BASIC RLC CIRCUITS

RLC IN SERIES
▪Current in a series circuit containing resistance, inductive
reactance, and capacitive reactance is determined by the total
impedance of the combination.

𝑉𝑅 = 𝐼𝑅
𝑉𝐿 = 𝐼𝑋𝐿
𝑉𝐶 = 𝐼𝑋𝐶

EE104 – BASIC ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING

 IMPEDANCE IN SERIES RLC
▪Impedance Z is equal to the phasor sum of R, 𝑋𝐿 , and 𝑋𝐶

When 𝑋𝐿 > 𝑋𝐶
𝑍= 𝑅2 + (𝑋𝐿 − 𝑋𝐶 )2
𝑖𝑛 𝑚𝑎𝑔𝑛𝑖𝑡𝑢𝑑𝑒 𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑚
When 𝑋𝐶 > 𝑋𝐿
𝑍= 𝑅2 + (𝑋𝐿 + 𝑋𝐶 )2
It is convenient to define net reactance X as
𝑋 = 𝑗𝑋𝐿 − 𝑗𝑋𝐶 𝑖𝑛 𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑝𝑙𝑒𝑥 𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑚

EE104 – BASIC ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING

 SAMPLE PROBLEM 1
(a) In an RLC series AC circuit, find the applied voltage, phase angle and
impedance.

Answer: 𝑽 = 𝟏𝟕∠𝟔𝟏. 𝟗𝟐𝟕𝟓° 𝑽 𝒁 = 𝟖. 𝟓∠𝟔𝟏. 𝟗𝟐𝟕𝟓° 𝜴 𝜽 = 𝟔𝟏. 𝟗𝟐𝟕𝟓°

 SAMPLE PROBLEM 1
(a) In an RLC series AC circuit, find the applied voltage, phase angle and
impedance.
Solution:
𝑍 = 𝑅 + 𝑋 = 𝑅 + 𝑗𝑋𝐿 − 𝑗𝑋𝐶 𝑉 = 𝐼𝑍
𝑍 = 4 + 𝑗(19.5) − 𝑗(12) 𝑉 = 2 𝐴 4 + 𝑗7.5 Ω
𝑍 = 4 + 𝑗7.5 Ω (𝑟𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑔𝑢𝑙𝑎𝑟 𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑚) 𝑉 = 17∠61.9275° 𝑉
𝑍 = 8.5∠61.9275° Ω (𝑝ℎ𝑎𝑠𝑜𝑟 𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑚)
𝜃 = 61.9275°

Answer: 𝑽 = 𝟏𝟕∠𝟔𝟏. 𝟗𝟐𝟕𝟓° 𝑽 𝒁 = 𝟖. 𝟓∠𝟔𝟏. 𝟗𝟐𝟕𝟓° 𝜴 𝜽 = 𝟔𝟏. 𝟗𝟐𝟕𝟓°

 RLC IN PARALLEL
▪The voltage is the same across each parallel branch so
𝑉𝑇 = 𝑉𝑅 = 𝑉𝐿 = 𝑉𝐶

EE104 – BASIC ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING

 RLC IN PARALLEL
For 𝐼𝐶 > 𝐼𝐿

EE104 – BASIC ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING

 RLC IN PARALLEL
When 𝐼𝐿 > 𝐼𝐶
𝐼𝑇 = 𝐼𝑅 2 + (𝐼𝐿 − 𝐼𝐶 )2
𝐼𝐿 − 𝐼𝐶
𝜃 = arctan −
𝐼𝑅

When 𝐼𝐿 > 𝐼𝐶
𝐼𝑇 = 𝐼𝑅 2 + (𝐼𝐶 − 𝐼𝐿 )2
𝐼𝐶 − 𝐼𝐿
𝜃 = arctan
𝐼𝑅

EE104 – BASIC ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING

 IMPEDANCE IN PARALLEL RLC
▪The total impedance 𝑍𝑇 of a parallel RLC circuit equals the total
voltage 𝑉𝑇 divided by the total current 𝐼𝑇
𝑉𝑇
𝑍𝑇 =
𝐼𝑇

