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Electric Circuits

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Electric Circuits, Eighth Edition features a new design,a four-color format, and 80% of chapter problems have been updated. In the midst of these changes, the book retains the goals that have made it a best-seller: 1) To build an understanding of concepts and ideas explicitly in terms of previous learning; 2) To emphasize the relationship between conceptual understanding and problem solving approaches; 3) To provide readers with a strong foundation of engineering practices. Chapter topics include Circuit Variables; Circuit Elements; Simple Resistive Circuits; Techniques of Circuit Analysis; The Operational Amplifier; Inductors, Capacitors, and Mutual Inductance; Response of First-Order RL and RC Circuits; Natural and Step Responses of RLC Circuits; Sinusoidal Steady-State Analysis; and more. For anyone interested in circuit analysis.

855 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1983

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James W. Nilsson

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Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
Profile Image for Jake.
211 reviews46 followers
December 3, 2017
"We do not dwell in the Palace of Truth. But, as was mentioned to me not long since, "There is a time coming when all things shall be found out." I am not so sanguine myself, believing that the well in which Truth is said to reside is really a bottomless pit." ~ Oliver Heaviside

This textbook is one of the more creative textbooks I've run across, where it draws circuits and ask questions mostly from a pedagogical point of view. It's trying to teach undergraduates how to solve circuits. The problem with their approach is that it allows engineering to get in the way of that approach. It isn't that it's not only less rigorous but it is littered with errors by approximation. I mean there are many sections where it uses 22/7 as a "good approximation" of pi.

I guess I'll go over a quick overview of the subject. When doing circuits analysis you're making the assumption that propagation of electricity happens instantaneously, another way of saying this is that you're assuming the speed of light is infinity. This leads you to making the assumption that there is no charge accumulation on any nodes. If you make these two assumptions then you can start to build networks which have rules that govern them called KVL and KCL, with a trivial result from graph theory that states the "number of branches" = "number of meshes" + "number of nodes" - 1. The most important subject covered in the book is the transfer function, where given some input and an output's impulse response you can calculate any output. Any response is some combination of the natural response and forced response, essentially an algebraic relationship, column space and null space.

The book delves into this theory somewhat. In some ways it thinks quite deeply about these things, even for a book meant to be introductory for undergraduates. In other ways it does not scratch the surface.

The book excels when it's playing a game with theory. Analysis is one thing, you need it to begin to understand how to do synthesis but when the book goes into unpacking the theory.
4 reviews3 followers
August 13, 2011
Sure it was a class textbook but I still look at it from time to time. My first semester with it I utterly hated it!! But after the 2nd semester of circuits I found that I liked it. I am not really sure if it is a good textbook or if perhaps I am suffering from something analogous to Stockholm syndrome. At this point I can pretty much find the section I am looking for with my eyes closed.
30 reviews1 follower
April 9, 2022
I read the 2nd edition, no others. It's been a long time, but I learned a helluva lot from this book, even though I'm a M.E., not an E.E., but have great respect for electrical engineering and the marvels resulting from the practice of the same.

BTW, I still have the 2nd edition. It was published by Addison-Wesley Publishing Co. beginning in 1983.
17 reviews
July 6, 2017
I have never had the slightest interest in circuits until I read this book. I wouldn't say it made me interested, but I currently feels its positive effect. (pun intended)
Profile Image for Iñaki Calderón.
7 reviews
March 25, 2023
Un libro estándar para los cursos de Circuitos Eléctricos para Ingeniería Eléctrica. Tiene ejemplos muy buenos y es bastante ordenado. Sin embargo, es preferible las nuevas versiones en inglés porque son bastante cómodas para la lectura ya que incluye colores. La versión en español es bastante hostil en ese sentido ya que está en escala de grises. Sus materias principales son:
- Introducción a los circuitos.
- Circuitos de primer y segundo orden (en donde el libro se destaca)
- Amplificadores operacionales.
- Circuitos en corriente alterna.
- Circuitos trifásicos (del cual es bastante débil su contenido)
- Transformada de Fourier y Laplace aplicada a circuitos.
- Filtros.
- Redes de dos puertos.
3 reviews
April 25, 2020
Excellent introduction to circuit analysis. If your professor has chosen this textbook, pay attention!
Profile Image for Adriana.
89 reviews1 follower
June 29, 2010
Este é o livro que me acompanhou nesta semana. Espero que, com ele, o exame de amanhã se torne menos agreste.
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews

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