Republic of the Philippines

BULACAN STATE UNIVERSITY

COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING
City of Malolos, Bulacan

CIRCUIT ANALYSIS 2
LABORATORY MANUAL

Name: Score:
Section: Date:
Instructor:

POWER AND POWER FACTOR

ACTIVITY No. 5

INTRODUCTION
We have seen here that in AC circuits, the voltage and current flowing in a purely passive
circuit are normally out-of-phase and, as a result, they cannot be used to accomplish any real work.
We have also seen that in a direct current (DC) circuit, electrical power is equal to the voltage
times the current, or P = V*I, but we cannot calculate it in the same manner as for AC circuits as
we need to take into account any phase difference.
In a purely resistive circuit, the current and voltage are both in-phase and all the electrical
power is consumed by the resistance, usually as heat. As a result, none of the electrical power is
returned to the source supply or circuit.
However, in a purely inductive or a purely capacitive circuit that contains reactance (X),
the current will lead or lag the voltage by exactly 90o (the phase angle) so power is both stored and
returned back to the source. Thus, the average power calculated over one full periodic cycle will
be equal to zero.
The electrical power consumed by a resistance (R) is called the true or real power and is
simply obtained by multiplying the rms voltage with the rms current. The power stored by a
reactance (X) is called the reactive power and is obtained by multiplying the voltage, current, and
the sine of the phase angle between them.
The symbol for phase angle is θ (Theta) which represents the inefficiency of the AC circuit
with regard to the total reactive impedance (Z) that opposes the flow of current in the circuit.

Objectives
• Understand the effects of basic electrical components on the average power of the system.
• Understand the concept of power factor.
• Differentiate between average power and real power.
Circuit Diagram

Computed Values
Compute the expected power factor of the circuit given the different capacitance.

ITotal (RMS)
Capacitance (uF) Real Power (Watts) Reactive Power (Vars) Power Factor
mag (A)

100

90

80

70

60

50

40

30

20

10

Observation and Conclusion:

Describe what happens to the power in this RLC series circuit as the capacitance decreases.
Explain in general terms why the observed change should occur.