Solving circuit equations for a Wheatstone bridge with diode in the middle

Question

Consider the following diagram :

Assuming that the diode is an ideal one, the goal is to solve the circuit equations that will determine the voltage and current of the circuit with R=7k ohm

I was thinking that to tackle this problem we can assume that the diode is conducting so that we can replace it by a short wire. We can see that the two 32k ohm resistors are in parallel and we proceed to use ohms law to determine the current. However, assuming the diode is not conducting then we would have to replace the diode by an open switch and I am thinking of applying a thevenin approach to determine the R_thevenin and V_thevenin of the diode. My question is how do I know I am thinking right (or wrong) regarding the two cases for the diode and regarding the corresponding approach?

Answer 1

Well, first determine whether the voltage applied to the diode will be in a direction causing it to conduct. Take the diode out of the circuit and calculate the voltages.

If the voltage at the anode is higher than that at the cathode, it will conduct and you can conduct your analysis replacing it with a short. If not, it will be reverse biased and, for the purposes of analysis, you can leave it out.