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AC Circuit Analysis Paper solve
AC Circuit Analysis Paper solve
Amplitude
The first characteristic of AC power is its "amplitude". Amplitude is the maximum value of current or voltage.
It is represented by either of the two peaks of the since wave. This voltage level is also referred to as the peak
voltage, and can be either positive or negative. Positive and negative refer only to the direction of current flow.
A negative number does not mean that the voltage or current flow are less than zero, only that the current flows
in the opposite direction.
Cycles
A cycle is one complete repetition of the sine wave pattern. It is produced by one complete revolution (360
degrees) of the AC generator.
Since the sine wave begins at zero, goes positive through the positive peak, then negative through zero and
reaches the negative peak, and to zero, we say a full cycle has been completed.
Peak to Peak
There are two values of voltage that we must be familiar with. The first is "peak-to-peak" voltage. This is the voltage measured between
the maximum positive and negative amplitudes on the sine wave. It is twice the amplitude. This value is the maximum voltage available,
but is not all useable in practical applications
RMS
The second value of voltage is the actual useful voltage that is available and is called RMS. This stands
for Root Mean Square and it is the standard way of measuring and reporting alternating current and
voltage. It is not the peak; it is the average.
The RMS is found by dividing the peak amplitude by the square root of 2 (approximately 1.414). This
yields the actual, useable voltage. It is typically represented by a dotted line drawn across each peak near
the 70 percent point.
LEADING AND LAGGING
Things start to get complicated when we need to relate two or more AC voltages or currents that are out of step with each other. By
“out of step,” I mean that the two waveforms are not synchronized: that their peaks and zero points do not match up at the same points
in time. The graph in figure below illustrates an example of this.
The two waves shown above (A versus B) are of the same amplitude and
frequency, but they are out of step with each other. In technical terms, this
is called a phase shift. Earlier we saw how we could plot a “sine wave”
by calculating the trigonometric sine function for angles ranging from 0
to 360 degrees, a full circle.
The starting point of a sine wave was zero amplitude at zero degrees,
progressing to full positive amplitude at 90 degrees, zero at 180 degrees,
full negative at 270 degrees, and back to the starting point of zero at 360
degrees. We can use this angle scale along the horizontal axis of our
waveform plot to express how far out of step one wave is with another:
Figure below
The shift between these two waveforms is about 45 degrees, the “A”
wave being ahead of the “B” wave. A sampling of different phase shifts
is given in the following graphs to better illustrate this concept: Figure
below
Phase shift is where two or more waveforms are out of step with each other.
The amount of phase shift between two waves can be expressed in terms of degrees, as defined by the degree units on the
horizontal axis of the waveform graph used in plotting the trigonometric sine function.
A leading waveform is defined as one waveform that is ahead of another in its evolution. A lagging waveform is one that is
behind another. Example: