Series Resonance with Variable Inductors

Final Experiment/Project

Objectives
In this experiment, the students will be able to:
1. Know the conditions for attaining resonance in a Variable Inductor RLC circuit.
2. Learn the difference of the characteristics from this experiment to previous
ones.
3. Perform a number of test points to attain resonance conditions.
4. Determine the amount of capacitance needed to attain resonance in the
experiment with a fixed inductance.

Theory
In a series RLC circuit there becomes a frequency point were the inductive reactance of
the inductor becomes equal in value to the capacitive reactance of the capacitor. In other
words, XL = XC. The point at which this occurs is called the Resonant Frequency point, ( ƒr ) of
the circuit, and as we are analyzing a series RLC circuit this resonance frequency produces
a Series Resonance.
Series Resonance circuits are one of the most important circuits used electrical and
electronic circuits. They can be found in various forms such as in AC mains filters, noise filters
and also in radio and television tuning circuits producing a very selective tuning circuit for the
receiving of the different frequency channels. Consider the simple series RLC circuit below.

Series RLC Circuit

Firstly, let us define what we already know about series RLC circuits.
From the above equation for inductive reactance, if either the Frequency or the Inductance is
increased the overall inductive reactance value of the inductor would also increase. As the
frequency approaches infinity the inductors reactance would also increase towards infinity with
the circuit element acting like an open circuit.
However, as the frequency approaches zero or DC, the inductors reactance would decrease to
zero, causing the opposite effect acting like a short circuit. This means then that inductive
reactance is “Proportional” to frequency and is small at low frequencies and high at higher
frequencies and this demonstrated in the following curve:

Inductive Reactance against Frequency

The graph of inductive reactance against frequency is a straight line linear curve. The inductive
reactance value of an inductor increases linearly as the frequency across it increases.
Therefore, inductive reactance is positive and is directly proportional to frequency ( XL ∝ ƒ )
The same is also true for the capacitive reactance formula above but in reverse. If either
the Frequency or the Capacitance is increased the overall capacitive reactance would
decrease. As the frequency approaches infinity the capacitors reactance would reduce to zero
causing the circuit element to act like a perfect conductor of 0Ω’s.

But as the frequency approaches zero or DC level, the capacitors reactance would rapidly
increase up to infinity causing it to act like a very large resistance acting like an open circuit
condition. This means then that capacitive reactance is “Inversely proportional” to frequency
for any given value of capacitance and this shown below:

Capacitive Reactance against Frequency

The graph of capacitive reactance against frequency is a hyperbolic curve. The Reactance
value of a capacitor has a very high value at low frequencies but quickly decreases as the
frequency across it increases. Therefore, capacitive reactance is negative and is inversely
proportional to frequency ( XC ∝ ƒ -1 )
We can see that the values of these resistances depends upon the frequency of the supply. At a
higher frequency XL is high and at a low frequency XC is high. Then there must be a frequency
point were the value of XL is the same as the value of XC and there is. If we now place the curve
for inductive reactance on top of the curve for capacitive reactance so that both curves are on
the same axes, the point of intersection will give us the series resonance frequency point,
( ƒr or ωr ) as shown below.
Series Resonance Frequency

where: ƒr is in Hertz, L is in Henries and C is in Farads.

Electrical resonance occurs in an AC circuit when the two reactances which are opposite and
equal cancel each other out as XL = XC and the point on the graph at which this happens is were
the two reactance curves cross each other. In a series resonant circuit, the resonant
frequency, ƒrpoint can be calculated as follows.

We can see then that at resonance, the two reactances cancel each other out thereby making a
series LC combination act as a short circuit with the only opposition to current flow in a series
resonance circuit being the resistance, R. In complex form, the resonant frequency is the
frequency at which the total impedance of a series RLC circuit becomes purely “real”, that is no
imaginary impedance’s exist. This is because at resonance they are cancelled out. So the total
impedance of the series circuit becomes just the value of the resistance and therefore: Z = R.
Then at resonance the impedance of the series circuit is at its minimum value and equal only to
the resistance, R of the circuit. The circuit impedance at resonance is called the “dynamic
impedance” of the circuit and depending upon the frequency, XC (typically at high frequencies)
or XL (typically at low frequencies) will dominate either side of resonance as shown below.

