AC CIRCUIT THEORY

KEVIN D. DUGAY
EE105 – BASIC ELECTRICAL AND ELECTRONICS ENGINEERING
 OBJECTIVES
▪Differentiate direct current and alternating current (CO1)
▪Identify examples of system, equipment, or device of such form.
(CO1)
▪Explain the frequency, peak value, average value and the
instantaneous voltage of ac circuits (CO1)
▪Explain the concept of inductive reactance, capacitive
reactance, impedance, power factor and power angle (CO1).
▪Solve various parameters which are involved in series and
parallel AC circuts.

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 RECALL
▪Direct Current - A current that
remains constant with time

▪Alternating Current - A current that

varies sinusoidally with time

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 INTRODUCTION
▪Historically, dc sources were the main
means of providing electric power up
until the late 1800s
▪Commercial power supplies are
alternating voltage sources that follows Hover Dam
the sine function known as sinusoidal
function or simply sinusoids.
▪Circuit currents resulting from sinusoidal
voltages are also alternating in nature
called alternating current (AC).
Hover Dam Alternators

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 SINUSOID
▪A signal that has the form of the sine or
cosine function.
▪Through Fourier analysis, any practical
periodic signal can be represented by a
sum of sinusoids
▪Such a current reverses at regular time
intervals and has alternately positive and
negative values.

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 SINUSOIDS
▪ It is evident that the sinusoid repeats itself every T seconds;
thus, T is called the period of the sinusoid

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 SINUSOIDS
▪ The fact that v(t) repeats itself every T seconds is shown by
replacing t by t + T

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 SINUSOIDS
▪ Periodic function is one that satisfies f (t) = f (t + nT), for all t
and for all integers n.
▪ The period T of the periodic function is the time of one
complete cycle or the number of seconds per cycle.
▪ The reciprocal of this quantity is the number of cycles per
second, known as the cyclic frequency f of the sinusoid

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 SINUSOIDS
▪ Let us examine the two sinusoids
𝑣1 𝑡 = 𝑉𝑚 𝑠𝑖𝑛𝜔𝑡 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑣2 𝑡 = 𝑉𝑚 sin(𝜔𝑡 + 𝜑)

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ALTERNATING CURRENTS AND VOLTAGES
e = Em sin t e
T

e = Em sin 2ft Em

e = Em sin 2 (1 / T )t
t

where;
e = instantaneous value of the alternating voltage, volts (V)
Em = maximum or peak value of the alternating voltage, volts (V)
ω = angular velocity of the alternating voltage, rad/sec
f = frequency of the alternating voltage, hertz (Hz)
T = period of the alternating voltage, sec
t = time in sec.

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 INSTANTANEOUS VALUE OF A SINUSOID
▪Refers to the voltage (or current) values at any point in time in a
sine wave or sinusoid.
▪Instantaneous values of voltage and current are usually
symbolized by lower case v and i respectively.
v

v2
v1
t3 t
t1 t2

-v3

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 Illustrative Problem 1
An alternating voltage is given by the sinusoidal function,
v = 325 sin277t. Find
a) The angular velocity, frequency, and period of the function.
b) The time when the voltage is half its peak value.

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 THE AVERAGE VALUE OF A SINUSOID
▪ The average value EAVE of a sinusoid is defined as its
average value over the positive half cycle or the negative
half cycle.
T
e

average Em
t
2
E AVE = Em = 0.637 Em


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 THE ROOT-MEAN-SQUARE (RMS) VALUE
▪ Also known as the effective value, the RMS value ERMS of a
sinusoid is that value that will produce the same heating
effect as a DC that has a value equal to ERMS.
T
e
1
ERMS = Em = 0.707 Em RMS Em
2 t

❖ Hence, the value of sinusoid in RMS is slightly higher than its

average.
❖ Commercial power is usually given in RMS value.
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 THE MEANING OF RMS
▪Applying the KVL equation for the
i
circuit of the figure below.

Vm sinωt R

Both resistor will

I consume the same
power as long as the
battery is 0.7071 Vm
+
0.7071 Vm R
-

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CAPACITOR

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 CAPACITOR
▪ Device that can store electrical energy.
▪ Recognized by the symbols;

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 CAPACITOR
▪ Primarily made up of two isolated conductors called plates
separated by an insulator (or vacuum)
▪ The isolated conductors carries charges of the same
magnitude but opposite in sign
Top side of bottom A +
q
plate has charge -q d

V
-q

Bottom side of top

plate has charge +q Electric field lines

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 COMMON APPLICATIONS
▪ Electrical Energy Storage
▪ Power Conditioning
▪ Power Factor Correction
▪ Start Motors

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 CAPACITANCE
▪ The ability of a capacitor to store electrical energy
▪ Capacitance is the ratio of the charge on one plate of a capacitor
to the voltage
▪ In terms of the amount of charge stored and the potential
difference between the plates, capacitance can be expressed as;
where;
q
C= C = capacitance in coulomb per volt or popularly known
as the farad
V q =charge stored on either plates (Coulombs or C)
V = potential difference between the plates (volts or V)

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 CAPACITANCE
▪ Is a constant depending only on the geometry of the capacitor and the
material between the plates (known as dielectric)
𝜀𝐴
𝐶=
𝑑
where;
ε = permittivity of the material (F/m)
A = surface area of the plates (sq. m)
d = spacing between the plates (m)

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ENERGY STORED
1 2
ω = 𝐶𝑣
2
where;
ω = Energy (joules)
C = Capacitance (Farad)
v = Voltage (Volts)

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 CAPACITOR
Important Properties:
1. When voltage across a capacitor is not changing with
time, the current through the capacitor is zero.
2. The voltage on a capacitor must be continuous.
. Ideal capacitor does not dissipate energy
▪ It takes power from the circuit when storing
energy in its field and returns previously stored
energy when delivering power to the circuit.
4. A real, nonideal capacitor has a parallel-model
leakage resistance

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 CIRCUIT ANALYSIS FOR CAPACITORS
Similar to resistive networks, capacitors may be connected in
series or parallel networks.

