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Appendix B: Doing it the Hard Way

For PHY104L Kirchoff Expt 2007, James J. DeHaven, Ph.D. We will use determinants to find thevalue of I5 in our Wheatstone Bridge circuit. We start out by rewiting equations [A28] and [A29] from Appendix A. We write them in a way that emphasizes the column that the coefficient of each term will occupy in our determinant.

!I1 ! I 2 I1

!I3 + I4 I3 ! I 3R3

+ I5

+I = 0 =0

!I1R1

!I = 0 ! I 5R5 = !V =0 =0

[B1]

I1R1 !I2R2

We will solve for I5 by making a determinant of the coefficients of I1 through I and placing this in the denominator, and then placing in the numerator the same determinant, save for the replacement of the column for I5 with the elements in the RHS of the equation. We demonstrated that this works rigorously in equs [A1] through [A13] of Appendix A and asserted, without proof that the method could be extended to an arbitrary number of simultaneous equations.

I 3R3 ! I 4 R4 +I5R5

!1 !1 0 0 1 0 !1 0 0 0 1 1 !R1 0 !R3 0 R1 !R2 0 0 0 0 R3 !R4 0 !1 1 ! R3 0 R3 0 0 1 0 0 ! R4

0 0 0 !V 0 0 0 1 0 0 ! R5 R5

1 0 !1 0 0 0 1 0 !1 0 0 0 [B2]

!1 !1 1 0 0 0 ! R1 0 R1 ! R2 0 0

-2We will expand the determinant using the elements of the first row. Since only A11 , A12 , and A16 are non-zero, only these elements will need to be evaluated. We begin with A11 :

0 0 A11 = (-1)1+1(-1) 0 ! R2 0

!1 1 ! R3 0 R3

0 1 0 0 ! R4

0 0 !V 0 0

0 !1 0 0 0

[B3]

Since there is only one non-zero element in the 5x5 determinant, there will only be a single 4x4 determinant in the next cofactor:

0 0 A11 = (-1)2(-1)(-1)3(-1) ! R2 0

1 0 0 ! R4

0 !V 0 0

!1 0 0 0

[B4]

We will get two 3x3 determinants in our next cofactors since there are teo non-zero elements in row 1 of our 4x4 determinant:

0 0 ! R2 0

1 0 0 ! R4

0 !V 0 0

!1 0 0 0

0 0 ! R2 0

1 0 0 ! R4

0 !V 0 0

!1 0 0 0

[B5]

Now write A11 in terms of the 3x3 cofactors:

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A11 = 0 (-1) (-1)1+2(-1) ! R2 0

[B6] !V 0 0 0 0 0 0 + (-1)1+4(-1) ! R2 0 0 0 ! R4 !V 0 0

Note that [B6] ran over and had to be placed on 2 lines. In B6 we have crossed out our rows and columns to visualize our next set of cofactors, which, because of all the zeroes, amounts to just a single 2x2 determinant for each 3x3 determinant:

! R2 1+2 A11 = (-1) (-V) 0

0 0

(-1)1+3(-1)(-V)

! R5 0 0 ! R4

[B6]

The first 2x2 evaluates to 0, and so we are left with:

A11 = VR2R4
Isnt this fun? OK, now we need to evaluate A12:

[B7]

!1 !1 1 0 0 0 ! R1 0 R1 ! R2 0 0

0 !1 1 ! R3 0 R3 "

0 0 1 0 0 ! R4

0 0 0 !V 0 0

1 0 !1 0 0 0

where we have used ", as we did in Appendix A, as a placeholder for the determinant of coefficients in the denominator.

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1 !1 0 0 1 1 0 A12 = (-1)1+2(-1) ! R1 ! R3 R1 0 0 0 R3 ! R4

0 0 !V 0 0

0 !1 0 0 0

[B9]

1 1 ! R3 0 A12 = (-1)3(-1)(-1)1+1(+1) 0 0 R3 ! R4

0 !V 0 0

!1 0 0 0 0 1 ! R1 0 R1 0 0 ! R4

[B10]

(-1)3(-1)(-1)1+2(-1)

0 !V 0 0

!1 0 0 0

The determinant in [B9] generates two 4x4 cofactors, shown in [B10]. The first of these will, in turn, generate three 3x3 determinants, and the second will generate two 3x3s as shown on the next page.

