Episode 117: Kirchhoffs laws

This episode links Kirchhoffs circuit laws to conservation of charge and energy. Students can
verify the laws experimentally, and use them to solve simple circuit problems.
Summary
Demonstration and discussion: Explaining the laws. (1 minutes!
Student experiment: "erifying the laws. (#$ minutes!
%or&ed example: 'ocussing on the Second law. (1$ minutes!
Demonstration ( discussion:
Explaining the laws
Remind the class that charge and energy are conserved uantities. This is best done in the
context of a demonstration ! e.g. an electric motor lifting a load "or any other device that transfers
electrical energy ! perhaps an electric heater#.
T$% &&'!&( )nergy transfer by an electric motor.
The current is the same before and after the motor. The voltage drop across the motor is a
measure of the energy lost per coulomb of charge flowing through it. *t is simple to verify that the
pd across the motor and across the supply are the same, leading to the idea that the energy
transferred to the circuit by the supply is eual to the energy transferred out of the circuit by the
motor. This can be generalised to the ideas(
+harge simply flows around a circuit ! it is not used up.
The electrical energy supplied "by cell,power pack,generator etc...#
is eual to the energy transferred to other forms by appliances in the
circuit.
The first of these statements leads to Kirchhoffs first law, the
second to his second law.
T$% &&'!-( Kirchhoffs .aws "&#
Student experiment:
"erifying the laws
/ith a less able group "or simply to provide more opportunities to build and test circuits# you
might get them to build a seuence of circuits and to measure currents and voltages. The parallel
circuits are particularly good practice and the exercise will reinforce their understanding that
ammeters must be connected in series and voltmeters in parallel.
T$% &&'!0( 1erifying Kirchhoffs .aws
&
0-12 V DC
%or&ed example:
'ocussing on the second law
Students are unlikely to be reuired to solve complex problems involving circuits with two or more
loops. 2owever, they should be able to apply Kirchhoffs laws to simple circuits.
The first law is not difficult3 the second law is harder. Teach your students to use a finger to trace
round a complete loop in a circuit, starting at a source of emf. The first time round, they add up all
the emfs "taking account of their directions#. The second time round, they add up the values of *R
for each component "again, algebraically, and including contributions for internal resistance#.
These two uantities are then eual.
Show a worked example on the board.
T$% &&'!4( Kirchhoffs .aws "-#
T$% &&'!5( 6uestions on Kirchhoffs .aws
-
)*+ 117, 1: Demonstration: Energy transfer -y an electric motor
*pparatus re.uirements:
dc motor or fan7
suitable power supply 8
two voltmeters
ammeter
7 $ny electrical device will do but it needs to be seen to transfer energy.
8 9se a separate switch : that on the power supply may only stop charging an internal capacitor.
*f the motor is driving a shaft to raise a load, the motor should be clamped to the bench so that it
cannot ;ump about if it continues to run with the string fully wound.
<eters should be set up so that they can be seen by the class.
9se the meters to show that current is the same before and after the motor, and that the pd
across the motor euals the emf across the power supply.
0
*
"
" /
*
)*+ 117, 0: Kirchhoff1s laws
Kirchhoff=s two laws are euations based on conservation of charge and conservation of energy
that can be applied to any electric circuit. The two laws can be used to work out the current in any
branch of a circuit, given the emfs and resistances in the circuit.
Kirchhoff=s first law states that the total current entering a ;unction is eual to the total current
leaving the ;unction.
Kirchhoff=s second law states that the sum of the emfs round any complete loop in a circuit is
eual to the sum of the potential drops round the loop.
Kirchhoff=s first law is a statement of conservation of charge since it means that the total charge
flowing into a ;unction in a given time is eual to the total charge leaving the ;unction in the same
time. Kirchhoffs second law is a statement of conservation of energy since an emf is where
energy is supplied to charges "i.e. a source# and a potential drop is where charges release
energy "i.e. a sink#. The sum of the emf is therefore the total energy produced in the loop per unit
charge and the sum of the potential drops is the total energy dissipated in the loop per unit
charge.
Kirchhoff1s first law
The total current into a ;unction > the total current out of the ;unction.
9sing the convention that currents leaving a ;unction are the opposite sign to currents entering
the ;unction, the first law may be expressed as the following euation(
2
1

( 2
0
( 2
#
( 3 4 $ where 2
1
5 2
0
5 2
#
etc represent the currents in the branches connected to the
;unction.
I
&
I
-
I
0
I
4
I
&
? I
-
? I
0
? I
4
> @
currents in are assigned ? values
currents out are assigned : values
Kirchhoffs 1
st
law
4
Kirchhoff1s second law
The sum of the emfs round a loop in a circuit > the sum of the potential drops round the loop.
Aor a loop of a circuit containing emfs
1
5
0
5

