Inductors in AC

Inductors in AC

 In an AC circuit current is constantly changing so

inductors play an important role
 Current must be changing in order to create the
magnetic field and induce a changing voltage

 di 
vind  L 
 dt 
 Phase Relationship of Inductors in
an AC Circuit
 In a circuit consisting of an inductor and power
source, there is a 90° phase difference between
the voltage and the current in the inductor
 For an inductor the current lags the voltage by
90°, so it reaches its peak ¼ cycle after the
voltage peaks
Phase Relationship of Inductors in
an AC Circuit
 Phase Relationship of Inductors in
an AC Circuit
 In an Inductor induced voltage leads current by
90o or current lags induced voltage by 90o

V
L

IL
 INDUCTIVE REACTANCE

 Inductive Reactance XL is the opposition to

current in an inductor
V= I XL
 XL has the unit of ohm
XLL= 2pfL
XLL= ωL
 Factors Affecting Reactance (XL )

Increasing the size of the inductor (L) will

induce a higher opposing voltage and therefore
increase XL
XL = L
Increasing frequency increases induced current
(increasing reactance). This is because more
frequent creation and collapse of magnetic field
produces greater opposing current
XL = f
Direct proportionality to f and L
 Problems

 Find the inductor voltage of an AC circuit with a

reactance of 2.4ohm and a current of 0.18A.
 An inductor has a voltage of 8.2V AC and a
reactance of 54ohm. Calculate the current of the
circuit.
 Calculate the reactance of a circuit with an
inductor voltage of 16V and a current of 1.2A
 Problems
 A 0.5H inductor is connected to a 6V 50Hz AC
supply. a) Calculate the reactance of the
inductor. b) The RMS current in the circuit.
 What size of inductor is needed to give
reactance of 25ohm in a 18V 60Hz circuit?
 Transformers
 A transformer consists of two coils of wire
wound
around a core of iron
 The primary winding is connected to a source of
ac power
 The secondary winding is connected to the load
 The core is used to increase the magnetic flux
and to provide a medium for the flux to pass from
one coil to the other
Transformers
 Transformers
 A transformer can step up or step down the
voltage level from the ac source

Primary Secondary Load

Step-up (VLOAD > VSOURCE)

Primary Secondary Load

Step-down (VLOAD < VSOURCE)

 Transformers

 Turns Ratio is the ratio of the number of turns

in the primary to the number of turns in the
secondary winding
 Turns ratio equals NP/NS.
where NP equals the number of turns in the
primary and NS equals the number of turns in
the secondary
 Transformers
 The voltage ratio is the same as the turns ratio:
VP / VS = NP / NS
 VP = primary voltage, VS = secondary voltage
 NP = number of turns of wire in the primary
 NS = number of turns of wire in the secondary
 When transformer efficiency is 100%, the power at
the primary equals the power at the secondary
 Voltage Ratio

VL = 3 x 120
1:3 = 360 V
Step-up (1:3)

120 V Primary Secondary Load 360 V

Step-down (3:1) VL = 1/3 x 120

3:1 = 40 V

120 V Primary Secondary Load 40 V

 Current Ratio
 Current Ratio is the inverse of the voltage
ratio. (That is voltage step-up in the
secondary means current step-down, and
vice versa.)
 The secondary does not generate power but
takes it from the primary.
 The current step-up or step-down is terms of
the secondary current IS, which is determined
by the load resistance across the secondary
voltage.
 Current Ratio

IL = 1/3 x 0.3
1:3 = 0.1 A

120 V Primary Secondary Load 360 V

0.3 A 0.1 A

IS/IP = VP/VS IL = 3 x 0.1

3:1 = 0.3 A

120 V Primary Secondary Load 40 V

0.3 A
0.1 A
 Transformers
 Transformer efficiency is the ratio of power out
to power in.
 Stated as a formula
% Efficiency = Pout/Pin x 100
 Assuming zero losses in the transformer, power
out equals power in and the efficiency is 100%
 Actual power transformers have an efficiency of
approximately 80 to 90%