Superposition theorem

In any linear bilateral network containing two or more independent sources (voltage or current
sources or combination of voltage and current sources), the resultant current / voltage in any
branch is the algebraic sum of currents / voltages caused by each independent sources acting
along, with all other independent sources being replaced meanwhile by their respective internal
resistances.

Explanation: Superposition theorem can be explained through a simple resistive network as

Using mesh equations,

𝐸1 = 𝐼1 (𝑅1 + 𝑅2 ) + 𝐼2 𝑅3 (1)

𝐸2 = 𝐼1 𝑅3 + 𝐼2 (𝑅2 + 𝑅3 ) (2)

Solving equations (1) & (2) for 𝐼1 & 𝐼2 ,

𝑅2 + 𝑅3 𝑅3
𝐼1 = 𝐸1 − 𝐸 (3)
𝑅1 𝑅2 + 𝑅2 𝑅3 + 𝑅3 𝑅1 𝑅1 𝑅2 + 𝑅2 𝑅3 + 𝑅3 𝑅1 2

−𝑅3 𝑅1 + 𝑅3
𝐼2 = 𝐸1 + 𝐸 (4)
𝑅1 𝑅2 + 𝑅2 𝑅3 + 𝑅3 𝑅1 𝑅1 𝑅2 + 𝑅2 𝑅3 + 𝑅3 𝑅1 2

If now each source in turn removed by short circuiting its emf (but not its impedance) the
circuits a & b are obtained. Therefore, according to superposition theorem,

𝐼1 = 𝐼1′ + 𝐼1"
 𝐼2 = 𝐼2′ + 𝐼2"

Solution of the circuits (b) &(c) for their respective currents gives

𝑅2 + 𝑅3
𝐼1′ = 𝐸 (5)
𝑅1 𝑅2 + 𝑅2 𝑅3 + 𝑅3 𝑅1 1

𝑅3
𝐼1′′ = − 𝐸 (6)
𝑅1 𝑅2 + 𝑅2 𝑅3 + 𝑅3 𝑅1 2

−𝑅3
𝐼2′ = 𝐸 (7)
𝑅1 𝑅2 + 𝑅2 𝑅3 + 𝑅3 𝑅1 1

𝑅1 + 𝑅3
𝐼2′′ = 𝐸 (8)
𝑅1 𝑅2 + 𝑅2 𝑅3 + 𝑅3 𝑅1 2

The superposition theorem is a result of the linear relation between current and voltage in a
circuit having linear impedances.

Example-Consider the network shown in fig. 2 (a). Calculate Iab and Vcg using superposition
theorem.

Solution: Voltage Source Only (retain one source at a time):

7 28
𝑅𝑒𝑞 = [(𝑅𝑎𝑐 + 𝑅𝑐𝑏 ) ∥ 𝑅𝑎𝑏 ] + 𝑅𝑏𝑔 = +2 = 𝛺
8 3
3
𝐼= 28 = 1.043 𝐴; Now current through a to b is given by
3

7
𝐼𝑎𝑏 = 1.043 × 8 = 0.913 𝐴(𝑎 𝑡𝑜 𝑏)

𝐼𝑎𝑐𝑏 = 1.043 − 0.913 = 0.13 𝐴

Voltage across c-g terminal :

𝑉𝑐𝑔 = 𝑉𝑐𝑏 + 𝑉𝑏𝑔 = 0.13 × 4 + 1.043 × 2 = 2.61 𝑣𝑜𝑙𝑡𝑠

Current source only (retain one source at a time):

Now consider the current source 𝐼𝑠 = 2 𝐴 only and the voltage source 𝑉𝑎 is replaced by its
internal resistance which is zero in the present case. The corresponding simplified circuit
diagram is shown below (see fig.2(c) & fig. 2(d)).
Current in the following branches:

(14/3) × 2
3𝛺 𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑜𝑟 = = 1.217 𝐴; 4𝛺 𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑜𝑟 = 2 − 1.217 = 0.783 𝐴
14
( )+2
3
2
1𝛺 𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑜𝑟 = ( ) × 0.783 𝐴 = 0.522 𝐴 (𝑏 𝑡𝑜 𝑎)
3
Voltage across 3 ohm resistor (c & g terminals) 𝑉𝑐𝑔 = 1.217 × 3 = 3.651 𝑣𝑜𝑙𝑡𝑠

The total current flowing through 1Ω resistor (due to the both sources) from a to b= 0.913 (due
to voltage source only; current flowing from ‘a’ to ‘b’) – 0.522 (due to current source only;
current flowing from ‘b’to ‘a’) =0.391A.

