Re: Circuit Analysis Question (Electrical Engineering majors holla)
Your current can split at any junction. You can't just ignore a possible pathway because a resistance is lower through another path. Unless it's some theoretical question where your resistance is infinite at one point in the circuit, you need to apply Kirchoff's rules (like your friend did, I think).
Your buddy is on the right track, although I didn't check his derivation. You need to find the current passing through R1 and R4, then just use Ohm's Law to get the voltage drop. Same for R3. Find the equivalent resistance across the entire circuit, and use V=IR again to get the source current.
Everything follows from Kirchoff's rules and V=IR, so just do the analysis from there.
|