AC Circuits

Sinusoidal Alternating Voltage and Current

• Commercial alternators produce sinusoidal alternating voltage i.e.
alternating voltage is a sine wave.
• A sinusoidal alternating voltage can be produced by rotating a coil
with a constant angular velocity (say w rad/sec) in a uniform magnetic
field.
• The sinusoidal alternating voltage can be expressed by the equation :

• Sinusoidal voltages always produce sinusoidal currents, unless

the circuit is non-linear.
• Therefore, a sinusoidal current can be expressed in the same way as
voltage i.e. i = Im sin ωt.

• Generation of Alternating Voltages and Currents

 Values of Alternating Voltage and Current

(i) Peak value

It is the maximum value attained by an alternating quantity. The
peak or maximum value of an alternating voltage or current is
represented by Vm or Im.

(ii) Average value or mean value

• Average value of alternating current (or voltage) means half-
cycle average value unless stated otherwise.
• It is represented by Iav. This can be obtained by integrating the instantaneous value
of current over one half cycle (i.e. area over half-cycle) and dividing the result by
base length of half-cycle (= π).
(iii) R.M.S. value or effective value
• The effective or r.m.s. value of an alternating current is that steady
current (d.c.) which when flowing through a given resistance for a
given time produces the same amount of heat as produced by the
alternating current when flowing through the same resistance for
the same time.
• For example, when we say that the r.m.s. or effective value of an
alternating current is 5A, it means that the alternating current will
do work (or produce heat) at the same rate as 5A direct current
under similar conditions. For sinusoidal waveform RMS current is,

(iv) Peak-to-peak value

• Form Factor
The ratio of r.m.s. value to the average value of an alternating
quantity is known as form factor i.e.
• Peak Factor
The ratio of maximum value to the r.m.s. value of an alternating quantity is
known as peak factor i.e.
Phase
• Phase of a particular value of an alternating quantity is the
fractional part of time period or cycle through which the quantity
has advanced from the selected zero position of reference.
• The phase of an alternating quantity (voltage or current) depends
upon the instant from which the time is measured. Thus in Fig., the
time is measured from the instant the voltage is zero.
• Phase Difference
When two alternating quantities of the same frequency have different
zero points, they are said to have a phase difference.

The equations of voltage and current are :

Phasor Representation of Sinusoidal Quantities

• Hence the projection of the phasor OP on the Y-axis at any instant

gives the value of current at that instant.
• Thus when θ = 90º, the projection on Y-axis is OP (= Im) itself. Thus
the phasor represents the sine wave for every instant of time.
• The length of the phasor represents the maximum value and the
angle with axis of reference (i.e., X-axis) indicates the phase of the
alternating quantity i.e. current in this case.
• Phasor Diagram of Sine Waves of Same Frequency
 Addition of Alternating Quantities
• Addition of alternating currents or voltages can be accomplished by
one of the following methods :
1. Parallelogram method
This method is used for the addition of two phasors at a time. The two
phasors are represented in magnitude and direction by the adjacent
sides of a parallelogram. Then the diagonal of the parallelogram
represents the maximum value of the resultant.
2. Method of components
• This method provides a very convenient means to add two or more
phasors.
• Each phasor is resolved into horizontal and vertical components.
• The horizontals are summed up algebraically to give the resultant
horizontal component X.
• The verticals are likewise summed up algebraically to give the
resultant vertical component Y.
• Subtraction of Alternating Quantities
If difference of two phasors is required, then one of the phasors is
reversed and this reversed phasor is then compounded with the other
phasor using parallelogram method or method of components.
 A.C. Circuit Containing Resistance Only

• As a result of this voltage, an alternating

current i will flow in the circuit.
• The applied voltage has to overcome
the drop in the resistance only i.e.
• Phase angle.
• Power. In any circuit, electric power consumed at any instant is the
product of voltage and current at that instant i.e.
A.C. Circuit Containing Pure Inductance
• Power
• During the first 90 degree of the cycle, the voltage is positive and the
current is negative. Therefore, the power supplied is negative. This means
the power is flowing from the coil to the source.
• During the next 90 degree of the cycle, both voltage and current are
positive and the power supplied is positive. Therefore, power flows from
the source to the coil.
• An examination of the power curve over one cycle shows that positive
power is equal to the negative power. Hence the resultant power over one
cycle is zero i.e. a pure inductance consumes no power.
• The electric power merely flows from the source to the coil and back
again.
A.C. Circuit Containing Capacitance Only
Power absorbed by capacitor

Hence power absorbed

in a pure capacitance is
zero.
 R-L Series A.C. Circuit

• The applied voltage V is the phasor

sum of these two drops VL and VR.
• Phase angle: It is clear from the phasor diagram that circuit
current I lags behind the applied voltage V by ø°.
• The value of phase angle ø can be determined from the
phasor diagram.

• If the applied voltage is v = Vm sin ωt, then equation for the circuit current will be :
• Power in series R-L circuit
• Impedance Triangle
Apparent, True and Reactive Powers
• True power. The power which is actually consumed in the
circuit is called true power or active power.