Total voltage across the current source 𝑉𝑐𝑔 = 2.61 𝑣𝑜𝑙𝑡𝑠 due to voltage source; ‘c’ is higher
potential than ‘g’) + 3.651 (due to current source only; ‘c’ is higher potential than ‘g’) = 6.26
volts.
Limitations of superposition Theorem

● Superposition theorem doesn’t work for power calculation. Because power

● Superposition theorem cannot be applied for non-linear circuits (Diodes or Transistors).

● This method has weaknesses:- In order to calculate load current 𝐼𝐿 or the load voltage
𝑉𝐿 for the several choices of load resistance of the resistive network, one needs to solve
for every source voltage and current, perhaps several times. With the simple circuit,
this is fairly easy but in a large circuit this method becomes a painful experience.
 THEVENIN’S THEOREM

In many applications, it is not always necessary to analyse the entire network, rather it is
required to find out current, voltage etc. for particular impedance only. In this case Thevenin’s
theorem provides a simple method.

Thevenin’s Theorem: Thevenin’s theorem states that any two output terminals (A&B, shown
in fig. 8.2.(a)) of an active linear network containing independent sources (it includes voltage
and current sources) can be replaced by a simple voltage source of magnitude 𝑉𝑇ℎ in series
with a single resistor 𝑅𝑇ℎ (see fig. 8.2(d)) where is the equivalent resistance of the network
when looking from the output terminals A & B with all sources (voltage and current) removed
and replaced by their internal resistances (see fig. 8.2(c)) and the magnitude 𝑉𝑇ℎ of is equal to
the open circuit voltage across the A & B terminals.

The procedure for applying Thevenin’s theorem

To find a current IL through the load resistance RL (as shown in fig. 8.2(a)) using Thevenin’s
theorem, the following steps are followed:

Step-1: Disconnect the load resistance (RL) from the circuit, as indicated in fig. 8.2(b).
Step-2: Calculate the open-circuit voltage 𝑉𝑇ℎ (shown in fig. 8.2(b)) at the load terminals (A &
B) after disconnecting the load resistance (RL). In general, one can apply any of the techniques
(mesh-current, node-voltage and superposition method) learnt in earlier lessons to compute 𝑉𝑇ℎ
(experimentally just measure the voltage across the load terminals using a voltmeter).

Step-3: Redraw the circuit (fig. 8.2(b)) with each practical source replaced by its internal
resistance as shown in fig.8.2(c). (note, voltage sources should be short-circuited (just remove
them and replace with plain wire) and current sources should be open-circuited (just removed).

Step-4: Look backward into the resulting circuit from the load terminals (A & B), as suggested
by the eye in fig. 8.2(c). Calculate the resistance that would exist between the load terminals(or
equivalently one can think as if a voltage source is applied across the load terminals and then
trace the current distribution through the circuit (fig.8.2 (c)) in order to calculate the resistance
across the load terminals.) The resistance is described in the statement of Thevenin’s theorem.
Once again, calculating this resistance may be a difficult task but one can try to use the standard
circuit reduction technique or star-delta or delta-star transformation techniques.

Step-5: Place 𝑅𝑇ℎ in series with 𝑉𝑇ℎ to form the Thevenin’s equivalent circuit (replacing the
imaginary fencing portion or fixed part of the circuit with an equivalent practical voltage
source) as shown in fig. 8.2(d).