#
, etc and resistances 6
1
5 6
0
5 6
#
, etc, the second
law may be expressed as the following euation(

1
(
0
(
#
( B > I
1
6
1
( I
0
6
0
( I
#
6
#
( B where I
1
5 I
0
5 I
#
B represent the currents through the
resistances 6
1
5 6
0
5 6
#
B.
External references
This activity is taken from $dvancing %hysics +C $!D Kirchhoffs .aws "&#
5
)*+ 117, #: "erifying Kirchhoffs 7aws
*pparatus re.uirements
)ach group will need(
0 lamps
%ower supply or battery pack
ammeter "or multi!meter#
voltmeter "or multi!meter#
4 mm connecting leads "about E#
+art 1: Kirchhoffs 1
st
7aw
9se an ammeter to measure a current. $mmeters must be connected in series "the current to be
measured has to flow through them#. +urrent is measured in amps "$#.
7amps in series
"a# <easure the current through one lamp when it is lit to normal brightness.
"b# $dd a second lamp in series with the first "as shown# without increasing the supply
voltage. <easure and record the current and compare it with &"d#. /hy is it lessF
"c# Gow add a third lamp in series and again measure and record the current. /hy does the
current reduce as more lamps are added in seriesF
A
H
A
"d# 9se the circuit below "0 lamps in series# and move the ammeter to measure and record
currents at each of the points marked I. Record your results below(
/hat conclusion can you draw about the current around a series circuitF
+an you explain this in terms of the flow of chargeF
7amps connected in parallel
+onnect up the circuit shown below.
"a# <easure and record the current. 2ow does the current drawn from the cells and the
brightness of the lamps compare to that of two lamps in seriesF +an you explain thisF
*ncrease the number of lamps in parallel to three.
"a# <easure the currents I& to IH taking care to put the ammeter in the correct position each
time.
'
X X X X
X X
A
I& >
I- >
I0 >
I4 >
I5 >
IH >
"c# Jou should be able to find some connections between these values. /hat are they and
why are they connected like thisF Jour explanation should involve the way charge flows
in the circuit.
"d# /hat happens to current when it reaches a ;unction in the circuitF
Gow connect up the circuit below and measure currents at points I& to I5.
I& >
I- >
I0 >
I4 >
I5 >
E
X
5
X
4
X
2
X
1
X
3
X
6
X
5
X
4
X
2
X
1
X
3
Gow explain what is happening in this circuit and why the currents have these values.
+art 0: Kirchhoffs second law
/easuring potential differences
There are several circuits drawn below. Aor each one(
"a# +onstruct the circuit.
"b# 9se a voltmeter set to a suitable dc range to measure the potential difference across(
"i# the supply.
"ii# each lamp individually
/rite the measured voltages above the lamps and cells in the diagram. +an you link the voltages
across the individual lamps to the supply voltage in each caseF /hat is the general ruleF
K
)*+ 117, 8: 9sing Kirchhoffs second law
I
&
: I
-
$
I
&

r
&
L +
C
I
&
I
-
I
&
: I
-
> I
-
R ? I
&
r
&
for loop $L+C
9sing Kirchhoffs second law
I
-
R
:otes:
&. emfs and currents in the opposite direction to the direction round the loop are given
negative values.
-. The second law is particularly useful for analysing circuits with more than one loop. *n
general, for a circuit with n unknown currents, n loops need to be considered one by one,
each loop giving a new euation. *n this way, the n linear euations formed can be solved
for the n unknown currents.
Example:
$ circuit consists of a cell of emf &.H 1 in series with a resistance -.@ connected to a resistor of
resistance 0.@ in parallel with a resistor of resistance H.@ . Cetermine the total current drawn
from the cell and the potential difference across the 0.@ resistor.
I
&
? I
-
I
&
I
-
&.H V
-.@
0.@
H.@
I
&
? I
-
&@
Solution
+onsider the circuit loop consisting of the cell and the 0.@ resistor(
&.H 1 > 0 I
&
? - "I& ? I
-
#.
Thus( &.H 1 > 5 I
&
? - I
-.
+onsider the circuit loop consisting of the cell and the H.@ resistor(
&.H 1 > H I
-
? - "I
&
? I
-
#.
Thus &.H 1 > - I
&
? E I
-
.
Subtracting the second euation from the first gives(
@ 1 > 0 I
&
? H I
-
hence I
&
> - I
-
.
Substituting I
&
> - I
-
into the second euation gives(
&.H 1 > &- I
-
.
Thus I
-
> @.&0 $ and I
&
> @.-' $.
+urrent through cell > I
&
? I
-

> @.4@ $.
pd across 0.@ resistor> I
&
M 0.@ "> I
-
H.@ # > @.E 1.
External references
This activity is adapted from $dvancing %hysics +C $!D Kirchhoffs .aws "-#
&&
)*+ 117, : ;uestions on Kirchhoffs laws
&. Ten lamps are connected in series across a power supply. The voltage across each lamp
is H.@ 1. /hat is the voltage of the supplyF
-. Ten lamps are connected in parallel across a &- 1 supply. /hat is the voltage across
each lampF
0. The ammeter below reads &.@ $. $ll the resistors have the same value. /hat is the
current through the black resistorF
4. .ook at the circuit below and answer the uestions that follow(
$mmeter $5 reads 0 $. $ll the resistors have the same value of &@ N. /hat are the readings on
ammeters $& to $E and what is the terminal voltage of the batteryF
&-
$
$
5
$
'
$
&
$
E
$
H
$
4
$
0
$
-
5.
The voltmeter across R reads -4 1
"a# /hat is the voltage across the upper &@ N resistorF
"b# /hat is the current through the upper &@ N resistorF
"c# /hat is the voltage across the lower part of the parallel circuitF
"d# /hat is the reading on ammeter $-F
"e# /hat are the readings on ammeters $& and $0F
"f# /hat is the value of RF
*nswers
&. H@ 1
-. &- 1
0. - $
4. $& > && $, $->H $, $0>- $, $4>- $, $5>0 $, $H>5 $, $'>&& $, $E>&& $
5"a# &H 1
5"b# &.H $
5"c# &H 1
5"d# @.4 $
5"e# -.@ $
5"f# &- N
&0
$
&
$
-
1
4@1 dc
supply
R
&@
0@

NN


&@
$0