Scribd
Upload
23 views2 pages

(Notes) Rms Value of An AC Signal

The document explains the rms (root mean square) value of an AC signal, which is the equivalent DC value that provides the same power to a circuit. It details the calculation of the rms value for a sinusoidal signal, emphasizing the importance of squaring the signal and averaging it over one period. The document concludes by noting that the constant 0.707 applies specifically to sinusoidal waves, while other wave shapes have different constants.

Uploaded by

exposfan02
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
23 views2 pages

(Notes) Rms Value of An AC Signal

The document explains the rms (root mean square) value of an AC signal, which is the equivalent DC value that provides the same power to a circuit. It details the calculation of the rms value for a sinusoidal signal, emphasizing the importance of squaring the signal and averaging it over one period. The document concludes by noting that the constant 0.707 applies specifically to sinusoidal waves, while other wave shapes have different constants.

Uploaded by

exposfan02
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
You are on page 1/ 2

Electric Circuits AC Circuit Basics Notes

Rms Value of an AC Signal


AC signals vary with time and as we saw in the previous notes. Multiple quantities such as signal
amplitude, frequency, and phase angle are required to describe it fully. However we can also
define an AC signal with a single quantity referred to as the rms value when the mentioned
details are not needed. Multimeters are equipped to measure the rms values of voltage and
current of an AC signal.

The rms value of an AC signal is defined as the equivalent value of a DC signal that provides the
same power to a circuit. It is calculated by taking a special average of the AC signal over a
period of one oscillation.

Note that when we average a cosine wave over one period we


would get a zero since it is symmetric about the time axis. So, we
square the cosine wave, then we average it over one period, then
we take the square root of it. Hence the acronym rms for root
mean square of the signal. The details of calculating the rms value
of a sinusoidal signal is provided below.

We start by writing the expression for the basic AC signal shown


in Fig.1
Fig. 1 - Basic Ac signal
𝑣(𝑡) = 𝑉 cos 𝜔𝑡

where V is the amplitude and ω is the angular frequency. We assume that the phase angle is zero
for simplicity.

We write the expression for the rms value of this signal


1
1 𝑇 2 2
𝑉𝑟𝑚𝑠 = [ ∫ 𝑉 cos 2 𝜔𝑡 𝑑𝑡]
𝑇 0

Let us focus on the integration part first. Using a trigonometric identity, we can write the integral
as follows

𝑉2 𝑇 2
𝑉2 𝑇
∫ cos 𝜔𝑡 𝑑𝑡 = ∫ (1 + cos 2𝜔𝑡) 𝑑𝑡
𝑇 0 2𝑇 0

𝑉2 sin 2𝜔𝑡 𝑇 𝑉 2 sin 2𝜔𝑇


= [𝑡 + ] = (𝑇 + )
2𝑇 2𝜔 0 2𝑇 2𝜔

S. Araci 1
We can write the angular frequency in terms of the period as

2𝜋
𝜔=
𝑇

Substituting this into the above equation, we get

𝑉2 sin 2𝜔𝑇 𝑉2 𝑇 sin 4𝜋 𝑉2


(𝑇 + )= (𝑇 + )=
2𝑇 2𝜔 2𝑇 4𝜋 2

So, we can write the rms voltage as

𝑉2 𝑉
𝑉𝑟𝑚𝑠 = √ = ⇒ 𝑉𝑟𝑚𝑠 = 0.707 𝑉
2 √2

We should note that the constant 0.707 is only true for sinusoidal waves (the most common type
of AC), this constant has a different value for other shapes such as square waves or triangular
waves.

S. Araci 2

You might also like