Kirchhoff’s current law (KCL) imposes constraints on the currents in the branches that are attached to each node of a circuit. In simplest terms, KCL states that the sum of the currents that are entering a given node must equal the sum of the currents that are leaving the node. Thus, the set of currents in branches attached to a given node can be partitioned into two groups whose orientation is away from (into) the node. The two groups must contain the same net current.
In general, the currents entering or leaving each node m of a circuit must satisfy
where ikm(t) is understood to be the current in branch k attached to node m. The currents used in this expression are understood to be the currents that would be measured in the branches attached to the node, and their values include a magnitude and an algebraic sign. If the measurement convention is oriented for the case where currents are entering the node, then the actual current in a branch has a positive or negative sign, depending on whether the current is truly flowing toward the node in question.
Kirchhoff’s voltage law (KVL) describes a relationship among the voltages measured across the branches in any closed, connected path in a circuit. Each branch in a circuit is connected to two nodes. For the purpose of applying KVL, a path has an orientation in the sense that in “walking” along the path one would enter one of the nodes and exit the other. This establishes a direction for determining the voltage across a branch in the path: the voltage is the difference between the potential of the node entered and the potential of the node at which the path exits. Alternatively, the voltage drop along a branch is the difference of the node voltage at the entered node and the node voltage at the exit node.
Where vkm(t) is the instantaneous voltage drop measured across branch k of path m. By convention, the voltage drop is taken in the direction of the edge sequence that forms the path.
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