I am trying to solve the following circuit:
I believe the answer I'm getting for \$i_b\$ is wrong because I put it into LTSpice and I'm getting that \$i_b = -3.63636\$
This is my LTSpice diagram:
I found \$i_b = 1\$mA by doing a loop voltage analysis on the left loop; for the voltage drop across the \$200\Omega\$ resistor I assumed that it would be \$i_b + 29i_b\$, which works out to be a nice number and in fact all of the numbers are nice in this case--usually when the numbers are nice, you know you're doing it right.
At this point, I'm not sure if I incorrectly modeled this in LTSpice, or if I incorrectly assumed which way the current was flowing.
Instead of giving me the answer directly, I would just like to know how to determine whether the current at a node is entering or leaving a branch.