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Concept
Distributed-element model
Summary
In electrical engineering, the distributed-element model or transmission-line model of electrical circuits assumes that the attributes of the circuit (resistance, capacitance, and inductance) are distributed continuously throughout the material of the circuit. This is in contrast to the more common lumped-element model, which assumes that these values are lumped into electrical components that are joined by perfectly conducting wires. In the distributed-element model, each circuit element is infinitesimally small, and the wires connecting elements are not assumed to be perfect conductors; that is, they have impedance. Unlike the lumped-element model, it assumes nonuniform current along each branch and nonuniform voltage along each wire.
The distributed model is used where the wavelength becomes comparable to the physical dimensions of the circuit, making the lumped model inaccurate. This occurs at high frequencies, where the wavelength is very short, or on low-frequency, but very long, transmission lines such as overhead power lines.
The distributed-element model is more accurate but more complex than the lumped-element model. The use of infinitesimals will often require the application of calculus, whereas circuits analysed by the lumped-element model can be solved with linear algebra. The distributed model is consequently usually only applied when accuracy calls for its use. The location of this point is dependent on the accuracy required in a specific application, but essentially, it needs to be used in circuits where the wavelengths of the signals have become comparable to the physical dimensions of the components. An often-quoted engineering rule of thumb (not to be taken too literally because there are many exceptions) is that parts larger than one-tenth of a wavelength will usually need to be analysed as distributed elements.
Transmission lines are a common example of the use of the distributed model. Its use is dictated because the length of the line will usually be many wavelengths of the circuit's operating frequency.
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