Faculty : FEGT Unit Code : UGEA1243

Course : Bachelor of Engineering (Hons) Electronic Unit Title : Circuit Theory

Engineering
Year/ : Y1 Lecturer : Yeap Kim Ho
Semester
Session : May 202

EXPERIMENT 2: CIRCUIT THEOREMS

OBJECTIVES

1. To verify Thevenin’s theorem through experimental measurements.

2. To be aware of an experimental procedure in determining ETh and RTh.
3. To demonstrate that maximum power transfer to a load is achieved by the condition
RL = RTh.

MATERIALS NEEDED

Resistors: 1- 91 , 220 , 330 , 470 , 1 k, 2.2 k, 3.3 k (1/4-W)

1- 0-1 k potentiometer, 0-10 k potentiometer

Instruments: 1- DMM
1- DC power supply

SUMMARY OF THEORY

Thevenin’s theorem provides a means of reducing a complex two terminal, linear multisource
dc network to one having a single voltage source called Thevenin voltage, ETh and a series
resistor called Thevenin resistance, RTh. The Thevenin voltage is the open-circuit voltage
across the terminals of interest and the Thevenin resistance is the resistance seen at these
terminals with all of the voltage and current sources replaced by their internal resistances
(Figure 1). For voltage sources, the internal resistance is taken as zero (short circuit) and for
current sources the internal resistance is infinite (open circuit).

Figure 1

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If a dc voltage source is to deliver maximum power to a resistor, the resistor must have a
value equal to the internal resistance of the source. In a complex network, maximum power
transfers to a load will occur when the load resistance is equal to the Thevenin resistance
“seen” by the load. For this value, the voltage across the load will be one–half of the
Thevenin voltage.

In equation form, and

PROCEDURE

Part 1 Thevenin’s Theorem

Calculations:

(a) Construct the network of Figure 2. Calculate the Thevenin voltage and resistance for
the network to the left of points a-a’ using measured values of resistors. Show all
work! Enter the values of Thevenin voltage and resistance in column 1 of Table 1.

Figure 2

(b) Insert the values of ETh and RTh in the Thevenin equivalent circuit in the report and
calculate IL.

(c) Calculate the current IL in the original network of Figure 2 using series- parallel
techniques (use measured resistor values). Show all work in the report!
How does this calculated value of IL compare to the value of Part 1(b)?

Measurements:

(d) Turn on the 12-V supply of Figure 2 and measure the voltage VL. Using the
measured value of RL, calculate the current IL.
How does this measured value of IL compare with the calculated levels of Parts 1(b)
and 1(c)?

Determining RTh:

(e) Determine RTh by constructing the network of Figure 3 and measuring the resistance
between points with RL removed. Enter the value of RTh in column 2 of Table 1.

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 Figure 3

Determining ETh:

(f) Determine ETh by constructing the network of Figure 4 and measuring the open-circuit
voltage between points . Enter this value in column 2 of Table 1.

Figure 4

Thevenin Network:

(g) Construct the network of Figure 5 and set the values obtained for the measured values
of ETh and RTh in parts 1(e) and 1(f) respectively. Use the ohmmeter section of your
meter to set the potentiometer properly. Then measure the voltage VL and calculate the
current IL using the measured value of RL.

Figure 5

How does this value of IL compare with the calculated level of part 1(b)?

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How do the calculated and measured values of ETh and RTh compare? Insert the
magnitude of the percentage difference in the third column of Table 1 using the
equations:
% Difference =

Noting the overall results of Table 1, has Thevenin’s theorem been verified?

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Part 2 Maximum Power Transfer (Validating the Condition RL = RTh)

(a) Construct the network of Figure 6 and set the potentiometer to 50 Measure the
voltage across RL, as you vary RL through the following values: 50, 100, 200, 300,
330, 400, 600, 800, and 1000 Be sure to set the resistance with the ohmmeter
section of your meter before each reading. Remember to turn off the dc supply and
disconnect one terminal of the potentiometer when setting the resistance level.
Complete Table 2 and plot PL versus RL on Graph 1.

Figure 6

(b) Referring to the plot of Graph 1, what value of RL resulted in maximum power
transfer to RL? How do the theoretical and measured values of RL compare?

(c) Under maximum power transfer conditions, how are the voltages VL and E related
theoretically?

