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MILWAUKEE SCHOOL OF ENGINEERING EE-2050

EE-2050 LABORATORY

EXPERIMENT 4 Week 5

Computer Circuit Simulation MULTISIM for DC Analysis

Goal To learn how to use a simulation program (Multisim) to analyze DC electric circuits. The same

simulation techniques also help in designing circuits.

Background In engineering, computer software is used extensively in the analysis and design ofelectrical and electronic circuits. Computer simulations are one of the fundamental tools that allow you toquickly and accurately determine how a circuit functions.

Procedure Run Multisim from:Start / All Programs / National Instruments / Circuit Design Suite 10.x / Multisim

Youll first see the workspace, with the various toolbars. Note the blue buttons of the Virtual Toolbar nearthe upper right. If its not enabled, then use View / Toolbars to enable it.

Virtual components differ from normalones in that they can be set to anyvalue, not just the commonly-manufactured values. Lets draw acircuit with a DC voltage sourcedriving a two-resistor voltage divider.

In the Virtual Toolbar, click on PowerSource Components:

Click the DC Power Source icon andthen click the workspace to place it inthe drawing. Double-click it to

change its Voltage (V) value to 10volts.

In the Virtual Toolbar, click on Basic Components:Click on the Resistor and place one on the drawing. Do the same toplace a second one. To rotate the second one, right-click it and select rotate 90 clockwise. Change theresistors to 2k and 3k as shown.

From the Power SourceComponentswindow on the VirtualToolbar, choose Ground and place iton the drawing. Now, wire thecomponents together by clicking the

first node, and then clicking the nextnode.

Also, about two-thirds of the waydown the right-hand InstrumentToolbar,click the Agilent Multimeter,and then place it on the drawing.Double-click the instrument icon tosee the photo. Connect the icon asshown. Note how the terminals onthe icon are positioned as on the realinstrument.

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MILWAUKEE SCHOOL OF ENGINEERING EE-2050

Turn on the Agilent Multimeter by clicking its Power button, and then press DC V to measure DC volts.

Finally, click the 0/1 simulation on/off switch at the far upper right of the screen:to start the simulation. After a few seconds the Agilent Multimeter should read thevoltage (6 volts).

Stop the simulation and delete the Agilent Multimeter. Now, use a Measurement Probe:

which is in the Instrument Toolbar, near the bottom.

Run the simulation and note how the Measurement Probelistbox shows the voltage and current:

Component abbreviations such as k (for kilo), u (for micro)and m (for milli) can be used.

Try the multimeter, at the top of the Instrument Toolbar,as a DC voltmeter (left), and also as a DC ammeter (right).Note how the connection is broken to insert the ammeter(DC is chosen using the ---- button):

In this experiment we dont need any controlled sources. But if we did, you could click on the PlaceSource symbol at the upper left of the screen. This will show a complete set of components in theLibrary. From that you can select a controlled source of any type. Note the diamond-shaped source, andthe rectangular sensor, both of which would need to be connected.

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MILWAUKEE SCHOOL OF ENGINEERING EE-2050

Laboratory Assignment

For the circuit shown, analyzethe circuit three ways onpaper using KVL and KCL, bybuilding and measuring, and byMultisim. Find the voltageacrossand current through

every element.

Enter results in the table. Show calculations below:

When finished, show the Multisim simulation to your professor.

Multisim Results Measured Results Calculated Results

Component Voltage Current Voltage Current Voltage Current

Vs

R1

R2

R3