Step-6: Reconnect the original load to the Thevenin voltage circuit as shown in fig.8.2(e); the
load voltage, current and power may be calculated by a simple arithmetic operation only.
 𝑉𝑇ℎ
𝐿𝑜𝑎𝑑 𝑐𝑢𝑟𝑟𝑒𝑛𝑡, 𝐼𝐿 = 𝑅
𝑇ℎ +𝑅𝐿

𝑉𝑇ℎ
𝑉𝑜𝑙𝑡𝑎𝑔𝑒 𝑎𝑐𝑟𝑜𝑠𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑙𝑜𝑎𝑑, 𝑉𝐿 = × 𝑅𝐿 = 𝐼𝐿 × 𝑅𝐿
𝑅𝑇ℎ + 𝑅𝐿

𝑃𝑜𝑤𝑒𝑟 𝑎𝑏𝑠𝑜𝑟𝑏𝑒𝑑 𝑏𝑦 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑙𝑜𝑎𝑑, 𝑃𝐿 = 𝐼𝐿2 × 𝑅𝐿

Example-L.8.2 For the circuit shown in fig.8.4 (a), find the current IL through the 6Ω resistor
using Thevenin’s theorem.

Solution:

Step-1: Disconnect 6 ohm resistance from the terminals ‘a’ and ‘b’ and the corresponding
circuit diagram is shown in fig.L.8.4 (b). Consider point ‘g’ as ground potential and other
voltages are measured with respect to this point.

Step-2: Apply any suitable method to find the Thevenin’s voltage (VTh) (or potential between
the terminals ‘a’ and ‘b’). KVL is applied around the closed path ‘gcag’ to compute Thevenin’s
voltage.
 42 − 8𝐼 − 4𝐼 − 30 = 0 ⟹ 𝐼 = 1 𝐴

𝑁𝑜𝑤, 𝑉𝑎𝑔 = 30 + 4 = 34 𝑉; 𝑉𝑏𝑔 = 2 × 3 = 6 𝑉

𝑉𝑇ℎ = 𝑉𝑎𝑏 = 𝑉𝑎𝑔 − 𝑉𝑏𝑔 = 34 − 6 = 28 𝑉 (Note ‘a’ is higher potential than ‘b’)

Step-3: Thevenin’s resistance Rth can be found by replacing all sources by their internal
resistances (all voltage sources are short-circuited and current sources are just removed or open
circuited) as shown in fig.8.4 (c).

8×4 14
𝑅𝑇ℎ = (8 ∥ 4) + 2 = +2= = 4.666 𝛺
12 3
Step-4: Thevenin’s equivalent circuit as shown in fig.8.4 (d) now equivalently represents the
original circuit (fig.L.8.4(a).

𝑉𝑇ℎ 28
𝐼𝐿 = = = 2.625 𝐴
𝑅𝑇ℎ + 𝑅𝐿 4.666 + 6

Maximum Power Transfer Theorem

A resistive load will abstract maximum power from a network when the load resistance is
equal to the resistance of the network as viewed from the output terminals, with all energy
sources removed leaving behind their internal resistances.
In fig.8.6(b) a variable load resistance RL is connected to an equivalent Thevenin circuit of the
original circuit(fig.8.6(a)). The current for any value of load resistance is

𝑉𝑇ℎ
𝐼𝐿 =
𝑅𝑇ℎ + 𝑅𝐿

Then, the power delivered to the load is

2
𝑉𝑇ℎ
𝑃𝐿 = 𝐼𝐿2 𝑅𝐿 =[ ] × 𝑅𝐿
𝑅𝑇ℎ + 𝑅𝐿
The load power depends on both RTh and RL; however, RTh is constant for the equivalent
Thevenin network. So power delivered by the equivalent Thevenin network to the load resistor
entirely depends on the value of RL. To find the value of RL that absorbs a maximum power
from the Thevenin circuit, we differentiate PL with respect to RL.

𝑑𝑃(𝑅𝐿 ) 2
(𝑅𝑇ℎ + 𝑅𝐿 )2 − 2𝑅𝐿 × (𝑅𝑇ℎ + 𝑅𝐿 )
= 𝑉𝑇ℎ [ ]=0
𝑑𝑅𝐿 (𝑅𝑇ℎ + 𝑅𝐿 )4

⇒ (𝑅𝑇ℎ + 𝑅𝐿 ) − 2𝑅𝐿 = 0

⇒ 𝑅𝐿 = 𝑅𝑇ℎ

For maximum power dissipation in the load, the condition given below must be satisfied

