Circuit Theory in a Unified Curriculum

Conventional circuit analysis courses are generally taught by electrical engineering instructors in a proprietary fashion. The underlying reasons for this state of affairs are history and utility; circuit theory was developed from a consideration of electric circuits and found its most important area of application there. Intrinsically, however, circuit theory is no more "electrical" than arithmetic is "financial." This paper explains the basis for an abstract circuit course "abstract" in the sense that the circuit connotation is not necessarily electrical but may, with equal validity, be mechanical, acoustical, thermal, etc. Generalized circuit variables are classed as either potential or flow variables, and generalized circuit parameters are then categorized according to their behavioral equations (Hooke's Law, Ohm's Law, Fourier's Law, etc.). A simple systematic method of finding a circuit diagram for a system composed of such parameters is shown.