Impedance in a Series Resonance Circuit

Note that when the capacitive reactance dominates the circuit the impedance curve has a
hyperbolic shape to itself, but when the inductive reactance dominates the circuit the curve is
non-symmetrical due to the linear response of XL. You may also note that if the circuits
impedance is at its minimum at resonance then consequently, the circuits admittance must be
at its maximum and one of the characteristics of a series resonance circuit is that admittance is
very high. But this can be a bad thing because a very low value of resistance at resonance
means that the resulting current flowing through the circuit may be dangerously high.
We recall from the previous tutorial about series RLC circuits that the voltage across a series
combination is the phasor sum of VR, VL and VC. Then if at resonance the two reactances are
equal and cancelling, the two voltages representing VL and VC must also be opposite and equal
in value thereby cancelling each other out because with pure components the phasor voltages
are drawn at +90o and -90o respectively.
Then in a series resonance circuit as VL = -VC the resulting reactive voltages are zero and all
the supply voltage is dropped across the resistor. Therefore, VR = Vsupply and it is for this reason
that series resonance circuits are known as voltage resonance circuits, (as opposed to parallel
resonance circuits which are current resonance circuits).
Series RLC Circuit at Resonance

Since the current flowing through a series resonance circuit is the product of voltage divided by
impedance, at resonance the impedance, Z is at its minimum value, ( =R ). Therefore, the circuit
current at this frequency will be at its maximum value of V/R as shown below.

Series Circuit Current at Resonance

The frequency response curve of a series resonance circuit shows that the magnitude of the
current is a function of frequency and plotting this onto a graph shows us that the response
starts at near to zero, reaches maximum value at the resonance frequency when IMAX = IR and
then drops again to nearly zero as ƒ becomes infinite. The result of this is that the magnitudes
of the voltages across the inductor, L and the capacitor, C can become many times larger than
the supply voltage, even at resonance but as they are equal and at opposition they cancel each
other out.
As a series resonance circuit only functions on resonant frequency, this type of circuit is also
known as an Acceptor Circuit because at resonance, the impedance of the circuit is at its
minimum so easily accepts the current whose frequency is equal to its resonant frequency.
You may also notice that as the maximum current through the circuit at resonance is limited only
by the value of the resistance (a pure and real value), the source voltage and circuit current
must therefore be in phase with each other at this frequency. Then the phase angle between the
voltage and current of a series resonance circuit is also a function of frequency for a fixed
supply voltage and which is zero at the resonant frequency point when: V, I and VR are all in
phase with each other as shown below. Consequently, if the phase angle is zero then the power
factor must therefore be unity.

Phase Angle of a Series Resonance Circuit

Notice also, that the phase angle is positive for frequencies above ƒr and negative for
frequencies below ƒr and this can be proven by,
Then the relationship between resonance and current for a series resonance circuit being
defined as:
1). Resonant Frequency, (ƒr)

2). Current, (I)

 Final Project/Experiment
Series Resonance with Variable Inductance

Equipment, Instruments and Materials Needed

PC and accessories
UniTrain-I Interface
UniTrain-I Experimenter for Docking Station
MetraHit Multimeter
Experiment Card AC No. 1 (Series-Parallel R-L-C)
Shunting resistor, leads and connection plugs
Extension cord

Experiment Procedure
Step 1: Set up the wiring circuit shown in the figure. Use the Metrahit multimeter as an
AC milliammeter.

Step 2: For the Function Generator, follow the settings given in the table below:

Function Generator Settings

Mode: SINE

Amplitude: 1:1, 100%

Frequency: 1 kHz

Step 3: Open Voltmeter A and B from the menu under Instruments and follow the meter
settings in the table given below. Voltmeter A shall measure the total voltage, V T, while
Voltmeter B shall measure the voltage across the inductor, VL.

Voltmeter A and B Settings

Range: 50 V
Mode: RMS
Step 4: Switch on the power button of Function Generator. Check that the frequency
setting is 600 Hz. With the other instruments properly set, take all measurements and
record it in the Data Sheet.

Step 5: Move the connection of Voltmeter A so that it will now measure the voltage drop
across the capacitor, VC. This can be done by moving the connection of A- from the
ground to T2.

Step 6: Vary the inductor by connecting T1 to T3 and T2 to T4, this will make the
inductors connected in parallel. Connect the wire from to T2 to T4 so that the parallel
inductors will be in series with the inductor. Then measure the parameters again. After
that, make another parallel inductor connection by connecting T3 to T5 and T4 to T6.
Connect the wire from to T4 to T6 so that the three parallel inductorss will be in series
with the capacitor.