2
𝑑 2 𝑃(𝑅𝐿 ) 𝑉𝑇ℎ
| =− <0
𝑑𝑅𝐿2 𝑅 8𝑅𝑇ℎ
𝐿 =𝑅𝑇ℎ

The expression for maximum power dissipated to the load resistance is given by
 2 2
𝑉𝑇ℎ 𝑉𝑇ℎ
𝑃𝑚𝑎𝑥 =[ ] × 𝑅𝐿 | =
𝑅𝑇ℎ + 𝑅𝐿 𝑅𝐿 =𝑅
4𝑅𝑇ℎ
𝑇ℎ

The total power delivered by the source

𝑃𝑇 = 𝐼𝐿2 (𝑅𝑇ℎ + 𝑅𝐿 ) = 2 × 𝐼𝐿2 𝑅𝐿

This means that the Thevenin voltage source itself dissipates as much power in its internal
resistance RTh as the power absorbed by the load RL. Efficiency under maximum power transfer
condition is given by

𝐼𝐿2 𝑅𝐿
𝐸𝑓𝑓𝑖𝑐𝑖𝑒𝑛𝑐𝑦 = × 100 = 50 %
2 × 𝐼𝐿2 𝑅𝐿

For a given circuit, VTh and RTh are fixed. By varying the load resistance RL, the power delivered
to the load varies as shown in fig.8.6(c).

Norton’s theorem
Norton’s theorem states that any two terminals A & B of a network composed of linear
resistances (see fig.8.9(a)) and independent sources (voltage or current, combination of voltage
and current sources) may be replaced by an equivalent current source and a parallel resistance.
The magnitude of current source is the current measured in the short circuit placed across the
terminal pair A & B. The parallel resistance is the equivalent resistance looking into the terminal
pair A & B with all independent sources has been replaced by their internal resistances.
Any linear dc circuit, no matter how complicated, can also be replaced by an equivalent circuit
consisting of one dc current source in parallel with one resistance. Precisely, Norton’s theorem
is a dual of Thevenin’s theorem. To find a current IL through the load resistance RL (as shown
in fig.8.9(a)) using Norton’s theorem, the following steps are followed:

Step-1: Short the output terminal after disconnecting the load resistance (RL) from the terminals
A & B and then calculate the short circuit current (as shown in fig.8.9(b)). In general, one can
apply any of the techniques (mesh-current, node-voltage and superposition method) learnt in
earlier lessons to compute IN (experimentally just measure the short-circuit current using an
ammeter).

Step-2: Redraw the circuit with each practical source replaced by its internal resistance while
the short–circuit across the output terminals removed (note: voltage sources should be short-
circuited (just replaced with plain wire) and current sources should be open-circuited (just
removed)). Look backward into the resulting circuit from the load terminals (A & B), as
suggested by the eye in fig.8.9(c).

Step-3: Calculate the resistance that would exist between the load terminals A & B (or
equivalently one can think as if a voltage source is applied across the load terminals and then
trace the current distribution through the circuit (fig.8.9(c)) in order to calculate the resistance
across the load terminals). This resistance is denoted as RN, as shown in fig.8.9 (d). Once again,
calculating this resistance may be a difficult task but one can try to use the standard circuit
reduction technique or star-delta or delta-star transformation techniques. It may be noted that
the value of Norton’s resistance RN is truly the same as that of Thevenin’s resistance RTh in a
circuit.

Step-4: Place RN in parallel with current IN to form the Norton’s equivalent circuit (replacing
the imaginary fencing portion or fixed part of the circuit with an equivalent practical current
source) as shown in fig.8.8 (d).

Step-5: Reconnect the original load to the Norton current circuit; the load voltage, current and
power may be calculated by a simple arithmetic operation only.

