In electrical engineering, the distributed-element model or transmission-line model of electrical circuits assumes that the attributes of the circuit (resistance, capacitance, and inductance) are distributed continuously throughout the material of the circuit. This is in contrast to the more common lumped-element model, which assumes that these values are lumped into electrical components that are joined by perfectly conducting wires. In the distributed-element model, each circuit element is infinitesimally small, and the wires connecting elements are not assumed to be perfect conductors; that is, they have impedance. Unlike the lumped-element model, it assumes nonuniform current along each branch and nonuniform voltage along each wire.

The distributed model is used where the wavelength becomes comparable to the physical dimensions of the circuit, making the lumped model inaccurate. This occurs at high frequencies, where the wavelength is very short, or on low-frequency, but very long, transmission lines such as overhead power lines.