Passive Sign Convention for Circuits

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This tutorial introduces goes over the passive sign convention used in circuit analysis. When conventional power flows into the positive terminal of an element, we consider the current in the P=VI expression to be positive. When conventional power flows into the negative terminal of an element, we consider the current in the P=VI expression to be negative. We arbitrarily define power flowing out of the circuit to be positive, and power flowing in to be negative. We refer to elements with a positive power flow as passive elements, which dissipate, or absorb power from the circuit. We refer to elements with negative power flow as active elements, which deliver or generate power to the circuit.

This lesson is from: Circuits
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