Skip to content

Mesh vs Supermesh Comparison

Run in fullscreen

Description

This MicroSim presents two circuit variants side by side: one solved with standard mesh analysis and one requiring a supermesh. In the supermesh panel, a current source is shared between two mesh loops, and the sim shows how the two mesh currents are merged into a single supermesh equation plus a constraint. Adjust source values and watch both solutions update simultaneously.

Key Concepts

  • Mesh analysis assigns a clockwise mesh current to each independent loop and writes KVL for each mesh.
  • A supermesh arises when a current source is shared between two adjacent meshes.
  • The current source is excluded from the KVL equation; instead a constraint \(I_a - I_b = I_s\) is written.
  • The number of mesh equations equals the number of independent loops minus the number of current sources involved in supermeshes.
  • Mesh analysis is dual to nodal analysis: meshes ↔ nodes, KVL ↔ KCL, mesh currents ↔ node voltages.

Chapter 3 — Kirchhoff's Laws and Topology