PRINCIPLES OF 1st ORDER LINEAR SWITCHED DC CIRCUITS

In the study of transient signals, an important class of circuits is those containing one energy storing element, resistors in any combination, constant voltage or current sources and either a switch or a step signal source.This class is the simplest of the linear transient circuits and yet the principles may apply to higher order circuits.We will list the principles governing the behavior of such circuits and then apply the principles to describe and compute any of the response waveforms without solving a differential equation.It is assumed that the reader understands the principles of solving DC circuits and, in particular, the reader is capable of computing a Thevenin's equivalent resistance.Except for the waveform principle the other principles hold in circuits that contain more than one energy-storing element.We will also include meaningful definitions of common linear components.