Voltage Source - Comparison Between Voltage and Current Sources

Comparison Between Voltage and Current Sources

Most sources of electrical energy (the mains, a battery) are modeled as voltage sources. An ideal voltage source provides no energy when it is loaded by an open circuit (i.e. an infinite impedance), but approaches infinite energy and current when the load resistance approaches zero (a short circuit). Such a theoretical device would have a zero ohm output impedance in series with the source. A real-world voltage source has a very low, but non-zero output impedance: often much less than 1 ohm.

Conversely, a current source provides a constant current, as long as the load connected to the source terminals has sufficiently low impedance. An ideal current source would provide no energy to a short circuit and approach infinite energy and voltage as the load resistance approaches infinity (an open circuit). An ideal current source has an infinite output impedance in parallel with the source. A real-world current source has a very high, but finite output impedance. In the case of transistor current sources, impedance of a few megohms (at low frequencies) is typical.

Since no ideal sources of either variety exist (all real-world examples have finite and non-zero source impedance), any current source can be considered as a voltage source with the same source impedance and vice versa. Voltage sources and current sources are sometimes said to be duals of each other and any non ideal source can be converted from one to the other by applying Norton's or Thevenin's theorems.