Kirchhoff's circuit laws

Kirchhoff's circuit laws state that currents balance at every circuit junction and voltage changes sum to zero around every closed loop.

Kirchhoff's current law: The rule that the algebraic sum of currents at a circuit node is zero. It expresses the junction rule: current entering a node equals current leaving it.
Electric current: The rate at which electric charge passes through a surface. Current is the quantity balanced at junctions by the first law.
Nodal analysis: A circuit-solving method that applies current balance at nodes to find node voltages. It uses the current law as its primary equation-writing rule.
Faraday's law of induction: The law that changing magnetic flux through a loop induces an electromotive force. A changing magnetic flux can produce a nonzero loop voltage, requiring care with the basic loop rule.
Kirchhoff's voltage law: The rule that the algebraic sum of voltage changes around a closed circuit loop is zero. It expresses the loop rule for voltage rises and drops.
Voltage: The electric potential difference between two points. Voltage changes are summed around loops by the second law.
Mesh analysis: A circuit-solving method that applies voltage balance to independent meshes to find currents. It uses the voltage law to form equations for planar circuits.
Maxwell's equations: Four equations describing how electric and magnetic fields are produced and interact. They provide the broader field theory behind circuit laws and their limits.
Electric charge conservation: The principle that the total electric charge in an isolated system remains constant. It explains why current cannot accumulate at an ideal circuit junction.
Electrical network: An interconnected arrangement of electrical components and conductive paths. The laws describe constraints across a network's nodes and closed paths.

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