Nortonekvivalenssillä

Nortonekvivalenssi refers to a concept in electrical engineering used to simplify complex circuit analysis. It describes an equivalent circuit for a linear electrical network that is viewed from two terminals. This equivalent circuit consists of a single resistor, known as the Norton equivalent resistance, connected in parallel with an ideal current source, which represents the Norton equivalent current.

The Norton equivalent current is the current that would flow through a short circuit connected across the two terminals of the original network. The Norton equivalent resistance is equal to the resistance of the original network when all independent sources are turned off (voltage sources short-circuited and current sources open-circuited).

This method is particularly useful when analyzing the behavior of a network at a specific pair of terminals, especially when dealing with multiple sources and components. By replacing a complex network with its simpler Norton equivalent, it becomes much easier to calculate the current and voltage across a load connected to those terminals.

The process for finding the Norton equivalent involves two main steps: first, calculating the short-circuit current at the terminals, and second, determining the equivalent resistance seen from the terminals with sources deactivated. This equivalent circuit can then be used to predict the behavior of any load connected to those terminals. The Norton equivalent is closely related to the Thevenin equivalent, another method for simplifying circuit analysis.