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0 A12 = (-1)1+1(1) 0 ! R4

!V 0 0

0 0 0 0 0 0 ! R3 0 +(-1)1+4(-1) 0 0 R3 ! R4 0 0 0

[B11]

! R3 !V + (-1)1+2(1) 0 0 R3 0

!V 0 0 !V 0 0

! R1 !V + (-1)1+2(1) R1 0 0 0
These, in turn, generate nine 2x2 determinants:

! R1 0 + (-1)1+4(-1) R1 0 0 ! R4

A12 = (-1)1+2(-V)

0 ! R4 0 R3

0 0

+ (-1)(-1)1+2(-R3)
0 0

0 0 0 0 0 0 [B12]

(-1)(-1)1+2(-V)

(-1)1+1(-R3)

0 ! R4

+ (-1)1+3(-V)

0 0 R3 ! R4 R1 0

+ (-1)(-1)1+1(-R1)
0 0

0 0 0 0 0 0

+ (-1)(-1)1+2(-V)

+ (-1)1+1(-R1)

0 ! R4

R1 0 (-1)1+3(-V) 0 ! R 4

-6Well, this is a mess until we take note of the fact that every determinant except one (the last one in [B12]) has at least one row or column that has all zeroes as elements. So only the last determinant is left standing and we get:

A12 = VR1R4
Finally we want to evaluate A16 :

[B13]

!1 !1 1 0 0 0 ! R1 0 R1 ! R2 0 0

0 !1 1 ! R3 0 R3 "

0 0 1 0 0 ! R4

0 0 0 !V 0 0

1 0 !1 0 0 0

[B14]

1 0 0 0 A16 = (-1)1+6(1) ! R1 0 R1 ! R2 0 0

!1 1 ! R3 0 R3

0 1 0 0 ! R4

0 0 !V 0 0

[B15]

This will generate two 4x4 determinants in the process of finding cofactors:

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A16 = (-1)

0 0 1+1 (-1) (1) ! R2 0

1 ! R3 0 R3

1 0 0 ! R4

0 !V 0 0 1 0 0 ! R4

[B16]

0 0 ! R1 0 (-1)1+3(-1) R1 ! R2 0 0

0 !V 0 0

]
!V 0 0

The first determinant in [B16] will yield 2 non-zero cofactors and the second will yield a single determinant as shown in [B17]:

0 A16 = (-1)(-1)1+2(1) ! R2 0 0 + (-1)(-1)1+3(1) ! R2 0

0 0 ! R4 !V 0 0

!V 0 0 0 + (-1)1+3(1) ! R2 0

[B17]

! R3 0 R3

! R3 0 R3

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! R2 A16 = (-1)1+3(-V) 0 [B18]

0 ! R4

(-1)(-1)1+2(-R3) 0 R3

! R2 0

0 0 ! R2 0 0 0 0 ! R2 0

(-1)(-1)1+3(-V)

! R2 0

(-1)1+1(-R1)

+ (-1)1+3(-V) R1
All the determinants disappear except the first and the third, and A16 evaluates to:

A16 = VR2R4 VR2R3

Sumarizing our results, we have:

[B19]

A11 = VR2R4 A12 = VR1R4 A16 = VR2R4 VR2R3 A13 = A14 = A15 = 0
So:

[B7] [B13] [B19] [B20]

I5 =

A11 + A12 + A16 " VR2R4 + VR1R4 VR2R4 VR2R3 "

[B21]

where " retains its usual identity as the big 6x6 determinant. Subbing from [B7], [B13], and [B19]:

I5 =

[B22]

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I5 =

VR1R4 VR2R3 "

[B23]

If we balance the bridge by adjusting the Rs so that I5 = 0, then [B21] reduces to the simple result we have seen before:

0=

VR1R4 VR2R3 " R1R4 = R2R5 or R1 R3 = R2 R4

[B23]

[B24]

[B25]

To simply find the conditions under which I5 = 0, you only have to evaluate a single 6x6 determinant. To find its value, and all the other currents, youd have to evaluate all 6 of them, plus ". Which is easier? The 6x6, or what we did in Appendix A (Maxwells method)?