Name: voltage balance in closed circuit loops
Uploaded: 2024-04-11T12:48:28.000Z
Duration: 1 min 4 s
Channel: JoVE

K12 Standards

Arizona Science Standards

High School

Physical Science

HS+Phy.P4

HS+Phy.P4U1.8

Kirchhoff's Voltage Law

Kirchhoff&#39;s voltage law, or KVL, is based on the principle of energy conservation.
It states that the algebraic sum of all voltages around a closed path or loop within a circuit is zero.
The direction of the loop around the circuit could be clockwise or counterclockwise and can start from anywhere.
Once the loop direction is chosen, positive voltages have their negative terminal encountered first, and negative voltages have their positive terminal encountered first.
Applying KVL to each loop and rearranging the terms gives its alternative form, which states that the sum of voltage drop equals the sum of supplied voltages.
For example, consider christmas tree lights where three LED lights connected in series are strung together.
If each light requires three volts to turn on, the voltage needed for the battery to power these lights is determined by applying KVL.
The battery voltage equals the sum of the voltage drop across the three lights.

kirchhoff's voltage law

Kirchhoff&#39;s Voltage Law (KVL) is another fundamental principle in electrical engineering, introduced by physicist Gustav Robert Kirchhoff. This law is rooted in the principle of energy conservation, which states that energy can neither be created nor destroyed, only transferred or converted from one form to another.
KVL states that the algebraic sum of all voltages around a closed path or loop within a circuit is zero. This means that the total voltage supplied in a loop is equal to the total voltage drop across the components in that loop.
The direction of the loop around the circuit could be clockwise or anticlockwise and can start from any point. Once the loop direction is chosen, positive voltages are those where the negative terminal is encountered first, and negative voltages are those where the positive terminal is encountered first.
By applying KVL in the clockwise direction and rearranging the terms, there is an alternative form of the law: the sum of voltage drops across the components in a loop equals the sum of supplied voltages.
Consider, for example, a household lighting system where three LED lights connected in series are strung together. Each light requires three volts to turn on. By applying KVL, we can determine the voltage needed for the battery to power these lights. The battery voltage equals the sum of the voltage drop across the three lights, which is nine volts.
However, for KVL to hold true, a crucial condition must be met: a circuit cannot contain two different voltages in parallel unless they are equal. This is because, in a parallel connection, the same voltage is applied across all components, and any discrepancy would violate the law of energy conservation.

Kirchhoff&#39;s voltage law, or KVL, is based on the principle of energy conservation.
It states that the algebraic sum of all voltages around a closed ...

Education

JoVE Core

Electrical Engineering

Unit 1

Basics of Electric Circuits

KEY TERMS AND CONCEPTS

voltage balance in closed circuit loops

Kirchhoff's Voltage Law explains how voltage is balanced in a closed circuit loop. It is a basic rule in electrical engineering and comes from the idea of energy conservation. Energy can change form, but it cannot be created or destroyed.

KVL states that the algebraic sum of all voltages around a closed path, or loop, is zero. In other words, the total voltage supplied in a loop equals the total voltage drop across the components in that loop. A loop can be traced clockwise or anticlockwise, and it can begin at any point.

The direction of the loop matters when you assign signs to voltages. If you meet the negative terminal first, the voltage is positive. If you meet the positive terminal first, the voltage is negative. When KVL is written in the clockwise direction and the terms are rearranged, the law can also be stated as the sum of voltage drops in a loop equals the sum of supplied voltages.

A simple household lighting example shows how KVL works. Three LED lights connected in series, with each light needing three volts, require a nine-volt battery to power them. The battery voltage matches the sum of the voltage drops across the three lights.

KVL also depends on an important circuit condition. A circuit cannot contain two different voltages in parallel unless those voltages are equal. In parallel connections, the same voltage appears across each component. If the voltages were different, the circuit would break the rule of energy conservation.

