Electronics > Beginners
Beginners idiot question
(1/8) > >>
Mr D:
Hi folks,

Sorry to do this to you but here goes............

I'm messing around with Every Circuit (online circuit simulator), and there's something really basic i'm not getting.

Until now i've learnt that to have a valid circuit, you need a voltage source. Let's say a battery.

If you connect the plus to the minus terminal, with a resistor in between you've got a valid circuit. It'll do something (heat up the resistor)

But not according to Every Circuit (EC). EC demands that you place a "ground" icon in the circuit, and attach it somewhere.

But i really don't understand why or what's the purpose.

Attached you'll see a printscreen from Every Circuit. It contains 3 circuits. The bottom one is invalid according to EC but i don't understand why.

The other 2 have the ground attached at different places in the circuit, and this alters the voltage potential at various places in the circuit. Again, i'm at a loss to understand why.

I know this is a super noob-ish question but i'm really baffled by this.

Thanks in advance!





magic:
The ground symbol defines which point is considered 0V.
Every other point's voltage is reported with respect to ground.
Dabbot:
All three are valid circuits. I think the requirement for a ground point, in this instance, is enforced by how Every Circuit performs its calculations.
jeremy:
Yeah, it’s likely that the solver needs a fixed known voltage of 0V at a node to work.
AlfBaz:
All spice simulators need all circuit paths to have a dc path to ground (0V).
Some however, have default models such as capacitors with a high built in dc resistance.

There are circumstances where a particular branch might not have a dc path to ground and generally spice simulators wont converge.
In these instances you usually place a very high resistance to ground so that the circuit can be solved
Navigation
Message Index
Next page
There was an error while thanking
Thanking...

Go to full version
Powered by SMFPacks Advanced Attachments Uploader Mod