Half Divider - Electronic Circuits Step by Step

Equal resistors split the source voltage equally. Exact arithmetic here means exact results for the stated model inputs; measured inputs still carry uncertainty and significant-figure limits.

highlighted = computed this step

Equal resistors split equally

The two resistors are both 6 ohm, so the source voltage splits into equal drops.

R_{\text{top}} = R_{\text{bottom}} = 6\ \text{ohm}

Read half the source at the output

Half of 12 volts is 6 volts, so the output node reads 6 volts.

V_{\text{out}} = \frac{12\ \text{V}}{2} = 6\ \text{V}

Equal pairs keep the same half output

The total resistance changes across the rows, so current changes. The output still stays at half the source because the two resistances match.

\begin{array}{c|c|c|c|c|c}V_{\text{in}}&R_t&R_b&I&V_t&V_{\text{out}}\\12\ \text{V}&2\ \text{ohm}&2\ \text{ohm}&3\ \text{A}&6\ \text{V}&6\ \text{V}\\12\ \text{V}&3\ \text{ohm}&3\ \text{ohm}&2\ \text{A}&6\ \text{V}&6\ \text{V}\\12\ \text{V}&6\ \text{ohm}&6\ \text{ohm}&1\ \text{A}&6\ \text{V}&6\ \text{V}\\\end{array}