Step 7: Adjust the frequency according to the Data Table. And then repeat step 6.
When everything is done, switch off the Interface Unit, close the L@bsoft program and
switch off the computer.
Wiring Diagram
Series Resonance
DATA
Series Resonance with Variable Inductors

Trial Frequency Inductor Connection VR VCOIL VC IT (mA)

1 L1 3.1 3.7 0.32 4.17

2 L1//L2 3.6 3.4 0.34 4.41

3 L1//L2//L3 3.9 3.4 0.34 4.44

1 kHz
4 L1// up to L4 4.3 2.9 0.37 4.93

5 L1// up to L5 5.4 1.5 0.46 6.16

6 L1// up to L6 5.8 0.8 0.49 6.69

Table 8.1

Graph of Frequency vs. Total Current

8

0
1000 1000 1000 1000 1000 1000

Figure 8.1
DISCUSSION

For our final project/experiment we’ve decided to conduct an experiment

regarding Resonance series RLC circuit in variation with inductor. Our first proposed
experiment is variation with capacitor since our Professor suggested it. But due to some
circumstances we weren’t able to fully conduct the experiment because of the lack and
defective components available.

Series Resonance circuits are one of the most essential circuits used electrical
and electronics. They can be found in various applications like in AC main filters, noise
filters and in radio and television tuning circuits as well producing a very selective tuning
circuit for the receiving of the different frequency channels. It behaves like a pure R
circuit. In a series circuit especially in an RLC circuit, resonance is obtained when the
inductive reactance is equal to the capacitive reactance the point where it became equal
is called the resonant frequency. In a usual resonant circuit the frequency is variable
meaning we could change the value of the frequency. However in this experiment the
frequency is constant at 1 kHz and the inductor is the variable component. Yet when
varying, certain changes in the behavior of the circuit occur this were proven and shown
through the data acquired which is shown below.

Table 8.1

Trial Frequency Inductor VR VCOIL VC IT (mA)

Connection
1 L1 3.1 3.7 0.32 4.17
2 L1//L2 3.6 3.4 0.34 4.41
3 1 kHz L1//L2//L3 3.9 3.4 0.34 4.44
4 L1// up to L4 4.3 2.9 0.37 4.93
5 L1// up to L5 5.4 1.5 0.46 6.16
6 L1// up to L6 5.8 0.8 0.49 6.69

Observing the data acquired above, we measured the voltages around the
resistor, the coil and the capacitor and also we measured the total current of the circuit.
For each of the trial as said earlier the frequency is constant at 1 kHz while the
inductance is varied. The inductance is being varied through having the increasing
parallel inductors per trial. Observing the voltage in the resistor we could see that as the
number of inductors that are in parallel increases, the voltage in the resistor also
increases. The increase in value was also evident in the total current as it also
increases as the number of parallel inductors increases. However the voltage in the coil
begs to differ, as it suddenly decreases as the number of parallel inductors increases.
Thus we could say that the voltage in the resistor and the total current is directly
proportional increasing inductors in parallel and is inversely proportional to the voltage
across the coil. While we could also observe that the voltage in the capacitor is almost
zero.

We’ve also made a graph between the frequency and the total current, which is
shown below. Wherein we could see that at constant frequency the total current
increases.

Figure 8.1

Graph of Frequency vs. Total Current

8

0
1000 1000 1000 1000 1000 1000
CONCLUSION

After conducting the experiment we were able to further more understand the
concepts and characteristics of Resonance through having the inductance as the
variable and the frequency at constant rate. We have found out that through varying the
inductors in parallel some evident results occurred such as the voltage in the resistor
and the total current is directly proportional with is while the voltage in the coil is
inversely proportional to it. Comparing this experiment with the past experiment which is
also about resonance, in a series resonance circuit the reactances of both inductor and
capacitor are equal with this condition the circuit will attain resonance yet in order for us
to satisfy the condition, the inductor should be increased until it is fulfilled or satisfied. In
this experiment in order for us also to obtain and satisfy the condition we also varied the
inductor, hence their difference is that in the frequency since it was constant on this
experiment. And since the frequency is constant the value of the inductance is the one
that dictates the values that will be acquired in the circuit, it has the major effect. It was
also still a Pure R circuit, since it was still a series resonance circuit and at that
condition it caused a large amount of current to circulate through the circuit, which we
also obtained visibly.