Search

Premium Membership ♕

Limited Time Offer: Save 15% on PRO Plan with discount code: LRN15 and study specialized LV/MV/HV technical articles and studies.

Home / Technical Articles / Kirchhoff’s Laws For Electrical Engineers – Beginners

Voltages and currents in electric circuits

Two extremely important principles in electric circuits were codified by Gustav Robert Kirchhoff in the year 1847, known as Kirchhoff’s Laws. His two laws refer to Voltages and Currents in electric circuits, respectively.

Kirchhoff’s Laws For Electrical Engineers - Beginners
Kirchhoff’s Laws For Electrical Engineers - Beginners (photo credit: Jesse Mason via Youtube)

Kirchhoff’s Voltage Law

Kirchhoff’s Voltage Law states that the algebraic sum of all voltages in a closed loop is equal to zero. Another way to state this law is to say that for every rise in potential there must be an equal fall, if we begin at any point in a circuit and travel in a loop back to that same starting point.


Hiking up a mountain

An analogy for visualizing Kirchhoff’s Voltage Law is hiking up a mountain.

Suppose we start at the base of a mountain and hike to an altitude of 5000 feet to set up camp for an overnight stay. Then, the next day we set off from camp and hike farther up another 3500 feet.

Deciding we’ve climbed high enough for two days, we set up camp again and stay the night. The next day we hike down 6200 feet to a third location and camp once gain. On the fourth day we hike back to our original starting point at the base of the mountain.

We can summarize our hiking adventure as a series of rises and falls like this:

Hiking up a mountain analogy
Hiking up a mountain analogy

DayPath Altitude gain / Loss
 Day 1A to B +5000 feet
 Day 2B to C +3500 feet
 Day 3C to D -6200 feet
 Day 4D to A -2300 feet
 TOTAL // ABCDA  0 feet 

Of course, no one would tell their friends they spent four days hiking a total altitude of 0 feet, so people generally speak in terms of the highest point reached: in this case 8500 feet. However, if we track each day’s gain or loss in algebraic terms (maintaining the mathematical sign, either positive or negative), we see that the end sum is zero (and indeed must always be zero) if we finish at our starting point.

If we view this scenario from the perspective of potential energy as we lift a constant mass from point to point, we would conclude that we were doing work on that mass (i.e. investing energy in it by lifting it higher) on days 1 and 2, but letting the mass do work on us (i.e. releasing energy by lowering it) on days 3 and 4. After the four-day hike, the net potential energy imparted to the mass is zero, because it ends up at the exact same altitude it started at.

Let’s apply this principle to a real circuit, where total current and all voltage drops have already been calculated for us:

Arrow shows current in the direction of conventional flow notation
Arrow shows current in the direction of conventional flow notation

If we trace a path ABCDEA, we see that the algebraic voltage sum in this loop is zero:

PathVoltage gain / Loss
 A to B -4 volts
 B to C -6 volts
 C to D +5 volts
 D to E-2 volts
 E to A+7 volts
 ABCDEA  0 volts

We can even trace a path that does not follow the circuit conductors or include all components, such as EDCBE, and we will see that the algebraic sum of all voltages is still zero:

PathVoltage gain / Loss
 A to B +2 volts
 B to C -5 volts
 C to D +6 volts
 D to E-2 volts
 E to A-3 volts
 ABCDEA  0 volts

Kirchhoff’s Voltage Law is often a difficult subject for students, precisely because voltage itself is a difficult concept to grasp.

Remember that there is no such thing as voltage at a single point; rather, voltage exists only as a differential quantity. To intelligently speak of voltage, we must refer to either a loss or gain of potential between two points.

Our analogy of altitude on a mountain is particularly apt. We cannot intelligently speak of some point on the mountain as having a specific altitude unless we assume a point of reference to measure from. If we say the mountain summit is 9200 feet high, we usually mean 9200 feet higher than sea level, with the level of the sea being our common reference point. However, our hiking adventure where we climbed 8500 feet in two days did not imply that we climbed to an absolute altitude of 8500 feet above sea level. Since I never specified the sea-level altitude at the base of the mountain, it is impossible to calculate our absolute altitude at the end of day 2.

