How to calculate voltage in resistive network when resistors are in series,parallel or series – parallel easily, is a frequent question by Electronics Engineering students. If you are also facing problem while calculating the voltage in resistive network then calculation of voltage in resistive network will be very easy after this short tutorial.
This tutorial deals with all these problem and give an accurate solution. Voltage is defined as the electric potential difference between the two points in any circuit. Voltage is also known as the potential drop, lost of energy or used energy . The standard unit of Voltage is volt and denoted by the letter ” V ” or ” E ” . It is measured by the voltmeter.
The voltage is also defined as the ” 1 Volt is the flow of one column charge carrier through the 1 ohm resistor in 1 second ” .
Voltage can be of two types (1) Direct Voltage (2) Alternating Voltage.
The polarity of the Direct voltage is same across the whole circuit. But in the alternating voltage the polarity changes with respect to time periodically. Change of polarity from positive to negative and then negative to positive is known as one cycle and cycles per second is called as frequency of the voltage. The frequency is measured in the Hertz ( Hz ). The example of alternating voltage is potential difference between the common utility outlet and the example of direct voltage is the potential difference between the two terminal of a battery.
How to calculate Voltage in resistive network ?
Before calculating the voltage in a resistive network you must have to familiar with the ohm’s law . According to ohm’s law the current through a conductor between two point is directly proportional to the potential difference between these points. And it is defined as the
I = V/R or
V = IR
This will help in calculating the voltage.
There are three type of arrangement of resistor in a network
- Resistor in Series
- Resistor in Parallel
- Resistor in series and parallel
Voltage calculation when resistor are in series :
When resistor are in series the current across the both resistor is same
Voltage calculation when resistor are in parallel the current across the both resistors is same but the voltage divided by the resistors.
As shown in the figure below A voltage source V is applied to the network and two resistor R1 And R2 are connected in series. The current across these resistors is I. So the voltage across these two resistor is
Voltage across R1 =( Current through resistor × Resistor R1 ) / Total resistor
V1 = I × R1 / R1+ R2
Similarly Voltage across R2 i.e. V2= I × R2 / R1+ R2
Voltage calculation when resistors are in parallel :
When resistors are in parallel the current divides but the voltage across both resistor remain same. Because the Voltage drop in the parallel is always same as shown in the figure.
When resistor are in series and parallel :
In the complex resistive networks the number of resistor placed are very high. So for calculating the voltage across resistor in these type of network you have to simplify the circuit by solving one by one the series and parallel arrangement of the resistor. Add the resistors in series and then solve the circuit to calculate the voltage across each resistors.