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 PARALLEL CAPACITORS
The equivalent capacitance of N parallel-connected
capacitors is the sum of the individual capacitances.

Ceq=C1+C2+….+CN

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 SERIES CAPACITORS
The equivalent capacitance of N series-connected capacitors
is the reciprocal of the sum of the reciprocals of the individual
capacitances.
1 1 1 1 1
= + + + ⋯+
𝐶𝑒𝑞 𝐶1 𝐶2 𝐶3 𝐶𝑁

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 Illustrative Problem 2
Find the equivalent capacitance seen between terminals a and b
of the circuit

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 CAPACITIVE REACTANCE
▪ Capacitor offers opposition to current which is inversely
proportional with frequency.
▪ The opposition to sinusoidal current in a capacitor is
called Capacitive Reactance (Xc) in a unit of ohm.

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 CAPACITIVE REACTANCE
I

V XC An RC series AC circuit

Usually symbolized as XC , capacitive reactance is defined as

1 1
XC = =
C 2fC
where;
ω = the angular velocity of the electrical energy source, in rad/se
f = the frequency of the electrical energy source, in Hz.
C = the capacitance of the capacitor, in Henrys
XC = capacitive reactance in ohms.
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 PURELY RESISTIVE AC CIRCUIT
In a purely resistive a.c. circuit, the current IR and applied voltage
VR are in phase.

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 PURELY CAPACITIVE AC CIRCUIT
▪ In a purely capacitive AC circuit, the current Ic leads the
applied voltage by 90o.

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 Illustrative Problem 3
Determine the capacitive reactance of a capacitor of 10 μF when
connected to a circuit of frequency (a) 50 Hz (b) 20 kHz

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 Illustrative Problem 4
Calculate the current taken by a 23 μF capacitor when connected
to a 240V, 50 Hz supply.

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 RC SERIES AC CIRCUIT
▪ In an ac series circuit containing capacitance C and resistance R, the
applied voltage V is the phasor sum of VR and VC and thus the current I
leads the applied voltage V by an angle lying between 0◦ and 90◦
(depending on the values of VR and VC), shown as angle α.

2 2
𝑉= 𝑉𝑅 + 𝑉𝐶

𝑉𝐶
tan 𝛼 =
𝑉𝑅

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 RC SERIES AC CIRCUIT
▪ The ratio of applied voltage V to current I is called the impedance Z.
▪ If each side of the voltage triangle is divided by the current I, then the
‘Impedance triangle’ is derived
For the R-C Circuit

2
𝑍= 𝑅2 + 𝑋𝐶

𝑋𝐶 𝑋𝐶 𝑅
tan 𝛼 = 𝑠𝑖𝑛 𝛼 = 𝑐𝑜𝑠 𝛼 =
𝑅 𝑍 𝑍

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 Illustrative Problem 5
A resistor of 25 Ω is connected in series with a capacitor of 45 μF.
Calculate (a) the impedance, and (b) the current taken from a
240V, 50 Hz supply. Find also the phase angle between the
supply voltage and the current.

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 INDUCTORS
▪A passive element designed to store energy in its magnetic field.
▪Generally - coil of conducting wire

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 CURRENT AND VOLTAGE RELATIONSHIPS
▪If current is allowed to pass through an inductor, it is found that
the voltage across the inductor is directly proportional to the
time rate of change of the current.
di
vL = L
dt
where L is the constant of proportionality called inductance of
the inductor.

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 SIGN CONVENTION
▪The sign convention used with an inductor is the
same as for a power dissipating device.
▪When current flows into the positive side of the
voltage across the inductor, it is positive and the
inductor is dissipating power.
▪When the inductor releases energy back into the
circuit, the sign of the current will be negative.

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 ENERGY STORAGE
▪The flow of current through an inductor creates a magnetic
field.

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 ENERGY STORAGE
1 2
𝑊 = 𝐿𝐼
2
where
I = current in amperes
L = inductance in henries
W = energy in joules

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 EQUIVALENT INDUCTANCE IN SERIES CIRCUITS
▪Consider a series connection of N inductors

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 EQUIVALENT INDUCTANCE IN PARALLEL CIRCUITS
▪Consider a parallel connection of N inductors

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 Illustrative Problem 6
Find the equivalent inductance of the circuit

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 PURELY INDUCTIVE AC CIRCUIT
In a purely inductive a.c. circuit, the current IL lags the applied
voltage VL by 90◦ (i.e. π/2 radians)

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 INDUCTIVE REACTANCE
Opposition to ac current due to the inductance in the circuit.
Unit is ohm, represented by XL.
Formula is given by

𝑋𝐿 = 2π𝑓𝐿

Where:
XL = inductive reactance, ohms (Ω)
f = frequency, hertz (Hz)
L = inductance, henry (H)
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 INDUCTIVE REACTANCE
In a circuit containing only inductance, Ohm’s law can be used to
find current and voltage by substituting XL for R.

𝑉𝐿 = 𝐼𝐿 𝑋𝐿
Where:
IL = current through the inductance, A
VL = voltage across the inductance, V
XL = inductive reactance, Ω

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 Illustrative Problem 7
A resonant tank circuit consists of a 20-mH coil operating at a
frequency of 950 kHz. What is the inductive reactance of the
coil?

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 Illustrative Problem 8
A choke coil of negligible resistance is to limit the current
through it to 50 mA when 25 V is applied across it at 400 kHz.
Find its inductance.

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