Consider the configuration of resistors in the figure below, mounted on a single circuit.
Determine the continuous electrical current passing over the resistor , considering all its components as ideal.
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Kirchhoff's Voltage Rule and Junction Rule will make quick work of this. The sum of the voltage drops/gains around any closed loop must equal 0, and the total current coming into a junction must equal the total current coming out:
When defining voltage drops/gains, as well as current direction, it doesn't really matter as long as we're consistent. I will define coming out of the positive end of the battery as a voltage gain. For current directions, I will use the topmost junction as a reference point;
Using the topmost junction as a starting point, we can construct two closed loops going out the sides in both directions and returning through the middle going up, netting us the following two equations: (note that the voltage across a resistor is V = I R
1 3 − 3 I 1 − 2 I 2 − 1 0 = 0 1 3 − 3 I 1 + 1 4 − 4 I 3 − 3 . 5 − I 3 = 0
And since the top junction has current flowing in and out, we know that:
I 1 = I 2 + I 3
This is a system of three equations, which can be simplified into the following and solved using RREF:
3 I 1 + 2 I 2 + 0 I 3 = 3 3 I 1 + 0 I 2 + 5 I 3 = 2 3 . 5 I 1 − I 2 − I 3 = 0
Which results in I 1 = 2 A