Voltage Balance in Closed Circuit Loops

charge and current

Electric Charge in Circuits

Electric charge in circuits explains how charged particles behave in matter and how current is produced. Everyday static effects, like a wool sweater sticking to the body or a shock from a carpet, show charge in action. Charge is an inherent property of atomic particles and is measured in coulombs (C). Matter is made of atoms with electrons, protons, and neutrons. Electrons carry a negative charge (-e), and protons carry a positive charge (+e). These two charges have the same magnitude. An...

voltage

Voltage in Electric Circuits

Voltage in electric circuits is the energy needed to move electric charge between two points. It is also called electromotive force, or EMF. In most circuits, an external force such as a battery provides this energy for electron movement in a conductor. The voltage between points a and b is written as v_ab. It is defined as the work, or energy, needed to move a unit charge from point a to point b. In the equation, w is the energy in joules and q is the charge in coulombs. Voltage is measured...

power and energy

Circuit Power, Absorption, and Supply

Circuit power, absorption, and supply explain how much energy an element uses or delivers in an electric circuit. These ideas matter in electrical engineering because power and energy calculations help describe circuit behavior. A 100-watt light bulb, for example, emits more light than a 60-watt bulb, so wattage is a useful measure in real devices. Power is the time rate of expending or absorbing energy. It is measured in watts, written as W. The relation between power and energy uses the...

electric circuit elements

Circuit Elements: Passive, Active, and Linear

Circuit elements are the building blocks of an electric circuit. An electric circuit is the connection of these elements. In this context, circuit elements are often grouped by how they behave and whether they supply energy. One major group is passive elements. These elements do not generate energy. Common passive elements include resistors, capacitors, and inductors. The other group is active elements, which can generate energy. Generators, batteries, and operational amplifiers are typical...

circuit terminology

Circuit Parts: Branches, Nodes, and Loops

Circuit parts like branches, nodes, loops, and meshes help describe how electrical networks work. An electrical network is a system of connected elements, such as resistors, capacitors, inductors, and voltage or current sources. Unlike a circuit, a network does not have to form a closed path. A circuit is also made of connected electrical elements, but it must include one or more closed paths. These loops let current flow continuously, which is what makes the circuit operate. Because of this,...

independent and dependent sources

Circuit Source Symbols and Controls

Circuit sources in electrical circuits can be independent or dependent. They provide the power a circuit needs to operate. Independent voltage sources supply a fixed voltage, and independent current sources supply a fixed current. Their output does not change because of other parts in the circuit. These sources use standard symbols in circuit diagrams. An independent voltage source is shown with + and - signs to mark the potential difference. An independent current source is shown with an...

ohm's law

Resistance and Conductance in Circuits

Resistance and conductance help explain how electric current moves through a circuit. Resistors are basic circuit parts made from metallic alloys or carbon compounds. They are used to model how a material resists current and to control and regulate electrical power in a circuit. Ohm's law describes the link between voltage and current across a resistor. The voltage across a resistor is directly proportional to the current through it. The constant that sets this relationship is resistance.

kirchhoff's current law

Kirchhoff's Current Law at Circuit Nodes

Kirchhoff's Current Law explains how current behaves at a circuit node. A node is the point where two or more circuit elements meet. The law says the current entering a node equals the current leaving it. That balance follows the rule of charge conservation, which means electric charge is not lost at the junction. When applying KCL, currents entering the node are treated as positive and currents leaving the node are treated as negative. The currents can be added algebraically at the node, and...

Kirchhoff's Voltage Law explains how voltage is balanced in a closed circuit loop. It is a basic rule in electrical engineering and comes from the idea of energy conservation. Energy can change form, but it cannot be created or destroyed. KVL states that the algebraic sum of all voltages around a closed path, or loop, is zero. In other words, the total voltage supplied in a loop equals the total voltage drop across the components in that loop. A loop can be traced clockwise or anticlockwise,...

voltage dividers

Series Resistors and Voltage Split

Series resistors split voltage across a circuit. In a series setup, resistors are linked one after another. The same current flows through each resistor in the chain. To analyze this behavior, Ohm's law is used to relate voltage, current, and resistance. Kirchhoff's voltage law says the voltages around a series loop add up to the source voltage. That means the current in the circuit equals the source voltage divided by the total resistance in series. The current value can then be used in Ohm's...

current dividers

Parallel Resistors and Current Division

Parallel resistors share the same two nodes, so each resistor has the same voltage across it. In this circuit setup, Kirchhoff's current law applies. The source current equals the sum of the currents through each branch. Ohm's law helps find the branch currents from the source voltage and the resistor values. The source current is equal to the source voltage times the sum of the reciprocals of the resistances. This makes it easier to calculate how current divides in the circuit. The current...

equivalent resistance

Delta-Wye Network Conversion

Delta-wye network conversion helps analyze resistor circuits that are not arranged in simple series or parallel paths. These three-terminal equivalent networks use the wye (Y), also called tee (T), and the delta (Δ), also called pi (π), as practical circuit models. These networks are useful in many circuit settings. They appear in three-phase electrical systems, electrical filters, and matching networks. They can also be used on their own or combined with more complex circuits. A delta...

