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Mesh analysis

Network analysis · Advanced · about 20 minutes · part of Zen’s Electronics Design Mastery

Give each window of the circuit its own loop current, write KVL for each loop, and solve the simultaneous equations. A shared branch carries the difference of the two loop currents.

Mesh analysis: the circuit on the simulator's bench

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How it works

Loop A: (R1 + R2)·I_A − R2·I_B = V1 → 3.2 kΩ·I_A − 2.2 kΩ·I_B = 12 V

Loop B: −R2·I_A + (R2 + R3)·I_B = −V2 → −2.2 kΩ·I_A + 3.7 kΩ·I_B = −5 V

I_A = 4.771 mA, I_B = 1.486 mA, I_R2 = I_A − I_B = 3.286 mA

Try it on the bench

Raise V2 until I_B goes negative. V2 is now delivering current instead of absorbing it.
Set R2 to 10 kΩ and see the two meshes decouple.

Parts on the bench

2 × Bench power supply
3 × Digital multimeter
3 × Resistor

In the course

Zen’s Electronics Design Mastery, module “DC Circuit Analysis”.

Mesh analysis

How it works

Try it on the bench

Parts on the bench

In the course

More on network analysis