Lesson 3.
Equivalent Resistance
3.4 Circuit Analysis involving Resistors in Wye-Delta, and Voltage and Current Division
At the end of the lesson, the students will be able to:
1. Solve problems in dc circuits using the equivalent resistance of resistors in wye-delta
2. Incorporate the use of voltage division and current division with equivalent resistance in solving problems in dc circuits
By reducing the resistive network to its equivalent resistance, we can now easily calculate important electrical quantities.
Once the circuit has been reduced, the total current can now be calculate using Ohm’s Law.
𝑉𝑠
𝐼𝑡𝑜𝑡𝑎𝑙 =
𝑅𝑒𝑞
Illustrative Examples:
1. For the bridge network, find the equivalent resistance and i.
Solution: Since there are no resistors in series and parallel, identify a wye or delta connected resistors and transform it.
Take the 24, 20 and 10 delta connection
Page | 1 ELEMEE for AE by MAQ
The circuit will transform into this
Covert delta-to-wye
𝑅𝑏 𝑅𝑐 24(10) 24 40
𝑅1 = = = = 𝑜ℎ𝑚𝑠
𝑅𝑎 + 𝑅𝑏 + 𝑅𝑐 24 + 20 + 10 54 9
𝑅𝑎 𝑅𝑐 24(20) 80
𝑅2 = = = 𝑜ℎ𝑚𝑠
𝑅𝑎 + 𝑅𝑏 + 𝑅𝑐 54 9
𝑅𝑎 𝑅𝑏 20(10) 100
𝑅3 = = = 𝑜ℎ𝑚𝑠
𝑅𝑎 + 𝑅𝑏 + 𝑅𝑐 54 27
40 67
13 𝑠𝑒𝑟𝑖𝑒𝑠 = 𝑜ℎ𝑚𝑠
9 9
80 350
𝑠𝑒𝑟𝑖𝑒𝑠 30 = 𝑜ℎ𝑚𝑠
9 9
100 1450
𝑠𝑒𝑟𝑖𝑒𝑠 50 = 𝑜ℎ𝑚𝑠
27 27
Page | 2 ELEMEE for AE by MAQ
350 1450
( )( )
𝑅𝑒𝑞 = 9 27 + 67
350 1450 9
+
9 27
𝑅𝑒𝑞 = 30 𝑜ℎ𝑚𝑠
Solving for the current i
𝑉𝑠 100 10
𝑖= = = 𝑜𝑟 3.333 𝐴
𝑅𝑒𝑞 30 3
Answers: 𝑅𝑒𝑞 = 30 𝑜ℎ𝑚𝑠 and 𝑖 = 3.333 𝐴
Voltage Division
The voltage across series resistors can be calculated by this formula
𝑅1
𝑣1 = 𝑣 ( )
𝑅1 + 𝑅2
𝑅2
𝑣2 = 𝑣 ( )
𝑅1 + 𝑅2
Illustrative Example:
Solve for v1 and v2 using voltage division
Page | 3 ELEMEE for AE by MAQ
We normally solve for the equivalent resistance, total current, then we apply Ohm’s Law
𝑅𝑒𝑞 = 2 + 3 = 5 𝑜ℎ𝑚𝑠
𝑣 20
𝑖= = =4𝐴
𝑅𝑒𝑞 5
𝑣1 = 2𝑖 = 2(4) = 8 𝑣𝑜𝑙𝑡𝑠
𝑣2 = 3𝑖 = 3(4) = 12 𝑣𝑜𝑙𝑡𝑠
Now, we compare the answers if we use voltage division
𝑅1 2
𝑣1 = 𝑣 ( ) = (20) ( ) = 8 𝑣𝑜𝑙𝑡𝑠
𝑅1 + 𝑅2 2+3
𝑅2 3
𝑣2 = 𝑣 ( ) = (20) ( ) = 12 𝑣𝑜𝑙𝑡𝑠
𝑅1 + 𝑅2 2+3
Current Division
For the given circuits
a. The total current is the same as the value of the current source
b. The presence of the resistor at the source will not affect the division of current
The current on each branch can be calculated using the following:
𝑅2
𝑖1 = 𝑖 ( )
𝑅1 + 𝑅2
𝑅1
𝑖2 = 𝑖 ( )
𝑅1 + 𝑅2
Illustrative Example:
Page | 4 ELEMEE for AE by MAQ
Find the currents i1, i2 using current division.
