Concepts of Electric Circuit Analysis Revised: Analysis without Current Direction

TL;DR

This paper proposes a new approach to electric circuit analysis that eliminates the need for assuming current direction, resolving inconsistencies in traditional methods and demonstrated through RLC circuit analysis.

Contribution

It introduces a direction-independent analysis method for electric circuits, challenging the conventional reliance on current direction in circuit laws.

Findings

The approach is summarized in five rules.

Applied successfully to an RLC series circuit.

Avoids inconsistencies related to current direction.

Abstract

The electric current as the flux of current density -- a signed scalar, not a vector -- is inconsistent with the concept of the current direction, commonly invoked in the electric circuit analyses within, for example, Kirchhoff's current law, the resistance rule, and Lenz's law. This paper presents an approach to the circuit analysis that is not predicated upon the ``current direction,'' and thus avoids such inconsistencies. The approach is summarized in five rules and the application of these rules is demonstrated by analyzing an RLC series circuit.