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Lab 1: Electrical Circuits Simulation using

Multisim Electronics Workbench: An Introduction
Simulation is a mathematical method of emulating the behavior of a circuit. It allows you to determine a
circuit’s performance without physically constructing it or using actual test instruments. Multisim is a
complete system design tool that offers a very large component database, schematic entry, full
analog/digital SPICE simulation, and more. It also offers a single, easy-to-use graphical interface for all
design needs.
Introduction
Go to Start > Programs > Multisim and click on Multisim. This will open the main window, as shown in
Figure 1. Figure 1 labels important toolbars and menus. Besides the toolbars displayed in Figure 1, other
toolbars may appear on your screen. For now, focus on the labeled items in Figure 1.
You can always open and close a toolbar from the Main Menu. For example, to open or close
(select/unselect) the Design Toolbar, select View > Toolbars > Design. If a toolbar does not appear on
your screen, use the above procedure to bring it up.
Most of the analysis can be performed by selecting Simulate > Run. If the Simulation Switch shown in
Figure 1 does not appear on your screen, select View > Toolbars > Simulation in the Main Menu. This
will open the Simulation Switch.

Simulate
switch

Figure 1: Main Window of Multisim Simulation Software

We will now learn about Multisim simulation techniques by solving a simple example.
Example
Build the circuit shown in Figure 2 using Multisim Electronics Workbench.

Figure 2: Circuit for Multisim Simulation

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STEP A: Placing the Components

1. Place a Battery (DC POWER)
a. Bring a dc source in the Multisim workspace:
Open the Multisim program if it is not open. In the Component Toolbar, select Place 
Components (refer to Figure 1 to find the Component Toolbar). This will open another window
with several types of power sources and other components as shown below in Figure 3. Click on
“DC_POWER” in this new window.

Figure 3: Selection of DC Voltage Source in Multisim

Now bring your cursor in the workspace area and notice the change in the shape of cursor.
Click at any point in the workspace. This will put the voltage source as

b. Change the value and name of voltage source:

Double click on the voltage source that you just placed in the workspace, a new window with the name
DC_POWER will appear, as shown in Figure 4.

Figure 4: DC_POWER Window for setup of DC voltage source

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Select Value in the menu, if it is not already selected. Change the value from 12 to 30. Keep the unit as
Volts in this menu. Now select Label in this menu and change the RefDES to Vs. Click on OK.

2. Place a Resistor:
a. Bring a resistor in the Multisim workspace:
In the Component toolbar, select Basic group as shown. This will open another window with
several basic components as shown below in Figure 5.

Figure 5: Selection of Resistor in Multisim

Click on “Resistor”, this will open the Browser-Basic window, as shown in Figure 5. Scroll through
Component List, select 30kohm, and click OK. The cursor shape will change again. Click in the
workspace and this will put the resistor as,

Tip To make your scroll through the Browser’s Component List faster, simply type the first few
characters of the component’s name. For example, type 30k to move directly to the area of 30kohm list.
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Figure 6: Setup window for Resistor values

b. Change the name of resistor:
Double click on the resistor, a new window with the name Resistor will open. Select Label from the menu
of this window. Change the Reference ID to R1 (if it is not) and press OK.
This will change the name of the resistor to R1.
d. Add other resistor R2
Place resistor R2 of value 20k in the workspace through the same procedure.
e. Rotate the resistor:
Select resistor ‘R2’ and press Ctrl-R to rotate the resistor or select Edit > 90 Clockwise from the
Main Menu. This will make the resistor vertical. Labels and values of all the components can be
dragged individually. Drag the label ‘R2’ and value ‘20kohm’ individually to put them at a proper
place.
3. Place Ground:
In the Component Toolbar, select Sources icon. Now click on Ground icon in the new window as
shown in Figure 7. Click in the workspace to put the Ground symbol as

Figure 7: Selection of Ground in Multisim

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STEP B: Connecting the Components

1. Arrange the components properly:
Arrange the components according to the circuit given in Figure 2. You can select and drag the
component to any place in the workspace. Select the components and drag them one by one to proper
places as shown in Figure 8.

Figure 8: Arranging the Components in proper order

2. Show Grid in the workspace:
You may show the grid for ease of drawing the connections. Select View > Grid Visible in the Main
Menu if it is not visible.
3. Connect DC Voltage Source “Vs” to “R1”:
Bring the cursor close to the upper pin of “Vs”; the cursor shape will change to a plus sign. Click and
move a little upward. A wire appears attached to the cursor. Click again at a small distance above the
“Vs” source. Notice that the line will change direction. Control the flow of the wire by clicking on
points as you drag. Each click fixes the wire to that point. In this way, when the cursor reaches the pin
of R1, click again, and this will connect “Vs” to “R1” nicely. Notice that a node number is
automatically given.
4. Connect “R1” to “R2”:
In the same way, connect R1 to R2 through the same procedure.
5. Making use of Junction to connect Ground:
In a similar manner, connect ground with Vs and R2. Notice that a small black circle appears just above
the ground; this is called a junction. When two or more components are connected at one point, a
junction is created. A junction can be placed manually by pressing Ctrl+J or selecting Place>
Junction. This can be used to control the connection points manually. Also, notice the ground node is
automatically given node number 0. Do not alter it.
This completes the connection, and the complete circuit is shown in Figure 9.

Figure 9: Complete Circuit in Multisim

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STEP C: Placing a Multimeter or Voltmeter in parallel to measure voltage.

1. To connect a Multimeter:
a. Select View > Toolbar > Instruments. The Instruments toolbar will open, as shown in
Figure 10.

Figure 10: Instruments Toolbar

b. Click on Multimeter icon. Now click in the workspace to place the Multimeter. Drag it and place it
near resistor R1 as shown in Figure 11. Make a connection from ‘+’ terminal of Multimeter to the left
pin of R1 and from ‘–’ terminal to right pin of R1. Note that reversal of + and – terminals will give
opposite readings.

Figure 11: Multimeter connection

for voltage measurement
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c. Set the Multimeter to measure DC voltage: Double-click on Multimeter to open the properties
window shown in Figure 12. Select ‘V’ to measure voltage. Select the DC wave shape. (Notice that the
meter can also measure current ‘A’ and resistance ‘’. It can measure AC as well as DC values. Leave the
window open for viewing the measurements.

AC Measurement DC Measurement

Figure 12: Multimeter properties window

STEP D: Placing a Multimeter or Ammeter in series to measure current.

1 Place a second Multimeter in the workspace as we did in Step C. Remove the connection between
R1 and R2. Connect the ‘+’ terminal of the Multimeter towards R 1 and the ‘-‘ terminal towards R2 as shown
in Figure 13.
2 Set the Multimeter to measure current: Double click on this multimeter and select ‘A’ in the
multimeter properties window. Set the wave shape to DC. If current flows from 3 to zero, the meter will
read positive.

Figure 13: Multimeter connection for current measurement

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STEP E: Simulate the circuit.

1 Save the file. Select File > Save

2 Show the Simulate Switch in the workspace. Select Simulate > Run.
3 If the properties window is not open, double-click the multimeters. Click on the ‘1’ position (ON)
of the simulation switch to start the simulation. Results will appear in the properties window of Multimeter.
Compare your result with those in Figure 14 and show them to your instructor.

Figure 14: Simulation result

Exercise
1 Build the circuit of Figure 15 in Multisim Electronics Workbench.
2 Connect a voltmeter between nodes ‘a’ and ‘b’.
3 Connect an ammeter for the measurement of Ib0.

R1
a b
100Ω

V1 R2
R3
12V 1kΩ
33 v 500Ω

Ib0

Figure 15