BASIC DC CIRCUIT CALCULATIONSBasic DC TheoryCurrentDivisionSometimes it is necessary to find the individual branch currents in a parallel circuit when onlyresistance and total current are known. When only two branches are involved, the current in onebranch will be some fraction of IT. The resistance in each circuit can be used to divide the totalcurrent into fractional currents in each branch. This process is known as current division.(2-13)I1R2R1R2ITI2R1R1R2ITNote that the equation for each branch current has the opposite R in the numerator. This isbecause each branch current is inversely proportional to the branch resistance.Example: Find branch current for I1 and I2 for the circuit shown in Figure 30.Figure 30 Current Division Example CircuitES-02 Page 38 Rev. 0
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