Name:

Date:

Course and Section:

Instructor:

Frequency Response
Of the Series R-L
Network

OBJECTIVES
1. Note the effect of frequency on the impedance of a series R-L network.
2. Plot the voltages and current of a series R-L network versus frequency.
3. Calculate and plot the phase angle of the input impedance versus
frequency for a series R-L network.

EQUIPMENT REQUIRED
Resistors
1—100-0 (1/4-W)

Inductors
1—10-mH

Instruments
I—DMM
1—Oscilloscope
I—Audio oscillator (or function generator)
I—Frequency counter (if available)
312 EXPERIMENT ac 6
EQUIPMENT ISSUED
TABLE 6.0
Manufacturer and Model Laboratory Serial
Item
No. No.
DMM

Oscilloscope

Audio oscillator
(or function generator)
Frequency counter

RÉSUMÉ OF THEORY
For the series dc or ac circuit, the voltage drop across a particular element is
directly related to its impedance as compared with the other series elements.
Since the impedances of the inductor and capacitor will change with frequency,
the voltage across both elements will be affected by the applied frequency.

For the series R-L network, the voltage across the coil will
increase with frequency, since the inductive reactance increases directly
with frequency and the impedance of the resistor

is essentially independent of the applied frequency (in the audio range).

Since the voltage and current of the resistor are related by the
constant resistance value, the shapes of their curves versus frequency will
have the same characteristics.

Keep in mind that the voltages across the elements in an ac

circuit are vectorially re lated. Otherwise, the voltage readings may appear to be
totally incorrect and not satisfy Kirchhoff's voltage law.

The phase angle associated with the input impedance is also

sensitive to the applied frequency. At very low frequencies, the inductive
reactance will be small compared to the series resistive element and the network
will be primarily resistive in nature. The result is a phase angle

associated with the input impedance that approaches 00 (v and i in phase).

At increasing frequencies, XL will drown out the resistive element and the
network will be primårily inductive, resulting in an input phase angle
approaching 900 (v leads i by 900).

Caution: Be sure that the ground connections of the source and scope do
not short out an element of the network, thereby changing its
terminal characteristics.
FREQUENCY RESPONSE OF THE SERIES R-L NETWORK 313
PROCEDUR
E
VL, VR, and / versus
Part 1 Frequency
(a) Construct the network of Fig. 6.1. Insert the measured
value of the resistor R on the diagram. For the frequency range of interest,
we will ignore the effects of the internal resistance of the coil. That is, we
will assume XL >> RI and ZL = XL Z 900.
¯

FIG. 6.1

(b) Maintaining 4 V (p-p) at the input to the circuit, record

the voltage VL (p-p) for the frequencies appearing in Table 6.1. Make
sure to check continually that E = 4 V (p-p) with each frequency change.
Do not measure the voltage VR at this point in the experiment. The
common ground of the supply and scope will short out the effect of the
inductive element, which may result in damage to the equipment.
For each frequency try to read VL to the highest degree of
accuracy possible. The higher the degree of accuracy, the better the
data will verify the theory to be substantiated.

TABLE 6.1
Frequency L(p.p) R(p-p) P•p

0.1 kHz

1 kHz

2 kHz

3 kHz

4 kHz
314 EXPERIMENT ac 6
5 kHz

6 kHz

7 kHz

8 kHz

9 kHz

10 kHz

(c) Turn off the supply and interchange the

positions of R and L in Fig. 6.1 and measure for the
same range of frequencies with E maintained at 4 V (p-
p). Insert the measurements in Table 6.1. This is a
very important step. Failure to relocate the resistor R
can result in a grounding situation where the inductive
reactance is shorted out!
(d) Calculate Ip_p R(p-p) measured and complete Table 6.1.

(e) Plot the curve of Vup_p) versus frequency on Graph 6.1.

Label the curve and clearly indicate each plot point.
FREQUENCY RESPONSE OF THE SERIES R-L NETWORK 315
Vp_p

10
f (kHz)
GRAPH. 6.1

(f) Plot the curve of versus frequency on Graph 6.1.