(d) Set the potentiometer to the resistance RL that resulted in maximum power transfer on
Graph 1 and measure the resulting voltage across RL. How does the measured value
compare to the expected theoretical level?

Part 3 Maximum Power Transfer (Experimental Approach)

(a) Construct the network of Figure 7. Insert the measured value of each resistor in your
report.

Figure 7

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(b) The Thevenin equivalent circuit will now be determined for the network to the left of
the terminals a-b without disturbing the structure of the network. All the
measurements will be made at the terminals a-b.

ETh:

Determine ETh by turning on the supply ETh and measuring the open-circuit voltage
Vab.

RTh:

Introduce the 1 kpotentiometer to the network of Figure 7, as shown in

Figure 8.

Figure 8

Turn on the supply and adjust the potentiometer until the voltage VL is ETh/2, a
condition that must exist if RL = RTh. Then turn off the supply and remove the
potentiometer from the network without disturbing the position of the wiper arm.
Measure the resistance between the two terminals connected to a-b and record as RTh.

(c) To check the measured results against a theoretical solution, calculate RTh and ETh for
the network to the left of terminals a-b of Figure 7. Use measured resistor values.
How do the calculated and measured values compare?

(d) Leave the potentiometer as connected in Figure 8 and measure VL for all the values of
RL appearing in Table 3 of your report. (Make sure to remove the potentiometer from
the network when setting each value of RL. Disconnect one side of the potentiometer
when making the setting). Then calculate the resulting power to the load and complete
the table.

Plot both PL and VL versus RL on Graphs 2 and 3 respectively to confirm once more
that the conditions for maximum power transfer to a load are that RL= RTh and VL = ETh
/2.

(e) Reviewing Graph 2, did maximum power transfer to the load occur when RL= RTh?
What conclusion can be drawn from the results?

From Graph 3, does VL = ETh/2 when RL= RTh? Comment accordingly.

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Report for Experiment 2 Name
Matric No.
Date

Abstract:

Part 1 Thevenin’s Theorem

(a) R1(measured) = R3(measured) =

R2(measured) = RL(measured) =

Table 1

Calculated Values Measured Values

of ETh and RTh of ETh and RTh
[ Part 1(a)] [ Part 1(e) and 1(f)] % Difference

ETh =____________________
[part 1(f)]
ETh =____________________
RTh =____________________
RTh =____________________ [part 1(e)]

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(b) Thevenin equivalent circuit:

IL =

(c)

(d) VL(measured) =

IL(calculated from VL) =

% difference of IL =

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(g) VL (measured) =

IL (calculated from VL) =

% difference of ETh =

% difference of RTh.=

Part 2 Maximum Power Transfer (Validating the Condition RL = RTh)

(a)
Table 2

RL VL (mW)

0 0V 0 mW
50
100
200
300

400
600
800
1000

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Graph 1

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(b) For maximum power transfer:

RL(theoretical) =

RL(experimental) =

% difference of RL =

(c) For maximum power transfer, VL(theoretical) =

(d) For maximum power transfer, VL(experimental) =

% difference of VL =

Part 3 Maximum Power Transfer (Experimental Approach)

(a) R1(measured) = R3(measured) =

R2(measured) = R4(measured) =

(b) ETh = Vab(measured) =

RTh = RL(measured) =

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(c) RTh(calculated) = ; ETh(calculated) =

% difference of RTh = ; % difference of ETh =

(d)
Table 3

RL VL (measured) (calculated)

0 0V 0 mW
25
50
100
150
200

250
300
350
400
450
500

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Graph 2

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Graph 3

(e) RL(experimental) = ; VL(experimental) =

% difference of RL = ; % difference of VL =

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Evaluation and Review Questions

1. For the network of Figure Q1:

Figure Q1

(a) Determine RTh and ETh for the network external to the 2k resistor.

(b) Determine the power delivered to the 2k resistor using the Thevenin
equivalent circuit.

(c) Is the power determined in part (b) the maximum power that could be
delivered to a resistor between terminals a and b? If not, what is the
maximum power?

2. Figure Q2(a) shows a circuit and Q2(b) shows its equivalent Thevenin circuit. Explain
why R1 has no effect on the Thevenin circuit.

R2 RTh = R2

VS R1 = ETh = VS

(a) (b)

Figure Q2

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