Basic concepts in circuit analysis

IT HAS BEEN the authors´ observation that a lack of agreement exists regarding the definition of such terms as “potential difference,” “electromotance (electromotive force),” “voltage,” and the meanings of laws involving these terms. This article attempts to provide distinguishing definitions, suitable for near zone analysis, of three circuit variables considered essential to the proper analysis of electric circuits, namely, potential difference, electromotance, and “Ri product” to emphasize the importance of the − ∂A/∂t component of the electric field in describing transformer action; and to present two legitimate but different forms of Kirchhof´s second law.