Author_Institution :
Sch. of Social Sci., Georgia Inst. of Technol., Atlanta, GA, USA
Abstract :
The equivalent generator theorem is discussed. It is commonly called Thevenin´s theorem, in honor of Leon Charles Thevenin, a French telegraph engineer and educator who proposed it in 1883, but in fact Hermann von Helmholtz proposed it first, in an 1853 paper. Although originally introduced to facilitate the analysis of linear networks of resistances and voltage sources, the theorem subsequently was defined in terms of impedances and voltage sources. As a tool for circuit analysis, it is allied to the superposition theorem. The history of the theorem and how it came to be named for Thevenin are described.<>