design example: resistive touchscreen

Resistive Touchscreen Voltage Mapping

A resistive touchscreen uses voltage mapping to locate a finger touch on a mobile device. It is built from two metallic layers. The top layer is flexible, and the bottom layer is rigid. A narrow gap separates them, and the high resistance between the layers is an important part of the design. When a user touches the screen, the two layers meet at one point. That contact point is called the touchpoint. The touch lowers the resistance between the layers at that spot and changes the electrical...

key terms and concepts

Learn how Kirchhoff's Voltage Law balances voltage in a closed loop, how to assign signs, and why a series LED example needs a 9-volt battery.

Voltage Balance in Closed Circuit Loops | JoVE K12

JoVE Core Electrical Engineering offers easy-to-understand animated videos that cover fundamental concepts of electric circuits along with circuit analysis techniques. It incorporates first-order and second-order circuits using operational amplifiers and circuit transformation concepts. The inclusion of practical design examples and real-world applications through scientist-in-action videos adds significant educational value, making complex concepts accessible.

electrical engineering

Energy and Work

Source: Ketron Mitchell-Wynne, PhD,&#160;Asantha Cooray, PhD, Department of Physics &#38; Astronomy, School of Physical Sciences, University of ...

Power and Energy

Energy is the total work required to drive the current through the circuit.
A rise in voltage results in more work done, passing more current, resulting ...

Heat Flow and Specific Heat

Heat is a type of energy transfer that is caused by a temperature difference, and it can change the temperature of an object. Since heat is a form of ...

Mechanisms of Heat Transfer I

Just as interesting as the effects of heat transfer on a system are the methods by which the heat transfer occur. Whenever there is a temperature ...

Mechanisms of Heat Transfer II

In convection, thermal energy is carried by the large-scale flow of matter. Ocean currents and large-scale atmospheric circulation, which result from the ...

conduction-convection-and-radiation-problem-solving

Conduction, Convection and Radiation: Problem Solving

There are three methods by which heat transfer can take place: conduction, convection, and radiation. Each method has unique and interesting ...

testing-the-heat-transfer-efficiency-of-a-finned-tube-heat-exchanger

Testing the Heat Transfer Efficiency of a Finned-tube Heat Exchanger

Source: Michael G. Benton and Kerry M. Dooley, Department of Chemical Engineering, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, LA
Heat exchangers transfer ...

using-tray-dryer-to-investigate-convective-conductive-heat

Using a Tray Dryer to Investigate Convective and Conductive Heat Transfer

Source: Michael G. Benton and Kerry M. Dooley, Department of Chemical Engineering, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, LA
Dryers are utilized in ...

Transformers

A device that transforms voltages from one value to another using induction is called a transformer. A transformer consists of two separate coils, or ...

conservation-of-energy-approach-to-system-analysis

Conservation of Energy Approach to System Analysis

Source: Ricardo Mejia-Alvarez and Hussam Hikmat Jabbar, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI
The purpose of ...

Dye-sensitized Solar Cells

Source: Tamara M. Powers, Department of Chemistry, Texas A&#38;M University
Today&#39;s modern world requires the use of a large amount of energy. While ...

Batteries and Fuel Cells

A battery is a galvanic cell that is used as a source of electrical power for specific applications. Modern batteries exist in a multitude of forms to ...

Design, evaluate, and refine a device that works within given constraints to transfer energy within a system.

HS+Phy.P4U2.7

What is Energy?

The universe is composed of matter in different forms, and all forms of matter contain energy. &#xA0;The different forms of energy on Earth originate from ...

Thermodynamic Systems

A thermodynamic system is a set of objects whose thermodynamic properties are of interest. The system is considered to be embedded in its surroundings or ...

Work

Work is done when energy is transferred from one object to another. In other words, work is when a force acts on something that undergoes a displacement ...

Kinetic Energy - I

It&#8217;s plausible to suppose that the greater the velocity of a body, the greater effect it could have on other bodies. This does not depend on the ...

Gravitational Potential Energy

Potential energy is not just a property of each object, but also a property of the interactions between objects in a chosen system. For each type of ...

Elastic Potential Energy

Elastic potential energy is the energy stored as a result of the deformation of an elastic object, such as the stretching of a spring. An object is ...

