Kirchhoff's circuit laws are two equalities that deal with the current and potential difference (commonly known as voltage) in the lumped element model of electrical circuits. They were first described in 1845 by German physicist Gustav Kirchhoff which generalized the work of Georg Ohm and preceded the work of James Clerk Maxwell. Kirchhoff’s Laws are widely used in electrical engineering to analyze the voltage and current conditions during circuit analysis. These laws can be applied in both time and frequency domains and form the basis for network analysis.
Knowledge Recap (optional)
This playlist of videos is here to provide you with a recap of the knowledge that you will need before starting with this course. The content of these videos is not formally assessed, however, this content is foundational to concepts covered in this course.
Knowledge Recap Playlist
- electrical circuits, components and symbols (9m 0s)
- electric charge (2m 17s)
- electric current (6m 21s)
- direction of current (7m 24s)
- electric voltage (10m 04s)
- polarity of voltage (7m 25s)
- electric power (7m 35s)
- electric energy and capacity of a battery (8m 08s)
- system of units and prefixes (3m 10s)
Watch
Below each presentation video, you will find a copy of the annotated slides which you can download. Feel free to make a copy of these (digital or printed) and add your own notes as you watch along. If you prefer, you can download all of the slides for the course from the link below:
The content videos in this course are presented by Shivvaan Sathasilvam the Program Director for the Bachelor of Engineering who teaches into both on-campus and transnational programs.
Kirchhoff's Current Law 06m 08s
This video introduces Kirchhoff’s Current Law which describes the conservation of charge within circuits. Put simply, this law states that the total charge entering a node in a circuit must be the same as the total charge exiting.
Kirchhoff's Voltage Law 11m 22s
This video introduces Kirchhoff’s Voltage Law which describes the conservation of energy in a closed circuit. Put simply, this means that the algebraic sum of all voltages in a closed circuit must be zero.
