Introduction to Circuits

Mark Robert Baker

Lecture 11

Contents
1 Circuits Introduction 1

2 Kirchhoff ’s Laws 4
2.1 Kirchhoff’s junction law . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
2.2 Kirchhoff’s loop law . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

3 Basic Circuit Example 8

1 Circuits Introduction
An important application of electromagnetism is circuits — the con-
trolled motion of charges used to e.g. power a light bulb (as well as
numerous more advanced applications throughout modern day so-
ciety, such as the circuits in your house, computer, etc.). A circuit
consists of a number of individual components connected together
by wires that an electric current flows through. These components
and wires can be represented schematically in what are referred to
as circuit diagrams. In order to get a basic understanding of circuits,
we will primarily be focusing on the following circuit elements:

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Figure 1: Some circuit elements and how they will be represented on a circuit
diagram.

Each of these circuit elements has a different function which we

will describe during this unit. When we arrange these elements into
a circuit, there are equations we can write down to solve for the
physical properties of the various elements of the circuit. For exam-
ple, one of the simplest circuits is a simple RC circuit — consisting
of only a resistor, a capacitor, and the wire between them,

Figure 2: A simple RC (resistor-capactor) circuit.

These circuit diagrams are schematics that help us to visualize

the layout of the circuit. They will have physical quantities asso-
ciated to them, such as the current I in the wire, the resistance R
in the resistor, and the capacitance C in the capacitor. These will
be numbers, with units, which we can calculate based on circuit
laws. In practice, wires usually bend, and the distances between
the elements can vary. All that matters for our purpose is that the
elements are layed out correctly. For example, in practice we might
set up a circuit that looks something like this,

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 where the left is the circuit in practice, and the right is a correct
circuit diagram for that circuit. It is important to note that for a
given circuit that we make in practice (e.g. on the left), there are
multiple correct ways which we can draw the same circuit diagram.
For example, see the following circuits:

Each of (a), (b) and (d) are the same circuit! It might not seem
obvious at first so we should discuss this point. In each of a,b,d: we
have a battery with the + end attached to a wire that splits into
two wires (a “junction” in the wire), one of the two wires goes to a
resistor, and the other to a capacitor. The two wires again recombine
into one wire (at another junction) then attach to the − end of the
battery. This is identical for each of a, b and d! This is a key lesson:
the exact picture of a circuit diagram is not unique to any given
physical circuit, there are many possible equivalent ways we could
design these diagrams. As we will see, all of these possible ways
will lead to the same calculations of the physical quantities in the

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circuit. In order to calculate these values we need to introduce some
foundational physical laws to do with circuits, primarily, Kirchhoff’s
laws.

2 Kirchhoff ’s Laws
Kirchhoff’s circuit laws are two laws which are concerned with the
current and potential difference in a given circuit. We will refer to
them as Kirchhoff’s junction law, and Kirchhoff’s loop law.

2.1 Kirchhoff ’s junction law

The first law, Kirchhoff’s junction law, is concerned with the current
going in and out of a given junction. It is a statement of charge
conservation, that the total current entering a junction must be
equal to the total current leaving the junction,
X X
Iin = Iout (1)
For example, suppose we have a current approaching a junction,

Figure 3: Junction example 1.

Then the junction law states,

I1 = I2 + I3 (2)
This junction law applies to any number of wires,

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 Figure 4: Junction example 2.

There can also be more currents going in that out,

Figure 5: Junction example 3.

It is really straightforward — if you add up all of the currents

going into a given junction, that must be equal to adding up all of
the currents going out of a junction.

2.2 Kirchhoff ’s loop law

Kirchhoff’s second law, the loop law, is a consequence of conserva-
tion of energy. Due to conservation of energy, if a charge moves
around a full loop of a circuit, then W = −∆U = 0. The potential
difference, ∆V , is a property that we will study in more detail later
in the course. This physical quantity is related to the work required
to move a charge between two points. We will talk about elements
in our circuit in terms of the potential difference across the element.
Potential difference has units [Volts], which is defined in terms of
joule per coulomb (energy per charge). This value can be positive or

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negative, depending on the circuit element and the direction which
we are applying the law (going around the loop). This will make
more sense when we consider some examples.

