The goal of a power-flow study is to obtain complete voltagesvoltage angleangles and magnitude information for each bus in a power system for specified load and generator real power and voltage conditions.<ref>{{cite book|first1=J. |last1=Grainger |first2= W.|last2= Stevenson|title=Power System Analysis|publisher= McGraw–Hill|___location= New York|year=1994| isbn= 0-07-061293-5}}</ref> Once this information is known, real and reactive power flow on each branch as well as generator reactive power output can be analytically determined. Due to the nonlinear nature of this problem, numerical methods are employed to obtain a solution that is within an acceptable tolerance.
The solution to the power-flow problem begins with identifying the known and unknown variables in the system. The known and unknown variables are dependent on the type of bus. A bus without any generators connected to it is called a Load Bus. With one exception, a bus with at least one generator connected to it is called a Generator Bus. The exception is one arbitrarily-selected bus that has a generator. This bus is referred to as the [[slack bus]].
In the power-flow problem, it is assumed that the real power ''P''<submath>''D''P_D</submath> and reactive power ''Q''<submath>''D''Q_D</submath> at each Load Bus are known. For this reason, Load Buses are also known as PQ Buses. For Generator Buses, it is assumed that the real power generated ''P<submath>GP_G</submath>'' and the voltage magnitude <math>\left|''V''\right|</math> is known. For the Slack Bus, it is assumed that the voltage magnitude <math>\left|''V''\right|</math> and voltage phase ''Θ''<math>\theta</math> are known. Therefore, for each Load Bus, both the voltage magnitude and angle are unknown and must be solved for; for each Generator Bus, the voltage angle must be solved for; there are no variables that must be solved for the Slack Bus. In a system with ''<math>N''</math> buses and ''<math>R''</math> generators, there are then <math>2(N-1) - (R-1)</math> unknowns.
In order to solve for the <math>2(N-1) - (R-1)</math> unknowns, there must be <math>2(N-1) - (R-1)</math> equations that do not introduce any new unknown variables. The possible equations to use are power balance equations, which can be written for real and reactive power for each bus.
