Electric Circuits Analyzing Techniques-1

Nodes, Paths, Loops, And Branches:

Node: It is a point where two or more circuit elements have a common connection.

Example (1):

As the 2nd figure shows, a wire contains no circuit elements (resistance, capacitance, inductance, voltage or current source) is considered as a single node (So, the 1st figure is the same as the 2nd one).

Therefore, nodes are located at the ends of the circuit elements.

Path: It is the way where you visit some circuit elements one by one starting from a node without going back to the same node.

Loop: It is a closed path, meaning that you finish visiting some circuit elements at the same node you started with.

Example (1): In the above figure (the 2 figures are the same), if we move from node 2 through the current source to node 1, and then through the upper right resistor to node 3, we have established a path.

Example (2): In the above figure, if we move from node 2 through the current source to node 1, and then through the upper right resistor to node 3, then going through the lower right resistor to node 2 again, we have established a loop.

Example (3): In the above figure, If we proceeded from node 2 through the current source to node 1, down through the central left resistor to node 2, and then up through the central right resistor to node 1 again, we do not have a path, since a node (actually two nodes) was encountered more than once; we also do not have a loop, because a loop must be a path.

Branch: It is a single path in a network, composed of one simple circuit element and the nodes at each end of that element.

Therefore, a path is a particular collection of branches. The above figure have 5 branches (Because we have 5 circuit elements in that circuit).

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In the next lesson ,,, we will explain Kirchhoff's current and voltage laws ...

Reference: Engineering Circuit Analysis 8th Edition

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