Solution: We can solve this problem by taking the equivalent resistance and solve for the voltage using Ohm’s Law
4(8) 32 8
𝑅𝑒𝑞 = = 𝑜𝑟 𝑜ℎ𝑚𝑠
4+8 12 3
8
𝑣 = 𝑖𝑅 = (30) ( ) = 80 𝑣𝑜𝑙𝑡𝑠
3
Same voltage for parallel resistors
Solve for the currents
v1 80
i1 = = = 20 A
4 4
v2 80
𝑖2 = = = 10 A
4 8
Using current division:
8
𝑖1 = (30) ( ) = 20 𝐴
4+8
4
𝑖2 = (30) ( ) = 10 𝐴
4+8
Page | 5 ELEMEE for AE by MAQ
Illustrative Problems.
1. Find the voltage V in the circuit
Solution: We can reduce the circuit by wye-delta transformation and series-parallel resistors until only two resistors are
left. Then, we apply voltage division.
Place the resistors for delta transformation
Now, we can connect it to delta and calculate the resistances
𝑅1 𝑅2 + 𝑅2 𝑅3 + 𝑅3 𝑅1 (12)(10) + (10)(15) + (15)(12) 450 75
𝑅𝑎 = = = = 𝑜ℎ𝑚𝑠
𝑅1 12 12 2
Page | 6 ELEMEE for AE by MAQ
𝑅1 𝑅2 + 𝑅2 𝑅3 + 𝑅3 𝑅1 450
𝑅𝑏 = = = 45 𝑜ℎ𝑚𝑠
𝑅2 10
𝑅1 𝑅2 + 𝑅2 𝑅3 + 𝑅3 𝑅1 450
𝑅𝑐 = = = 30 𝑜ℎ𝑚𝑠
𝑅3 15
30 parallel 75/2 is in series with 30 parallel 20
75
(30) ( )
2 + (30)(20) = 86 𝑜ℎ𝑚𝑠
75 30 + 20 3
30 +
2
35 parallel 45
(35)(45) 315
= 𝑜ℎ𝑚𝑠
35 + 45 16
315/16 parallel with 86/3
315 86
( )( )
16 3 = 11.672 𝑜ℎ𝑚𝑠
315 86
+
16 3
Page | 7 ELEMEE for AE by MAQ
At this point, we can use voltage division
11.672
𝑉 = 100 ( )
16 + 11.672
Answer: 𝑉 = 42.18 𝑉
2. Calculate Vo and Io in the circuit.
Solution: First we reduce the circuit to just two resistors. (Note that Io and Vo will momentarily disappear)
70 parallel 30
(70)(30)
= 21 𝑜ℎ𝑚𝑠
70 + 30
20 parallel 5
(20)(5)
= 4 𝑜ℎ𝑚𝑠
20 + 5
Now we can apply voltage division
21
𝑣21 = 50 ( ) = 42 𝑉𝑜𝑙𝑡𝑠
21 + 4
Page | 8 ELEMEE for AE by MAQ
4
𝑣4 = 50 ( ) = 8 𝑉𝑜𝑙𝑡𝑠
21 + 4
From the given circuit,
In the original circuit, the voltages will be as follows
The current across 30 ohms and 5 ohms can be calculated
42
𝑖30 = = 1.4 𝐴
30
8
𝑖5 = = 1.6𝐴
5
By KCL
𝐼𝑜 + 𝑖30 − 𝑖5 = 0
𝐼𝑜 + (1.4) − (1.6) = 0
Answer:
𝐼𝑜 = 0.2 𝐴
Page | 9 ELEMEE for AE by MAQ