Thevenin's theorem

Thevenin's theorem for electrical networks states that any combination of voltage sources and resistors with two terminals is electrically equivalent to a single voltage source V and a single series resistor R. The theorem was first discovered by German scientist Hermann von Helmholtz in 1853, but was then rediscovered in 1883 by French telegraph engineer Léon Charles Thévenin (1857-1926).

See also: Norton's theorem.