Work-energy Theorem

According to Newton&#x2019;s second law of motion, the sum of all the forces acting on a particle (net force) determines the rate of change in the ...

Power

The concept of work involves force and displacement; meanwhile, the work-energy theorem relates the net work done on a body to the difference in its ...

Phase Changes

Phase transitions play an important theoretical and practical role in the study of heat flow. In melting or fusion, a solid turns into a liquid; the ...

Heating and Cooling Curves

When a substance&#8212;isolated from its environment&#8212;is subjected to heat changes, corresponding changes in temperature and phase of the substance ...

Calorimetry

When objects at different temperatures are placed in contact with each other but isolated from everything else, they attain thermal equilibrium. A ...

Constant Volume Calorimetry

Calorimeters are useful to determine the heat released or absorbed by a chemical reaction. Coffee cup calorimeters are designed to operate at constant ...

Constant Pressure Calorimetry

Calorimetry is a technique used to measure the amount of heat involved in a chemical or physical process or to measure the heat transferred to or from a ...

Internal Energy

The internal energy of a thermodynamic system is the sum of the kinetic and potential energies of all the molecules or entities in the system. The kinetic ...

Enthalpy

Chemists ordinarily use a property known as enthalpy (H) to describe the thermodynamics of chemical and physical processes. Enthalpy is defined as the sum ...

First Law of Thermodynamics

A change in the internal energy of a system depends on the the net heat transfer into the system and the net work done by the system. The first law of ...

first-law-of-thermodynamics-problem-solving

First Law Of Thermodynamics: Problem-Solving

The first law of thermodynamics states that the change in internal energy of the system is equal to the net heat transfer into the system minus the net ...

using-differential-scanning-calorimetry-to-measure-changes-in-enthalpy

Using Differential Scanning Calorimetry to Measure Changes in Enthalpy

Source: Laboratory of Dr. Terry Tritt &#8212; Clemson University
Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC) is a method of thermodynamic analysis based on ...

Analyze and interpret data to quantitatively describe changes in energy within a system and/or energy flows in and out of a system.

HS+Phy.P4U1.6

Gel Purification

Gel purification is used to recover DNA fragments after electrophoretic separation. DNA recovery from an agarose gel includes three basic steps: binding, ...

Voltage

The movement of electrons in a conductor requires some form of energy or work, usually provided by an external force, like a battery. This force is called ...

Electrical Current

Electrical current is defined as the rate at which charge flows. When there is a large current present, such as that used to run a refrigerator, a large ...

Ohm's Law

Many materials exhibit a simple relationship between the values of current, voltage, and resistance, known as Ohm&#8217;s law. The current that flows ...

Resistance

When a current moves through any conductor, the conductor causes some level of difficulty for the current to flow. The measure of that difficulty is known ...

Electrical Power

Electric power is the product of current and voltage, represented in units of joules per second, or watts. For example, cars often have one or more ...

Energy Transfer in Chemical Reactions

Chemical reactions require sufficient energy to cause the matter to collide with enough precision and force that old chemical bonds can be broken and new ...

power-dissipated-in-a-circuit-problem-solving

Power Dissipated in a Circuit: Problem Solving

The equivalent resistance of a combination of resistors depends on their values and how they are connected.
The simplest combinations of resistors are ...

Kirchhoff's Current Law

Kirchhoff&#39;s current law, or KCL, is based on the law of charge conservation. It states that the total current entering and leaving a node in a circuit ...

Resistors In Series

A resistor is an ohmic device that limits the flow of charge in a circuit. Most circuits have more than one resistor. If several resistors are connected ...

Resistors In Parallel

Resistors are in parallel when one end of all the resistors are connected to a continuous wire of negligible resistance and the other end of all the ...

Combination Of Resistors

Electrical devices in any circuit can be connected either by series or parallel connections. Additionally, circuits can be connected involving both of ...

Equivalent Resistance

In circuit analysis, situations often arise where resistors are neither in series nor parallel configurations. To tackle such scenarios, three-terminal ...

investigation-ohm-s-law-for-ohmic-and-nonohmic-conductors

Investigation Ohm's Law for Ohmic and Nonohmic Conductors

Source: Andrew Duffy, PhD, Department of Physics, Boston University, Boston, MA
This experiment investigates Ohm's law, which relates current, voltage, ...

Use mathematics and computational thinking to explain the relationships between power, current, voltage, and resistance.

Voltage Balance in Closed Circuit Loops

Description

Transcript

Tags

More videos by Standards