All you can tell from the data given is that we climbed 8500 feet above the mountain base, wherever that happens to be with reference to sea level.

So it is with electrical voltage as well: most circuits have a point labeled as ground where all other voltages are referenced.

In DC-powered circuits, this ground point is often the negative pole of the DC power source. Voltage is fundamentally a quantity relative between two points: a measure of how much potential has increased or decreased moving from one point to another.

Go back to Laws ↑


Kirchhoff’s Current Law

Kirchhoff’s Current Law is a much easier concept to grasp. This law states that the algebraic sum of all currents at a junction point (called a node) is equal to zero. Another way to state this law is to say that for every electron entering a node, one must exit somewhere.

An analogy for visualizing Kirchhoff’s Current Law is water flowing into and out of a “tee” fitting:

Visualizing Kirchhoff’s Current Law is water flowing
Visualizing Kirchhoff’s Current Law is water flowing

So long as there are no leaks in this piping system, every drop of water entering the tee must be balanced by a drop exiting the tee. For there to be a continuous mismatch between flow rates would imply a violation of the Law of Mass Conservation.

Let’s apply this principle to a real circuit, where all currents have been calculated for us:

Arrow shows current in the direction of conventional flow notation
Arrow shows current in the direction of conventional flow notation

At nodes where just two wires connect (such as points A, B, and C), the amount of current going in to the node exactly equals the amount of current going out (4 mA, in each case). At nodes where three wires join (such as points D and E), we see one large current and two smaller currents (one 4 mA current versus two 2 mA currents), with the directions such that the sum of the two smaller currents form the larger current.

Just as the balance of water flow rates into and out of a piping “tee” is a consequence of the Law of Mass Conservation, the balance of electric currents flowing into and out of a circuit junction is a consequence of the Law of Charge Conservation, another fundamental conservation law in physics.

Go back to Laws ↑


Resistors in Series and Parallel | Kirchhoff’s Rules

Go back to Laws ↑


Reference // Lessons In Industrial Instrumentation – Tony R. Kuphaldt

Premium Membership

Get access to premium HV/MV/LV technical articles, electrical engineering guides, research studies and much more! It helps you to shape up your technical skills in your everyday life as an electrical engineer.
More Information
author-pic

Edvard Csanyi

Electrical engineer, programmer and founder of EEP. Highly specialized for design of LV/MV switchgears and LV high power busbar trunking (<6300A) in power substations, commercial buildings and industry facilities. Professional in AutoCAD programming.

6 Comments


  1. Sadanandan
    Jun 09, 2017

    Excellent Simple Analogies provided by you helps to capture concept quickly. Thank you.


  2. kamran
    Oct 21, 2016

    Thanks so much may i ask you to give me have comperhensive way toward learning of Plc and kirshof laws . I want to download them
    Regards,


  3. Benedict
    Oct 22, 2015

    thanks


  4. eshetu yirsaw
    Sep 08, 2015

    please how could i become best electrical engineer eventhough i have BSC in electrical engineering


  5. felix kotane
    Aug 24, 2015

    This such a good reminder and also with the practicals provided , it makes it easy forone to understand better , i really love such explanation


  6. RAMA
    Aug 19, 2015

    I am unable to understand the path list and their respective voltage values that has been mentioned in the second example explaining the kirchhoff’s voltage law. The algebraic sum of voltages (vlotage gain/ loss) does not become zero. I am yet to go through the full article.

Leave a Reply to RAMA

Tell us what you're thinking. We care about your opinion! Please keep in mind that comments are moderated and rel="nofollow" is in use. So, please do not use a spammy keyword or a domain as your name, or it will be deleted. Let's have a professional and meaningful conversation instead. Thanks for dropping by!

fifty  ⁄    =  five

Learn How to Design Power Systems

Learn to design LV/MV/HV power systems through professional video courses. Lifetime access. Enjoy learning!

Subscribe to Weekly Newsletter

Subscribe to our Weekly Digest newsletter and receive free updates on new technical articles, video courses and guides (PDF).
EEP Academy Courses - A hand crafted cutting-edge electrical engineering knowledge