Voltage Divider Rules

This diagram explains the Voltage Divider, a basic DC circuit used to split a single supply voltage into smaller, desired output voltages.

A voltage divider uses two resistors in series to divide the input voltage proportionally.

It is widely used in sensors, reference circuits, biasing, and signal level adjustments.

Key Components:

• Voltage Source (Vs): Provides the input DC voltage.
• Internal Resistance (Rint): Represents the internal resistance of the voltage source.
• Resistors (R1 and R2): Connected in series to divide the input voltage into two output voltages.
• Output Voltages (v₁ & v₂): The voltages measured across R1 and R2 respectively.

Working Principle:

When two resistors are connected in series, the total voltage divides according to their resistance values.

The voltage across each resistor is given by:

Voltage across R1 (V1):

V1 = Vs * (R1 / (R1 + R2))

Voltage across R2 (V2):

V2 = Vs * (R2 / (R1 + R2))

In the GIF:

• The source voltage is applied across the entire series network
• R1 receives the upper portion of the voltage (v₁)
• R2 receives the remaining portion (v₂)

The animation shows how the height of the colored bars represents the voltage at each point, making it easy to visualize how voltage decreases step by step down the divider.

⚡ Tip:

Voltage dividers work best with high resistor values and low-current loads.

Heavy loads can change the output voltage and reduce accuracy—use buffers when needed.