has obtained sufficient background elsewhere.

There are generally two ways to use this series: A user may start at the beginning and work through the entire series, or he may simply choose parts of the series to either refresh his knowledge or to selectively obtain new knowledge.

The series contains two major classifications - AC and DC. The DC courses (or their equivalent) should be mastered first, as many of the AC courses assume a basic knowledge of the DC Circuit Analysis courses. For example, Ohm's Law for an AC circuit is very much like Ohm's Law for a DC circuit and the user should have the knowledge of the DC circuit to understand the AC circuit material on Ohm's Law.

The DC series is offered in two versions, Electron Flow or Current Flow.

Series Outline - Circuit Analysis Series

DC Circuits, conventional current flow version

Current, voltage, and resistance. 2 hour
Ohm's Law, and power. 1 hour
Series and parallel resistors. 1 hour
Current and Voltage in series circuits. 1 hour
Current and Voltage in parallel circuits. 1 hour
Series and Parallel Networks. 2 hour
Power. 1 hour
Kirchhoff's Laws. 1 hour
Voltage Divider Rule and Current Divider Rule. 1 hour
Open and short circuits, notation and source resistance. 1 hour
Thevenen's Theorem. 1 hour
Norton's Theorem. 1 hour
Superposition Theorem. 1 hour
Mesh Analysis. 2 hour
Node Analysis. 2 hour

DC Circuits, electron flow version
Same topics as conventional flow version

AC Circuits

Sinusoidal generation and definitions. 1 hour
Sinusoidal general format and phase relationships. 1 hour
Average Value and Effective Value. 1 hour
Complex Numbers and Phasors. 2 hour
Dependent Sources. 1 hour
Mesh Equations with dependent sources. 1 hour
Mesh Equations with independent sources. 2 hour
Node Equations with dependent sources. 1 hour
Node Equations with independent sources. 2 hour
RLC circuit response. 1 hour
Source Conversions. 1 hour
Series and Parallel Circuits. 2 hour
Series and Parallel Networks. 2 hour
Thevenin's and Norton's Theorem. 1 hour
AC Power. 2 hour