Voltage Divider Explained: Derivation + Circuit Design Example (3 Resistors, 12V)

Learn how a voltage divider works, where the formula comes from, and how to design one from scratch. Our design challenge: use a 12 V supply to create voltage drops of 5 V, 4 V, and 3 V across three series resistors while drawing 2 mA. Follow along as we calculate the resistor values and verify the results. In this video, you’ll learn: • How voltage divides across series resistors • Where the voltage-divider equation comes from • How to calculate resistance from voltage and current requirements • How to check your circuit design Chapters: 00:00 Introduction to voltage dividers 01:05 Voltage-divider formulas 01:55 Derivation using Ohm’s law and KVL 04:15 Three-resistor design challenge 06:05 Rearranging the formula to find resistance 07:00 Calculating total resistance and R₁ 08:10 Calculating R₂ and R₃ 09:35 Verifying the design 11:10 Outro Pause at the design challenge and try solving it before watching the solution! Subscribe to The Computer Engineering Notebook for more electronics and circuit-analysis tutorials. Like the video if it helped, and leave your questions in the comments. #VoltageDivider #CircuitAnalysis #OhmsLaw #computerEngineering