EE104 – BASIC ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING

 SAMPLE PROBLEM 2
(a) A 400-ohm resistor, a 50-ohm inductive reactance and a 40-ohm capacitive
reactance are placed in parallel across a 120-V ac line. Find the phasor
branch currents, total current, phase angle, and impedance.
Solution: 120∠0 𝑉
−1 −1
𝐼𝑅 = = 0.3 𝐴
𝑍 = 400−1 + 𝑗 50 + −𝑗 40 400 Ω
120∠0 𝑉
𝑍 = 178.8854∠ − 63.4349° Ω (𝑝ℎ𝑎𝑠𝑜𝑟 𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑚) 𝐼𝐿 = = 2.4∠ − 90 𝐴
𝑗50 Ω
𝜃 = −63.4349°
120∠0 𝑉
120∠0 𝑉 𝐼𝐶 = = 3∠90 𝐴
𝐼𝑇 = = 0.6708∠63.4349 𝐴 −𝑗40 Ω
178∠ − 63.4349° Ω
Answer: 𝒁 = 𝟏𝟕𝟖. 𝟖𝟖𝟓𝟒∠ − 𝟔𝟑. 𝟒𝟑𝟒𝟗° 𝜴 𝜽 = −𝟔𝟑. 𝟒𝟑𝟒𝟗° 𝑰𝑻 = 𝟎. 𝟔𝟕𝟎𝟖∠𝟔𝟑. 𝟒𝟑𝟒𝟗 𝑨
𝐈𝑹 = 𝟎. 𝟑 𝑨 𝑰𝑳 = 𝟐. 𝟒∠ − 𝟗𝟎 𝑨 𝑰𝑪 = 𝟑∠𝟗𝟎 𝑨
 PRACTICE PROBLEM 1
(a) For the RLC parallel circuit, find Z, IT, I1 ,I2 ,VR1, VR2, VL, and VC.

Answer: 𝑰𝑻 = 𝟏𝟏. 𝟒𝟐𝟑𝟕∠𝟏𝟑. 𝟔𝟕𝟏𝟑° 𝑨 𝑰𝟏 = 𝟔∠ − 𝟓𝟑. 𝟏𝟑𝟎𝟏° 𝑨 𝑰𝟐 = 𝟏𝟎. 𝟔𝟎𝟔𝟔∠𝟒𝟓° 𝑨

𝒁 = 𝟓. 𝟐𝟓𝟐𝟑∠ − 𝟏𝟑. 𝟔𝟕𝟏𝟑° 𝜴 𝑽𝑹𝟏 = 𝟑𝟔∠ − 𝟓𝟑. 𝟏𝟑𝟎𝟏° 𝑽 𝑽𝑹𝟐 = 𝟒𝟐. 𝟒𝟐𝟔𝟒∠𝟒𝟓° 𝑽
𝑽𝑳 = 𝟒𝟖∠𝟑𝟔. 𝟖𝟔𝟗𝟗° 𝑽 𝑽𝑪 = 𝟒𝟐. 𝟒𝟐𝟔𝟒∠ − 𝟒𝟓° 𝑽
 PRACTICE PROBLEM 2
(a) For the RLC series circuit, find Z, IT, VR, VL, and VC.

Answer: 𝑰𝑻 = 𝟎. 𝟗𝟗𝟗𝟗∠𝟑𝟔. 𝟖𝟕𝟔𝟕° 𝑨 𝒁 = 𝟑𝟎. 𝟎𝟎𝟐𝟕∠ − 𝟑𝟔. 𝟖𝟕𝟔𝟕° 𝜴

𝑽𝑳 = 𝟑𝟐. 𝟎𝟒𝟏𝟒∠𝟏𝟐𝟔. 𝟖𝟕𝟔𝟕° 𝑽 𝑽𝑪 = 𝟓𝟎. 𝟎𝟒𝟒𝟐∠ − 𝟓𝟑. 𝟏𝟐𝟑𝟑° 𝑽
𝑽𝑹 = 𝟐𝟑. 𝟗𝟗𝟕𝟗∠𝟑𝟔. 𝟖𝟕𝟔𝟕° 𝑽