Again, label the curve and clearly indicate each plot point.
(g) As the frequency increases, describe in a few
sentences what happens to the voltage across the coil and resistor.
Explain why.
(h) At the point where VL = VR, does XL = R?
Should they be equal? Why? Record the level of voltage and the
impedance of each element in Table 6.2.
316 EXPERIMENT ac 6
TABLE 6.2

V(VL = vR)

(i) Determine Vup_p) and at some random frequency such as 5.6

kHz from the curves and record in Table 6.3. Determine their sum and enter into
Table 6.3.

Calculation:

Are the magnitudes such that Vup_p) + VR(p-p) = E P-P? If not, why
not? How are they related?

TABLE 6.3
Sum
L(p•p)
FREQUENCY RESPONSE OF THE SERIES R-L NETWORK 317
(j) Plot the curve of Ip_p versus frequency on Graph 6.2.
Label the curve and clearly indicate each plot point.
(k) How does the curve of Ip_p versus frequency compare to

the curve of versus frequency? Explain why they compare as they do.
50

40

30
318 EXPERIMENT ac 6
20

10

f (kHz)

GRAPH. 6.2
(l) At a frequency of 8 kHz, calculate the reactance of
the inductor using XL = 2%TfL and the nameplate inductance level
and record in Table 6.4. Record the value obtained from the data of
Table 6.1 using
V

L(p-p)

P-P
Calculation:

TABLE 6.4
Calculated From Table 6.1 data
Compare values of XL.

(m) Use the Pythagorean theorem (VL(p-p) =

to determine the voltage
Vup_p) at a frequency of 5 kHz and compare with the
measured result of Table 6.1. Use the peak-to-peak value of
VR from Table 6.1 and E p = 4 V. Insert the results in Table
6.5.
FREQUENCY RESPONSE OF THE SERIES R-L NETWORK 319
TABLE 6.5
Calculated Measured

up-p)
(n) At low frequencies, the inductor approaches a
low-impedance short-circuit equivalent and at high
frequencies a high-impedance open-circuit equivalent. Do the
data of Table 6.1 and Graphs 6.1 and 6.2 verify the above
statement? Comment accordingly.

Part 2
ZT
versus
Frequ
ency

(a) For each frequency, transfer the results of Ip_p from

Table 6.1 to Table 6.6.

TABLE 6.6

Frequency P-P P-
P

0.1 kHz

1 kHz

2 kHz

3 kHz

4 kHz

5 kHz

Continued
TABLE 6.6 Continued
320 EXPERIMENT ac 6
P-P
Frequency

6 kHz

7 kHz

8 kHz

9 kHz

10 kHz

(b) At each frequency, calculate the

magnitude of the total impedance using the equation ZT = E
P-P /I P-Pin Table 6.6.
(c) Plot the curve ofZT versus frequency on
Graph 6.3. Calculate the total impedance at f = 0 Hz (with
RI = 0 Q) and include the result as a plot point for the curve.
Label the curve and clearly indicate each plot point.

(d) For each frequency, calculate the total

impedance using the equation ZT = and the
measured value for R and insert in Table 6.6.
(e) How do the magnitudes of ZT compare for the
last two columns of Table 6.6?

(f) On the same graph (6.3), plot R versus

frequency. Label the curve.

(g) On Graph 6.3, plot XL = 27TfL versus

frequency. Use the space below for the necessary
calculations. Label the curve and clearly indicate each
plot point.
FREQUENCY RESPONSE OF THE SERIES R-L NETWORK 321
1000

10
f (kHz)
GRAPH. 6.3

(h) At which frequency does XL = R? Use both the graph and a calculation (f =
R/27L). Record the results in Table 6.7.

Calculation:

How do the results compare?

TABLE 6.7
Graph Calculation
322 EXPERIMENT ac 6
marily resistive or inductive? How about for frequencies
greater than the frequency calculated in part 2(h)?

(j) The phase angle by which the applied voltage

leads the same current is determined by 0 = tan-I (XL/R) (as
obtained from the impedance diagram). Calculate the phase
angle for each of the frequencies in Table 6.8.

TABLE 6.8
Frequency R (measured) 9 = tan-I (XL/R)

0.1 kHz
1 kHz

2 kHz

3 kHz

5 kHz

10 kHz

100 kHz
FREQUENCY RESPONSE OF THE SERIES R-L NETWORK 323

f(kHz)
GRAPH. 6.4

TABLE 6.9
e — 450 Calculated