Electric Circuit Analysis
EE1206
Lecture -2
Nodal and Mesh Analysis
Introduction
• The KVL, KCL and Ohm’s law are the primary
tools to analyze DC electric circuits.
• The term nodal analysis is generally used when
analyzing an electric circuit with KCL whereas
loop or mesh analysis is designated for problem
solving using KVL.
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Nodal Analysis
• Nodal analysis provides a general procedure for
analyzing circuits using node voltages instead of
element voltages as the circuit variables.
• It is a technique used to determine the voltage
in a circuit elements by solving set of equations
that are formulated by applying KCL at the
nodes of a circuit variables.
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Cont’d…
• Node voltages are calculated with respect to a
common point also called Reference node.
• Gaussian elimination or Cramer’s rule or any
method can be used to solve the simultaneous
equations.
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● Nodal Analysis without Voltage Source
Steps to determine nodal voltages:
1. Select a node as the reference node. Assign
voltages v1, v2, . . . , vn−1 to the remaining n − 1
nodes. The voltages are referenced with respect to
the reference node.
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2. Apply KCL to each of the n − 1 nonreference
nodes. Use Ohm’s law to express the branch
currents in terms of node voltages.
3. Solve the resulting simultaneous equations to
obtain the unknown node voltages.
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Ex1: Calculate the node voltages in the circuit
shown
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• Solution:
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Solve equation (1) and (2) above using any method
Method 1: using elimination technique
Add eqs.1 and 2
Substituting v2 = 20 in Eq. (1) gives
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• Method 2: using Cramer’s rule
• To use Cramer’s rule, we need to put Eqs. (1) and
(2) in matrix form as
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• The determinant of the matrix is
• Therefore
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• The currents can be calculated from the values of
the nodal voltages.
• The fact that 𝑖2 is negative shows that the current
flows in the direction opposite to the one
assumed.
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• Ex2: Find the voltages at the three non-
reference nodes in the circuit of
figure below.
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• Solution:
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• At node 1
10𝐴 = 𝐼1 + 𝐼3
𝑉1 − 𝑉2 𝑉1 − 𝑉3
10𝐴 = +
3Ω 2Ω
60 = 2𝑉1 − 2𝑉2 + 3𝑉1 − 3𝑉3
60 = 5𝑉1 − 2𝑉2 − 3𝑉3 … . . eq1
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• Now we can find I1=6A , I2=0.325A , I3=4A and
Ix=-2A
• Negative polarity tells, the assumed current
direction was wrong.
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• Nodal Analysis with Voltage Source
• There is no way of knowing the current through
a voltage source in advance. However, KCL
must be satisfied at a supernode like any other
node.
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Case1: If a voltage source is connected between the
reference node and a nonreference node, we simply set the
voltage at the nonreference node equal to the voltage of the
voltage source.
Case 2: If the voltage source (dependent or independent) is
connected between two nonreference nodes, the two
nonreference nodes form a generalized node or supernode;
we apply both KCL and KVL to determine the node
voltages. 23
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• A supernode is formed by enclosing a
(dependent or independent) voltage source
connected between two nonreference nodes
and any elements connected in parallel with it.
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• Ex1: Find the node voltages
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• Ex2: Find the node voltages in the circuit of
figure below.
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Solution: Nodes 1 and 2 form a supernode; so do
nodes 3 and 4. We apply KCL to the two
supernodes as in figure below:
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• The simultaneous equations can be written in
matrix form as
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Mesh Analysis
• A mesh is a loop which does not contain any
other loops within it.
▪ It is a technique used to determine the current
and voltage in the circuit by solving set of
equations that are formulated by applying KVL
across a loop.
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• The variable in this technique are mesh currents
which are currents associated with each mesh
in assigned direction (usually clockwise
direction ).
• Note that: the direction of the mesh current is
arbitrary—(clockwise or counterclockwise)—
and does not affect the validity of the solution.
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• Mesh Analysis without Current Sources
• Steps to determine mesh currents
− 1. Assign mesh currents i1, i2, . . . , in to the n
meshes.
− 2. Apply KVL to each of the n meshes. Use
Ohm’s law to express the voltages in terms of the
mesh currents.
− 3. Solve the resulting n simultaneous equations
to get the mesh currents.
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• Ex1: : Find the branch current I1, I2, and I3 using
mesh analysis
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• Applying KVL for mesh 1,
− 15 + 5i1 + 10(i1 − i2 ) + 10 = 0
3i1 − 2i2 = 1
• Applying KVL for mesh 2
6i2 + 4i2 + 10(i2 − i1 ) − 10 = 0
i1 = 2i2 − 1
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i1 = 0.5, i2 = 0.75
• We can find i1 and i2 by substitution method or
Cramer’s rule. Then,
I1 = i1 = 0.5, I 2 = i2 = 0.75, I 3 = i1 − i2 = −0.25
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Ex2: find the current 𝐼0 in the circuit of Fig. below.
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• Mesh Analysis with Current source
• Case 1: When a current source exists only in
one mesh:
• Ex1:
• We set 𝑖2 = −5𝐴 and write a mesh equation for
the other mesh in the usual way; that is,
−10 + 4𝑖1 + 6 𝑖1 − 𝑖2 = 0 =⇒ 𝑖1 = −2𝐴
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• Case 2: When a current source exists between
two meshes ; We create a supermesh by
excluding the current source and any elements
connected in series with it.
• Supermesh results when two meshes have a
(dependent or independent) current source in
common.
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• Ex1:
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• Applying KVL to the supermesh in figure (b) above and
gives
−20 + 6𝑖1 + 10𝑖2 + 4𝑖2 = 0
6𝑖1 + 14𝑖2 = 20 … … … 𝑒𝑞 1
• We apply KCL to a node in the branch where the two
meshes intersect.
𝑖2 = 𝑖1 + 6 … … 𝑒𝑞 2
• Solving Eqs. (1) and (2), we get
𝒊𝟏 = −𝟑. 𝟐𝑨, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒊𝟐 = 𝟐. 𝟖𝑨 46
Cont’d…
• Ex2: Use mesh analysis to determine the mesh
currents in figure below:
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• Applying KVL to the supermesh
−6 + 2 𝑖1 − 𝑖3 + 4 𝑖2 − 𝑖3 + 8𝑖2 = 0
𝑖1 + 6𝑖2 − 3𝑖3 = 3 … … 𝑒𝑞1
• Apply KCL at current sources node bottom
3 + 𝑖2 = 𝑖1 … … 𝑒𝑞2
• Applying KVL in mesh 3
2 𝑖3 − 𝑖1 + 2𝑖3 + 4 𝑖3 − 𝑖2 = 0
−𝑖1 − 2𝑖2 + 4𝑖3 = 0 … … 𝑒𝑞3
• Solving eq 1 and eq 3 by substituting eq 2 into both
equations, yields:
𝑖1 ≅ 3.474𝐴, 𝑖2 ≅ 0.4737𝐴, 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑖3 ≅ 1.1052𝐴
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Cont’d…
End !
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