Chapter 18

AC Series-Parallel Circuits
 AC Circuits
• Rules and laws developed for dc circuits
apply equally well for ac circuits
• Analysis of ac circuits requires vector
algebra and use of complex numbers
• Voltages and currents in phasor form
– Expressed as RMS (or effective) values

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 Ohm’s Law
• Voltage and current of a resistor will be in
phase
• Impedance of a resistor is: ZR = R0°

V
I  I
R0
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 Ohm’s Law
• Voltage across an inductor leads the
current by 90°(ELI the ICE man)

Z L  X L 90
V
I
X L 90
I  I  90
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 Ohm’s Law
• Current through a capacitor leads the
voltage by 90° (ELI the ICE man)

Z C  X C   90
V
I
X C   90
I  I  90
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 AC Series Circuits
• Current everywhere in a series circuit is
the same
• Impedance used to collectively determine
how resistance, capacitance, and
inductance impede current in a circuit

6
 AC Series Circuits
• Total impedance in a circuit is found by
adding all individual impedances
vectorially

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 AC Series Circuits
• Impedance vectors will appear in either
the first or the fourth quadrants because
the resistance vector is always positive
• When impedance vector appears in first
quadrant, the circuit is inductive

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 AC Series Circuits
• If impedance vector appears in fourth
quadrant
– Circuit is capacitive

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 Voltage Divider Rule
• Voltage divider rule works the same as
with dc circuits
• From Ohm’s law:
I x  IT
Vx VT

Zx ZT
Zx
Vx  VT
ZT 10
 Kirchhoff’s Voltage Law
• KVL is same as in dc circuits
• Phasor sum of voltage drops and rises
around a closed loop is equal to zero

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 Kirchhoff’s Voltage Law
• Voltages
– May be added in phasor form or in
rectangular form
• If using rectangular form
– Add real parts together
– Then add imaginary parts together

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 AC Parallel Circuits
• Conductance, G
– Reciprocal of the resistance
• Susceptance, B
– Reciprocal of the reactance

13
 AC Parallel Circuits
• Admittance, Y
– Reciprocal of the impedance
• Units for all of these are siemens (S)

14
 AC Parallel Circuits
• Impedances in parallel add together like
resistors in parallel
• These impedances must be added
vectorially

15
 AC Parallel Circuits
• Whenever a capacitor and an inductor
having equal reactances are placed in
parallel
– Equivalent circuit of the two components is
an open circuit

16
 Kirchhoff’s Current Law
• KCL is same as in dc circuits
• Summation of current phasors entering
and leaving a node
– Equal to zero

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 Kirchhoff’s Current Law
• Currents must be added vectorially
• Currents entering are positive
• Currents leaving are negative

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 Current Divider Rule
• In a parallel circuit
– Voltages across all branches are equal

Vx  VT
I x Z x  IT Z T
ZT
Ix  IT
Zx
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 Series-Parallel Circuits
• Label all impedances with magnitude and
the associated angle
• Analysis is simplified by starting with
easily recognized combinations

20
 Series-Parallel Circuits
• Redraw circuit if necessary for further
simplification
• Fundamental rules and laws of circuit
analysis must apply in all cases

21
 Frequency Effects of RC Circuits
• Impedance of a capacitor decreases as
the frequency increases
• For dc (f = 0 Hz)
– Impedance of the capacitor is infinite

22
 Frequency Effects of RC Circuits
• For a series RC circuit
– Total impedance approaches R as the
frequency increases
• For a parallel RC circuit
– As frequency increases, impedance goes
from R to a smaller value

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 Frequency Effects of RL Circuits
• Impedance of an inductor increases as
frequency increases
• At dc (f = 0 Hz)
– Inductor looks like a short
– At high frequencies, it looks like an open

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 Frequency Effects of RL Circuits
• In a series RL circuit
– Impedance increases from R to a larger value
• In a parallel RL circuit
– Impedance increases from a small value to R

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 Corner Frequency
• Corner frequency is a break point on the
frequency response graph
• For a capacitive circuit
– C = 1/RC = 1/
• For an inductive circuit
– C = R/L = 1/

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 RLC Circuits
• In a circuit with R, L, and C components
combined in series-parallel combinations
– Impedance may rise or fall across a range of
frequencies
• In a series branch
– Impedance of inductor may equal the
capacitor
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 RLC Circuits
• Impedances would cancel
– Leaving impedance of resistor as the only
impedance
• Condition is referred to as resonance

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 Applications
• AC circuits may be simplified as a series
circuit having resistance and a reactance
• AC circuit
– May be represented as an equivalent parallel
circuit with a single resistor and a single
reactance

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 Applications
• Any equivalent circuit will be valid only at
the given frequency of operation

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