60 solved GATE EE questions on Electric Circuits, drawn from 9 exam years and grouped by year. Every question shows the official answer and a step-by-step solution.
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Revision companion
Choose current directions, voltage polarities, and a time convention before simplifying. These selected foundations connect network equations to power accounting through original ideal-element exercises. Check dimensions and energy balance after solving.
Our study notes and original examples support the PYQs below; they are not official exam questions or a replacement for the current syllabus.
Assign a reference node and write each branch current using its chosen direction. Kirchhoff's current law enforces charge balance. Under the passive sign convention, current enters the positive voltage terminal; positive average power then means absorption rather than delivery.
Check yourself: Would reversing a branch arrow also reverse its algebraic current?
A linear two-terminal network can be represented by a Thévenin voltage and impedance. When finding impedance by source suppression, short independent ideal voltage sources and open independent ideal current sources. Keep dependent sources active and use a test source when needed.
Check yourself: Have you accidentally suppressed a source controlled by another circuit variable?
With the e^(jωt) convention, resistor, inductor, and capacitor impedances are R, jωL, and 1/(jωC). Phasors describe a single-frequency steady state, not the switching transient. Combine complex impedances before taking magnitudes; phase information determines both current and power.
Check yourself: Does an inductive branch current lag its applied voltage?
For absorbed power, S = VI* = P + jQ, where the star means complex conjugation. RMS phasors need no extra factor of one-half. P is average power, Q is reactive power, and |S| is apparent power. For a consuming load with P ≥ 0 and |S| > 0, power factor is P/|S|; also state whether current leads or lags voltage.
Check yourself: Is your reactive-power sign consistent with the current phase?
Inductor current and capacitor voltage remain continuous unless an impulsive excitation changes them. For a stable first-order circuit, the response approaches its final value exponentially. Determine the resistance seen by the storage element before selecting L/R or RC as the time constant.
Check yourself: Do your initial and final values satisfy the two limiting circuits?
Original teaching example · not a PYQ
Original practice example: a 120∠0° V RMS ideal sinusoidal source supplies a series 6 Ω resistor and ideal inductor whose reactance is 8 Ω at the source frequency. In steady state, with current entering the load's positive terminal, find absorbed complex power and power factor.
S = 864 + j1152 VA; power factor = 0.6 lagging.
Separately, an ideal capacitor with impedance −j40 Ω has 80∠0° V RMS across it in sinusoidal steady state. Using the passive convention, what are its absorbed P and Q?
P = 0 W and Q = −160 var.
I = 80/(−j40) = j2 A leads voltage. Thus S = 80(−j2) = −j160 VA. The negative reactive component identifies capacitive exchange; the zero real component confirms no average dissipation.
Supplemental reading, not an official GATE reading list or an endorsement of these notes.
Free supplemental lecture slides on driven AC circuits, impedance, power, and energy. Compare the phasor convention with the RMS convention used here.
This page shows 60 recent questions from the released archive, newest first. For older questions and complete papers, browse all GATE EE papers. Questions can carry more than one subject tag; counts are not marks weightage.
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