- #1
Emspak
- 243
- 1
Homework Statement
You have a circuit (attached pic) and want to find the Thevenin equivalent resistance and voltage.
Homework Equations
See below
The Attempt at a Solution
OK< here's what confuses me. If I simply look at the total resistance of the circuit from A and B, it seems to me that I should be adding up R1 with the parallel sum of R2 and R3. From there I would get the total resistance of the circuit and if I hook up A and B to a voltmeter, I should take the current in the circuit and multiply that by R1, giving me a voltage drop. I take that drop, subtracting from V1, and run that across the parallel sum of R2 and R3. Current remains the same, so the total voltage there (call it V3) should be V1 - I*R1 - I*R2.
But the weird thing to me is that the actual answer is treating R2 and R1 as though they are in parallel. I get that with the A and B connections that's how it would look. OK then, but if that's the Thevenin resistance then should not Vth = I * Rth?
And if that's the case, total I (current) is going to be V(source) / total resistance, which is (R1 + (R2R3/ R2 + R3)). Bt that isn't what I am told it is, Vth = R2*V / R1+ R2. This is not making sense to me.
So any help in parsing this would be appreciated.