Every engineer should understand the importance of circuit analysis.
This process of determining all the currents and voltages in a network of connected components is crucial because of how it enables engineers to understand, design, and troubleshoot electrical systems.
The critical role of circuit analysis across all manner of projects
Many of us take for granted that a particular electrical device we have in our home, workplace, or educational setting will be consistently efficient and reliable.
However, this can only be ensured from the outset if the engineers who design the device are able to predict how circuits will behave under a variety of conditions.
This is exactly what thorough and well-judged circuit analysis allows to be accomplished. However, with circuit analysis also being a necessarily painstaking process, it can be a slow, complex, and overwhelming one for some electrical engineers, students, and hobbyists.
The connection between circuit analysis and regulatory adherence in the UK
It is perfectly understandable that such people would feel under pressure when it comes to circuit analysis. After all, within the UK, there are the IET Wiring Regulations (BS 7671) to be concerned about. This standard sets out important requirements to comply with to ensure accurate and efficient design.
Strictly speaking, it isn’t legally mandatory to comply with the stipulations that BS 7671 outlines. However, there is various legislation – such as the Electricity, Safety, Quality and Continuity Regulations 2002, as well as Part P of the Building Regulations 2010 – that does refer to it as the standard to be achieved.
So, how can you use online calculators to make circuit analysis simpler?
Circuit analysis can represent a maze of daunting complexity. So, you are likely to be thankful for how the right online calculators can help you solve tedious maths problems in seconds.
At the same time, using calculators will enable you to practically eliminate the scope for human error, as can easily creep in when purely manual calculations are performed.
So, how can you begin tapping into the benefits of online calculators for circuit analysis? Below, we have laid out the key steps.
Find The Online Calculators That Match Your Intended Modes of Analysis
Fortunately, you only need to do a quick Google search to begin uncovering useful tools that will enable you to rapidly and easily simplify circuit calculations online.
The most relevant such calculators for circuit analysis include the likes of Ohm’s Law calculators for calculating voltage, current, or resistance in a circuit, as well as voltage divider calculators that allow for output voltages to be determined in voltage divider circuits.
Also likely to be useful are the various series and parallel resistor calculators out there. These tools make it a quicker and more straightforward process for engineers to find the total resistance of series and parallel resistor combinations.
Make Sure the Calculators You Use Have Good Reputations
So, there will hopefully be some online calculators that have caught your eye in terms of their potential relevance to your circuit analysis process. But are the tools in question ones that well-established educational sites or trusted online engineering portals actually refer to?
If the answer to that question is “yes”, this is a good sign. It will further reassure you, though, if the calculators that you’re considering actually show the formulas and the steps they use.
Insert Your Use of The Relevant Calculators into Your Workflow
Presumably, you will have defined the circuit on which you intend to perform analysis, including going as far as labelling every component value and source. Then, you will have picked out a few online calculators that seem geared to your mode of analysis.
Now, it will be a case of simply entering the relevant parameters into each calculator – such as source currents or voltages, or resistor values – before hitting the “calculate” button to get the pertinent result. You will then be able to review and cross-check each result against an equivalent manual calculation, to verify accuracy.
Don’t Underestimate the Transformative Impact of The Right Calculation Tools
In summary, the leading online calculators can play a critical role in circuit analysis across a range of projects, helping to deliver speed, accuracy, convenience, and compliance.
Such a combination of qualities helps to make such tools indispensable for engineers and students not just in the UK, but around the world.
