Umaroth wrote: ↑Sat Oct 10, 2020 11:05 pm1. Your mistake here is that you're assuming that the full 6V is applied across the 120 ohm resistor. 2. Your answer treats the diode as if it weren't there. Start by treating the circuit as if the diode weren't there, and then add the diode and see what changes you have to make.
Ok, so here's my new answer: 1. A zener diode acts as a regular diode would in forward bias. A geranium diode usually has a forward voltage of about 0.3 V. The 330-ohm resistor in parallel would also have a voltage drop of 0.3 V across it due to beeing in parallel with the zener diode, where the current here would be about 0.00091 A or 0.91 mA from. The current across the 120-ohm reisistor would be the difference of the voltage of the voltage source and the zener diode voltage, which is 5.7 V.
= 0.0475 A or 47.5 mA Answer: The current flowing through the 120-ohm resistor is 47.5 mA and the current flowing through the 330-ohm resistor is 0.91 mA mA. 2.
4.4 V > 2.4 V -> Since the voltage across the diode is greater than its breakdown voltage, it will experience avalanche breakdown and current will flow through the diode. This current is used to regulate the voltage across the diode so that the voltage across is close to its breakdown voltage. The current across the 120-ohm resistor can be represented by the expression
, since the node where current first flows through the zener diode reads 2.4 volts when there is a ground node set at the node on the other side. This current has a value of about 0.03 A, or 30 mA. Since the 330-ohm resistor is in parallel with the zener diode, the two both have the same voltage. From here, we just do
, giving us a current value of about 0.0073 A or 7.3 mA. Answer: The current flowing through the 120-ohm resistor is 30 mA and the current flowing through the 330-ohm resistor is 7.3 mA.