Chapter 2: Circuit Elements

Electrical Source

a device capable of converting nonelectric energy to electric energy and vice versa

Ideal Voltage Source

a circuit element that maintains a prescribed voltage across its terminals regardless of the current flowing in those terminals

Ideal Current Source

 a circuit element that maintains a prescribed current through its terminals regardless of the voltage across those terminals.

Independent Source

an ideal source that establishes a voltage or current in a circuit without relying on voltages or currents elsewhere in the circuit. The value of the voltage or current supplied is specified by the value of the independent source alone.

Dependent Source

 an ideal source that establishes a voltage or current whose value depends on the value of a voltage or current elsewhere in the circuit

DC source

sources that generate either constant voltages or currents

Active Element

element that models a device capable of generating electric energy

Passive Element

element that models physical devices that cannot generate electric energy.

Resistance

the capacity of materials to impede the flow of current or, more specifically, the flow of electric charge

Resistor

 the circuit element modeling resistance

Ohm’s Law

the relationship between voltage and current for a resistor

Short Circuit

a circuit with zero resistance

Open Circuit

a circuit with infinite resistance

Solved Circuit

a circuit with all its elements’ voltages and currents determined

Node

a point where two or more circuit elements meet.

Kirchhoff’s Current Law (KCL)

The algebraic sum of all the currents at any node in a circuit equals zero.

Closed Path/ Loop

Starting at an arbitrarily selected node, we trace a closed path in a circuit through selected basic circuit elements and return to the original node without passing through any intermediate node more than once

Kirchhoff’s Voltage Law (KVL)

The algebraic sum of all the voltages around any closed path in a circuit equals zero.

In Series

When just two elements connect at a single node,