Module 1-Unit-2

AC Circuits: Introduction to Electrical Circuits

• Fundamentals of single phase circuits - Series RL, RC and

R-L-C Circuits, Concept of active power, reactive power
and Power factor, Numerical examples.
• Introduction to three phase system and relation between
line and phase values in Star & Delta connection,
Numerical examples.

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Cycle:
A complete set of positive and negative values of an alternating quantity is
known as cycle.

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• Time period:
The time taken by an alternating quantity to complete one
cycle is called time T.
• Frequency:
It is the number of cycles that occur in one second. f = 1/T f =
PN/120 where, P= No. of poles, N= Speed in rpm
• Waveform:
A curve which shows the variation of voltage and current w.r.t
time or rotation.

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Phase & Phase difference:
In phase: Out of phase

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RMS VALUE:
• The RMS (Root Mean Square) value (also known as effective or
virtual value) of of an alternating current (AC) is the value of direct
current (DC) when flowing through a circuit or resistor for the
specific time period and produces same amount of heat which
produced by the alternating current (AC) when flowing through the
same circuit or resistor for a specific time.
• The value of an AC which will produce the same amount of heat
while passing through in a heating element (such as resistor) as DC
produces through the element is called R.M.S Value. In short,

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• The RMS Value of an Alternating Current is that when it compares to the Direct
Current, then both AC and DC current produce the same amount of heat when
flowing through the same circuit for a specific time period.

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Average Value:
It is the arithmetic sum of all the instantaneous values divided by the number
of values used to obtain the sum.
Form factor (Kf):-
is the ratio of rms value to average value of an alternating quantity.
(Kf = Irms/Iav)

Peak factor (Ka) or crest factor:-

is the ratio of peak (or maximum) value to the rms value of alternating quantity
(Ka = Imax/ Irms)

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AC Circuit Containing Resistance
Let the supply voltage be,
v = Vmsinωt ……(1)
The instantaneous value of current flowing
through the given circuit is,
i = v / R = Vm / R sinωt ……(2)
From equation (2), the value of current be
maximum at t = 900, so sin t =1
Then, the instantaneous value of current will
be,
i = Imsinωt ……(3)
So, by observing the equation (1) and (3), it
is clear that there is no phase difference
between the applied voltage and current
flowing through the circuit. Meaning, phase
angle between voltage and current is zero.
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Hence, in a pure resistive ac circuit, the current is in phase with the voltage.

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AC Circuit Containing Inductance
Let the voltage applied to the circuit be,
v = Vmsinωt ……(1)
The emf induced in the inductor will be,
E = -L x di / dt
This emf induced in a circuit is equal and
opposite to applied voltage.
v = -e ……(2)
Putting the value of e in (2) we get,
v = (-L x di / dt)
Vmsinωt = L x di / dt
Or
di = Vm / L sinω dt ……(3)
Integrating both sides, we get,

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 This can be expressed in a waveform as,

Here,
Inductive reactance is XL = ωL = 2πfL
The value of current will be maximum if sin (ωt – π/2) = 1
Therefore,
Im = Vm / XL ……(5)
Apply the value of Im from (5) and put in (4)
We get,
i = Im sin (ωt – π / 2)
This implies that the current in pure inductive ac circuits
lags the voltage by 900.

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AC Circuit Containing Capacitor
This type of circuit includes a pure capacitor only. It will not affect the properties of
resistance and inductance. The capacitor will store electric power in the electric field. This is
known as capacitance.
The electric field is developed across the plates of the capacitor when a voltage is applied
across the capacitor. Also, there will not be any current flows between them.

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Let the voltage applied to the circuit be,
v = Vmsinωt ……(1)
Charge of the capacitor is,
q = Cv ……(2)
Then, current flow through the circuit will be,
i = dq / dt
Substituting the value of q in the above equation we get,
i = d (Cv) / dt ……(3)
Now substitute the value of v in (3), we get,

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Where XC = 1/ωC = 1/(2πfc) which is capacitive
inductance.
The value of current will be maximum if sin(ωt + π/2) = 1.
Then, the maximum value of current,
Im = Vm / XC
Substituting the value of Im in (4) we get,
i = Im sin (ωt + π / 2)
This implies that the current flowing through the capacitor
leads the voltage by 900.
This can be expressed in a waveform as,

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RL Series Circuit
The circuit diagram for the series RL circuit is as follows :

The important takeaways to be remembered

are as follows:
Voltage equation: = +

Current equation: = =

V or E or e

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Phasor diagram: The following figure represents the phasor diagram
of series RL circuits

Impedance: 𝑍 = 𝑅 + 𝑗𝑋𝐿
Power factor: 𝑐𝑜𝑠 𝜃 = R lagging
Magnitude of impedance: |𝑍| = √𝑅2 + 𝑋𝐿 2 𝑍

Impedance angle: 𝜃 = 𝑡𝑎𝑛−1 𝑋𝐿

𝑅

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Series RC Circuit
The circuit diagram for series RL circuits is given as follows.
The important takeaways to be remembered are as
follows:

Current equation: 𝑅 𝐶

Voltage equation: 𝑅 𝐶

V or E or e

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Phasor diagram: The phasor diagram for the series RC circuit
is given as follows.

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Impedance triangle: The impedance triangle of series RC
circuit is given as follows.
Impedance: 𝐶

Magnitude of impedance: 2
C
2

Impedance angle: = −1

Power factor: = R leading

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Series RLC Circuits
The circuit diagram of series RLC circuit is shown below.

The important takeaways to be remembered

are as follows:
Current equation: 𝑖 = 𝑖𝑅 = 𝑖𝐿 = 𝑖𝐶

Voltage equation: 𝑣 = 𝑣𝑅 + 𝑣𝐿 + 𝑣𝐶

V or E or e

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Phasor diagram: The phasor diagram of the series RLC circuit for 𝐿 𝐶 is
given as follows.

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Impedance triangle: The impedance triangle of the series RLC circuit for 𝑋𝐿 > 𝑋𝐶 is as
follows :

Power factor will be lagging when net reactance (𝑋𝐿 − 𝑋𝐶) is inductive in nature.
Power factor will be leading when net reactance (𝑋𝐿 + 𝑋𝐶) is capacitive in nature.

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Concept of Active power
Active power is often called real, actual, true, or useful power.

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Reactive Power
Reactive power occurs in AC circuits when voltage and current are
not in phase. Its unit is VAR (voltage ampere reactive). In the real
world, loads are a combination of resistive, inductive, and
capacitive elements and it is impossible to determine the nature of
the load (small/large, domestic/industrial inductive/capacitive).
There are Two types of reactance:
•Capacitive Reactance (negative) Reactive Power (Q)= V x I x Sin
•Inductive Reactance (positive)

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Power factor
The power factor is an important concept in an electrical system and a good power factor
determines the design quality and effective use of the supply in the electrical system.
It shows the relation of the real power to the apparent power and is simply the ratio of
active (real) power in watts to apparent power in volt-amperes.

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Introduction to three phase system

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Relation between line and phase values in
Star & Delta connection

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