• It is measured in watts (W).

• Reactive power. The component of apparent power which is neither
consumed nor does any useful work in the circuit is called reactive power.
The power consumed (or true power) in L and C is zero because all the
power received from the source in one quarter-cycle is returned to the
source in the next quarter-cycle.

• It is measured in volt-amperes reactive (VAR).

• Apparent power. The total power that appears to be
transferred between the source and load is called apparent
power. I
• t is equal to the product of applied voltage (V) and circuit
current (I) i.e.
• Apparent power, S = V × I = VI
• It is measured in volt-ampers (VA).
• Apparent power has two components viz true power and
reactive power.
Power triangle
• Power Factor

• The value of power factor will lie between 0 and 1

• It is a usual practice to attach the word ‘lagging’ or ‘leading’ with
the numerical value of power factor to signify whether the
current lags or leads the voltage.
• Thus if a circuit has a p.f. of 0.5 and the current lags the voltage,
we generally write p.f. as 0.5 lagging.
• Power factor of a circuit is a measure of its effectiveness in
utilizing the apparent power drawn by it.
Q-factor of a Coil
• The ratio of the inductive reactance (XL) of a coil to its
resistance (R) at a given frequency is known as Q-factor of the
coil at that frequency i.e.,

• The Q-factor is used to describe the quality or effectiveness of

a coil. A coil is usually designed to have high value of L
compared to its resistance R.
• The greater the value of Q-factor of a coil, the greater is its
inductance (L) as compared to its resistance (R).
R-C Series Circuit
• Phase angle

• Power
Example: pure inductance of 318 mH is connected in series with
a pure resistance of 75 Ω. The circuit is supplied from 50 Hz
source and the voltage across 75 Ω resistor is found to be 150 V.
Calculate the supply voltage and the phase angle.
Ex: When resistor and an inductor in series are connected to 240 V, 50
Hz AC mains, a current of 3 A flows lagging 37 degree behind the
supply voltage, while the voltage across the inductor is 171 V.
Determine the resistance value, resistance and inductance of the
inductor. Draw the phasor diagram.
 Parallel AC circuits
• Phasor diagram method of solving parallel AC circuits
• The values of I and ø can be determined by resolving the currents into
rectangular components.
Phasor Algebra
• In this method, voltages, currents and impedances are expressed in the
complex form i.e. either in the rectangular or polar form.
• Since complex form includes both magnitude and phase angle, the
solution of parallel-circuit problems can be obtained mathematically by
using the rules of phasor algebra. This eliminates the need of phasor
diagram.
Example: A capacitor of 50 μF is connected in parallel with a coil that
has a resistance of 20 Ω and inductance of 0·05 H. If this parallel
combination is connected across 200 V, 50 Hz supply, calculate (i) the
line current (ii) power factor and (iii) power consumed.
• An inductive coil is connected in parallel with a pure resistor of 30 Ω and this
parallel circuit is connected to a 50 Hz supply. The total current taken from the
circuit is 8 A while the current in the resistor is 4 A and that in inductive coil is 6 A.
Calculate (i) resistance and inductance of the coil (ii) power factor of the circuit and
(iii) power taken by the circuit.
R-L-C Series A.C. Circuit
• Three cases of R-L-C series circuit. We have seen that the
impedance of a R-L-C series circuit is given by ;
 Resonance in Series A.C. Circuit (Series
Resonance)
• A series R-L-C a.c. circuit is said to be in resonance when circuit power
factor is unity.

• Resonance will occur in this circuit when circuit power factor is unity. This
will happen when XL = XC.
Resonance Curve
• If the frequency is below fr, XC > XL and
the net reactance is no longer zero.
• If the frequency is above fr, then XL > XC
and the net reactance is again not zero.
• Bandwidth of a Series Resonant Circuit

• Bandwidth of the series resonant

circuit is Bandwidth, BW = f2 – f1
• Bandwidth of a series resonant circuit
is the range of frequencies for which
the circuit current is equal to or greater
than 70.7% of the circuit current at
resonance (i.e., Ir).

• Note that f1 and f2 are the limiting frequencies at which current is exactly
equal to 70.7% of the maximum value.
• The frequency f1 (i.e., on the lower side) is called the lower cut off
frequency and the frequency f2 (i.e., on the higher side) is called the upper
cut off frequency.
• The frequencies f1 and f2 are also called half-power frequencies (or half-
power points) or –3dB frequencies.
(i) The frequencies f1 and f2 are called half-power frequencies as
explained hereafter. At series resonance, the circuit current is
maximum (=Ir) and circuit impedance is R. Also power delivered at
resonance is maximum (Pmax) and is given by ;
Expressions for Half-power Frequencies
• In R-L-C series circuit, the current is maximum at resonance and its value is Im
(= Ir) = V/R. The magnitude of circuit current at any frequency is given by ;
• Expressions for Bandwidth

• It is clear that smaller the ratio R/L, the narrower will be the
bandwidth and vice-versa.