𝑅𝑁
𝐿𝑜𝑎𝑑 𝑐𝑢𝑟𝑟𝑒𝑛𝑡, 𝐼𝐿 = × 𝐼𝑁
𝑅𝑁 + 𝑅𝐿

𝑉𝑜𝑙𝑡𝑎𝑔𝑒 𝑎𝑐𝑟𝑜𝑠𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑙𝑜𝑎𝑑, 𝑉𝐿 = 𝐼𝐿 × 𝑅𝐿

𝑃𝑜𝑤𝑒𝑟 𝑎𝑏𝑠𝑜𝑟𝑏𝑒𝑑 𝑏𝑦 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑙𝑜𝑎𝑑, 𝑃𝐿 = 𝐼𝐿2 × 𝑅𝐿

Remarks: (i) Similar to Thevenin's theorem, Norton’s theorem has also a similar advantage
over the normal circuit reduction technique or any other technique when it is used to calculate
load current (IL), load voltage (VL) and load power (PL) for different loads.

(ii)Fortunately, with help of either Norton’s theorem or Thevenin’s theorem one can find the
choice of load resistance RL that results in the maximum power transfer to the load.

(iii) Norton’s current source may be replaced by an equivalent Thevenin’s voltage source as
shown in fig.L.8.1(b). The magnitude of voltage source (VTh) and its internal resistances (RTh)
are expressed by the following relations
𝑉𝑇ℎ = 𝐼𝑁 × 𝑅𝑁 ; 𝑅𝑇ℎ = 𝑅𝑁 (𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝑝𝑟𝑜𝑝𝑒𝑟 𝑝𝑜𝑙𝑎𝑟𝑖𝑡𝑖𝑒𝑠 𝑎𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑚𝑖𝑛𝑎𝑙)
In other words, a source transformation converts a Thevenin equivalent circuit into a Norton
equivalent circuit or vice-versa.

Example-For the circuit shown in fig. 8.10(a), find the current through 𝑅𝐿 = 𝑅2 = 1 𝛺 resistor
(Ia-b branch) using Norton’s theorem & hence calculate the voltage across the current source
(Vcg).

Solution:
Step-1: Remove the resistor through which the current is to be found and short the terminals
‘a’ and ‘b’ (see fig.8 .10(b)).

Step-2: Any method can be adopted to compute the current flowing through the a-b branch.
Here, we apply ‘mesh – current’ method.

Loop 1: 3 − 𝑅4 (𝐼1 − 𝐼2 ) = 0, 𝑤ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝐼2 = −2 𝐴

𝑅4 𝐼1 = 3 + 𝑅4 𝐼2 = 3 − 2 × 2 = −1 ∴ 𝐼1 = −0.5 𝐴

Loop 3: −𝑅1 𝐼3 − 𝑅3 (𝐼3 − 𝐼2 ) = 0

8
7𝐼3 − 8 = 0 𝐼3 = 𝐴
7

8 −7 + 16 9
∴ 𝐼𝑁 = (𝐼1 − 𝐼3 ) = (−0.5 + ) = = 𝐴
7 14 14

𝐼𝑁 = 0.64 𝐴 (𝑐𝑢𝑟𝑟𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑖𝑠 𝑓𝑙𝑜𝑤𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑓𝑟𝑜𝑚 ‘𝑎’ 𝑡𝑜 ‘𝑏’)

Step-3: To compute RN, all sources are replaced with their internal resistances. The equivalent
resistance between ‘a’ and ‘b’ terminals is the same as the value of Thevenin’s resistance of
the circuit shown in fig.8.3(c).

Step-4: Replace the original circuit with an equivalent Norton’s circuit as shown in fig.8.10(d).

𝑅𝑁 1.555
𝐼𝐿 = × 𝐼𝑁 = × 0.643 = 0.39 𝐴 (𝑎 𝑡𝑜 𝑏)
𝑅𝑁 + 𝑅𝐿 1.555 + 1

In order to calculate the voltage across the current source the following procedures are adopted.
Redraw the original circuit indicating the current direction in the load.
 𝑉𝑏𝑔 = 3 − 1 × 0.39 = 2.61 𝑉

2.61
𝐼𝑏𝑔 = = 1.305 𝐴
2
𝐼𝑐𝑏 = 1.305 − 0.39 = 0.915 𝐴 ( ′𝑐′ 𝑡𝑜 ′𝑏′)

∴ 𝑉𝑐𝑔 = 2 × 1.305 + 4 × 0.915 = 6.26 𝑉 (′𝑐′ 𝑖𝑠 ℎ𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑝𝑜𝑡𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑖𝑎𝑙 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑛 ′𝑔′)