AC THEORY

Nimal Rathnaweera
MSc in Applied Electronics (University of Colombo)
 AC AND DC
• Direct Current
• Direct Current or D.C. as it is more commonly called, is a form of electrical current or voltage that
flows around an electrical circuit in one direction only.
• DC currents and voltages are produced by
• power supplies,
• batteries,
• Dynamos
• solar cells etc.
• DC voltage or current has a fixed magnitude (amplitude) and a definite direction associated with it.
• For example, +12V represents 12 volts in the positive direction, or -5V represents 5 volts in the
negative direction.
• DC power supplies do not change their value with regards to time,
• DC maintains the same value for all times and a constant uni-directional DC supply never changes or
becomes negative unless its connections are physically reversed.
DC Circuit and Waveform
Types of Periodic Waveform
Cycle
The time taken for an AC Waveform to complete one full pattern from its positive half
to its negative half and back to its zero baseline again is called a Cycle.
Periodic Time (T)
The time taken by the waveform to complete one full cycle is called the Periodic
Time of the waveform, and is given the symbol “T”.
Frequency(f)
The number of complete cycles that are produced within one second (cycles/second) is
called the Frequency, symbol ƒ of the alternating waveform. Frequency is measured
in Hertz, ( Hz ) named after the German physicist Heinrich Hertz.
Amplitude
The maximum value (negative or positive) of an alternative quantity is known as its
amplitude
Example. 1
What is the periodic time of a 50Hz waveform?

Example. 2
what is the frequency of an AC waveform that has a
periodic time of 10mS?

.
Basic Single Coil AC Generator
Instantaneous Voltage
The EMF induced in the coil at any instant of time depends upon the
rate or speed at which the coil cuts the lines of magnetic flux between
the poles and this is dependent upon the angle of rotation. Because an
AC waveform is constantly changing its value or amplitude, the
waveform at any instant in time will have a different value from its next
instant in time.
.
 Sin θ = Instantaneous value / Maximum value

Instantaneous value = Maximum value x sin θ

vi =Vmax x sin θ

This is the equation of the alternating voltage.

θ = ωt ; vi =Vmax x sin ωt
ω = 2π f ; vi =Vmax x sin 2π f t

The equation of the alternating current is,

ii = Imax x sin θ
ii = Imax x sin ωt
ii = Imax x sin 2π f t
Radians
The Radian, (rad) is defined mathematically as a
quadrant of a circle where the distance subtended
on the circumference equals the radius (r) of the
circle. Since the circumference of a circle is equal
to 2π x radius, there must be 2π radians around a
360 circle.
o
Using radians as the unit of measurement for a
sinusoidal waveform would give 2π radians for
one full cycle of 360
o

Relationship between Degrees and Radians

π/6 5π/6 5π/3

π/4 π 7π/4

π/3 7π/6 11π/6

π/2 5π/4 2π

2π/3 4π/3
Angular Velocity of a Sinusoidal Waveform
The velocity at which the generator rotates around its central axis
determines the frequency of the sinusoidal waveform. As the frequency
of the waveform is given as ƒ Hz or cycles per second, the waveform
also has angular frequency, ω, (Greek letter omega), in radians per
second..
In Sri Lanka, the angular velocity of the
mains supply is given as:
Example :
The equation of an alternating voltage is given by v = 50Sin 314t. Find the
maximum Value and the frequency.

v =Vm Sinθ
maximum Value =50V
Sinθ =Sin 314t
θ=2πft
2 π f = 314
f = 314/ (2x3.14)
= 50Hz
 The Average Value of an AC Waveform

. In a pure sine wave if the average value is calculated over the full cycle, the average
value would be equal to zero as the positive and negative halves will cancel each other
out. So the average or mean value of an AC waveform is calculated or measured
over a half cycle only.
Average Value of a Non-sinusoidal Waveform
 Average Value of a sinusoidal Waveform

The equation of a sinusoidal varying voltage is given by v= Vm Sin θ

Area of the Strip = v.dθ

Vav =2Vm/ π = 0.637Vm

Average value(Iav) = Area of half cycle/ Base length of half cycle

=2lmπ

Iav =0.637lm
Root Mean Square Value of a -Sinusoidal Waveform
Sinusoidal wave is a symmetrical
wave and we can calculate the
RMS value of this by considering
the half cycle only.

I = Im Sine θ
Area of the strip = i2d θi2dθ
Area of half cycle of squared wave = ∫π0 i2 dθ = ∫π0 Im2 sin2θ dθ
= Im2 ∫π0 Sin2θ dθ
Cos 2θ = 1-Sin2 θ; Sin2 θ = (1-Cos2θ)/2
Area of half cycle of squared wave = ∫π0 Im2 (1-Cos2θ)/2 dθ
= (Im2 /2) ∫π0 (1-Cos2θ) dθ
= (Im2 /2) [θ –Sin2θ]0π= (Im2 /2) π
IRMS = (Area of half cycle squared wave)/ (base length of half cycle )1/2

IRMS = √ (Im2 /2) π/ π = Im / √2 = 0.707. Im