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The principle of superposition, particularly in the context of electrical circuits, was developed by the French physicist *Siméon-Denis Poisson* in the 19th century. He contributed significantly to the formulation of superposition in the study of linear systems.
However, the concept of superposition itself is broader and has applications in various fields like physics, engineering, and mathematics. In physics, the principle is often attributed to Thomas Young's wave theory of light in the early 19th century, where he demonstrated that light waves can superimpose, or add together, to form new wave patterns.
For electrical circuits, *superposition* means that in a linear circuit with multiple sources, the response (such as voltage or current) at any point in the circuit can be found by considering each source individually, while turning off the others (replacing voltage sources with short circuits and current sources with open circuits), and then summing up the individual effects.
However, the concept of superposition itself is broader and has applications in various fields like physics, engineering, and mathematics. In physics, the principle is often attributed to Thomas Young's wave theory of light in the early 19th century, where he demonstrated that light waves can superimpose, or add together, to form new wave patterns.
For electrical circuits, *superposition* means that in a linear circuit with multiple sources, the response (such as voltage or current) at any point in the circuit can be found by considering each source individually, while turning off the others (replacing voltage sources with short circuits and current sources with open circuits), and then summing up the individual effects.