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Level 2 Diploma in Electrical Installations (Buildings and Structures) Unit 202 Handout 19

202: Principles of electrical science

Handout 19: a.c. power

Learning outcome
The learner will:
7. know the principles of a.c. theory.

Assessment criteria
The learner can:
7.2. state characteristics of power quantities for an a.c. circuit.

Range
 Power quantities: Apparent power (KVA), Reactive power (KVAr), True power (KW),
power triangles.

a.c. power
When we looked at the power consumed in a circuit connected to a d.c. supply, the supply
voltage and current drawn from the supply were in-phase with each other, ie there was no
difference in the starting point in time, between either the voltage or current.
With a.c. this is not necessarily the case, as we have seen from the phasor diagrams in
previous sections. If the voltage and current are not in-phase with each other then we cannot
calculate power by the formula V x I, as this will give a false and much greater value for
power than is actually being dissipated.
The answer you get from multiplying V x I is the Volt Amperes or Apparent power referred
to as VA.
In order to obtain the True power (P) dissipated in a circuit, we have to take into account the
phase angle between the supply voltage and supply current.
The True power dissipated in a single phase a.c. circuit can be found by using either of the
formulae shown below.

or

Cos is the phase angle and is the cosine of difference in degrees between the applied
voltage and the supply current.
The power factor (pf) is the cosine of the angle and is just a decimal number.
For example, the cosine of 30° is 0.866. The pf can never be greater than one (1), since the
cosine wave maximum is one (1).

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Level 2 Diploma in Electrical Installations (Buildings and Structures) Unit 202 Handout 19

The relationship between True and Apparent power is:

where: pf = Power factor expressed as the cosine of the phase angle

difference
P = True power in watts
VA = Apparent power in VA.

There is a further value that needs to be considered and that is power produced in the
reactive components (inductors and capacitors). This does no useful work, as power is taken
on one half-cycle and returned on the next half-cycle. This is referred to as VAr and is known
as the Reactive power. Between this Reactive power and the true power there is a phase
angle difference of 90°.
The relationship between these three values can be represented by the power triangle based
on a right-angled triangle:

Since the impedance triangle is a right angle triangle, if two of the values are known then the
third can be found using Pythagoras’ Theorem. The following are the relevant formulae:

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Level 2 Diploma in Electrical Installations (Buildings and Structures) Unit 202 Handout 19

Power factor can be determined by:

Example 1
When a voltage of 230 volts is applied to a circuit, a current of 5 amperes flows at a power
factor of 0.85. Calculate:
a) the Apparent power
b) the True power
c) the Reactive power.

a)

b)

977.5W
c)
√
√
605.8VAr

Example 2
When a voltage of 400 volts is applied to a circuit, a current of 25 amperes flows at a power
factor of 0.6. Calculate:
d) the Apparent power
e) the True power
f) the Reactive power.

a)

b)

6,000W
6KW
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Level 2 Diploma in Electrical Installations (Buildings and Structures) Unit 202 Handout 19

c)
√
√
8,000VAr
8KVAr

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