Kirchhoff’s Current law (KCL)

The article provides an overview of Kirchhoff’s Current Law (KCL), explaining the principle of current conservation at a circuit node and its application in analyzing electric circuits. It also introduces the alternate form of KCL and demonstrates its use through basic examples and practical applications.

For a given circuit, a connection of two or more elements is called a NODE. The particular circuit shown in figure 1 depicts an example of a node.

Figure.1: Circuit for Kirchhoff’s Current Law

We now present the Kirchhoff’s current law which is essentially the law of conservation of electric charge.

[stextbox id=’info’ caption=’Kirchhoff’s Current Law’]At any node of a circuit, the sum of the currents into the node is equal to the sum of the currents out of the node.[/stextbox]

Since charge must be conserved and does not accumulate at a node, the amount of current flowing out of a node equals the amount flowing in at any instant. In other words, an electrical node acts like a junction of water pipes where the amount of water going out equals the amount coming in.

Specifically for the portion of the network shown in figure 1, by applying KCL we obtain the equation

\[{{i}_{3}}+{{i}_{4}}={{i}_{1}}+{{i}_{2}}\]

An alternative, but equivalent, form of KCL can be obtained by considering currents directed into a node be positive in sense and currents directed out of a node to be negative in sense (or vice versa). Under this circumstance, the alternative form of KCL can be stated as follows:

[stextbox id=’info’ caption=’KCL in an Alternate Form ‘]At any node of a circuit, the currents algebraically sum to zero.[/stextbox]

$\sum{i}=0$

Applying this form of KCL to the node in figure 1 and considering currents directed into be positive in sense, we get

\[{{i}_{1}}+{{i}_{2}}-{{i}_{3}}-{{i}_{4}}=0\]

A close inspection of last two equations, however, reveals that they are the same.

• You May Also Read: Kirchhoff’s Voltage Law

Kirchhoff’s current Law (KCL) Solved Example

Find I_o  using KCL

Using KCL at node a,

$0.5{{i}_{0}}+3={{i}_{0}}$

${{i}_{0}}=6A$

Application of KCL

A very simple application of KCL is to combine current sources in parallel.

Using KCL, we can convert above figure into single current source form.

Current  I₁  and  I₃  are in the same direction as  I_T total current, so we consider  I₁  and  I₃  as positive currents, while  I₂  is in opposite direction of  I₁  and  I₃  so will be considered as negative current. So, the total resultant current  I_T will be,

${{i}_{T}}={{i}_{1}}-{{i}_{2}}+{{i}_{3}}$

Kirchhoff’s Current Law (KCL) Key Takeaways

Kirchhoff’s Current Law (KCL) is a fundamental principle in electrical engineering that ensures accurate analysis and design of circuits by enforcing the conservation of electric charge at any node. Its practical applications, such as simplifying complex networks and combining current sources, make it essential for the development and troubleshooting of electrical and electronic systems across various fields, including power distribution, communication systems, and circuit design.