The loop law states that the sum of potential differences around
a circuit loop is zero,
X
(∆V )i = 0 (3)
Suppose we have 4 elements in a given circuit loop. Applying the
loop law we have,

Figure 6: Kirchhoff’s loop law.

thus for any number of elements we add up all potential differ-

ences,

∆V1 + ∆V2 + ∆V3 + · · · = 0 (4)

It is important to emphasize that which elements are positive,
and which are negative, will depend entirely on which direction we
go for our loop. The resulting equation/ physical model will be the
same, regardless of direction. We will give an example below.

One more important note: the wires/ junctions are assumed to

contribute no potential difference/ resistance in the wires. This is
an ideal-wire (something like the ideal spring) — impossible in prac-
tice, but essential for gaining an understanding of these topics.

The book has a useful table summarizing how to apply the loop
law, and the specifics for the battery and resistor elements,

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 When using Kirchhoff’s loop law the first thing that needs to be
done is draw a diagram for the circuit. It is important to label all
parts of the diagram to make the solving of Kirchhoff’s loop law
easier moving forward.
The second thing is to assign a direction to the current. do this
by drawing it out and labeling it with an I. The direction of the
current is sometimes known; if so chose the direction of the known
current. If the direction is unknown pick a direction and through
the calculation if the current is negative the the current is traveling
in the opposite direction.
Third travel around the loop begin at any point and follow the
flow of the current around the circuit accounting for each element
of the circuit.

∆V = Vdownstream − Vupstream (5)

When looking at an ideal battery the current moves from negative
to the positive direction.

∆Vbat = +ϵ (6)
if the current moves from positive to negative

∆Vbat = −ϵ (7)
looking at resistors resistors,

∆Vres = −∆VR = −IR (8)

The forth thing to do is apply the loop law.
X
(∆V )i = 0 (9)
As you can see here there are key details, such as if we choose
our loop going from the − to + end of the battery, we will have a
positive potential difference ∆Vbat = ε. The epsilon symbol ε will
be used to determine the potential across batteries — we specify
this because this is a crucial element in the circuit, to power the
circuit. The basic idea is that we use a battery to increase the
potential difference, and the elements in our circuit (e.g. light bulb)
will decrease the potential difference, using this energy to complete
a desired outcome (e.g. give off light). For this reason we will

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conventionally choose loops such that the battery is a increasing
potential difference, but again it doesn’t matter mathematically, we
will have an identical equation regardless of which way we draw our
loop.

3 Basic Circuit Example

We will discuss a basic circuit consisting of a battery and a light
bulb,

Figure 7: Basic circuit.

In principle, when we refer to the basic circuit, we are refer-

ring to a battery and a single element such as a light bulb/ lamp.
Considering a clockwise loop, the battery will increase the potential
difference, and the element will drop the potential difference exactly
the amount increased by the battery. In otherwords, all of the en-
ergy output of the battery is going into the single element. More
broadly, the battery is a “source” and the light bulb is a “load”,
thus we have the general picture,

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 Figure 8: Basic circuit — general picture.

The load can be represented as a general resistor, recall in units

Ohms [Ω], which will drop the potential difference in the clockwise
loop. If we consider a clockwise loop, and apply the loop law, we
have,

∆Vbat + ∆Vresistor = 0 (10)

Since ∆Vbat = ε, we know ∆Vresistor must be negative. In the pre-
vious lecture we introduces Ohm’s law, which gives the magntiude
of the potential difference across a resistor,

∆VR = IR (11)
however the sign will depend on the loop we choose, as Ohm’s
law is only the magnitude. Therefore ∆Vresistor = −IR indicating
the drop in potential difference across the resistor in the counter
clockwise direction. The current will be positive in this clockwise
loop — if we chose a counterclockwise loop, we would get the same
current only negative.

Returning to the loop law we have,

ε − IR = 0 (12)

ε = IR (13)

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 in other words, the potential difference gained across the battery
is exactly equal to the potential difference across the resistor. The
current present depends both on the ε of the battery (also known
as the emf, the electromotive force), and the amount of resistance
in the element,
ε
I= (14)
R
We can see that a higher emf will result in a larger current. More
resistance R in the element will decrease the current. Both of these
results are intuitive — a battery supplying a larger ε will result in
a larger current I in the circuit — an element which has a larger
resistance R, is drawing more from the circuit and decreasing the
overall current flowing in the circuit. This is why we require different
batteries for different devices — a load with larger resistance will
require a larger source to provide a sufficient current for the device
to run.

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