An Alternating Current Circuit (AC Circuit) consists of a combination of passive

electrical elements, namely resistors, inductors or capacitors, connected to an AC

generator or AC source, which provides a voltage oscillating in a sine wave pattern
(Alternating Current). An AC waveform is constantly changing its polarity every half
cycle alternating between a positive maximum value and a negative maximum value
respectively with regards to time or changing the direction of the current as it switches
direction back and forth, with a common example of this being the domestic mains
voltage supply used in homes. Some AC circuits only contain resistors and capacitors
(RC Circuit), resistors and inductors (RL Circuit), or a combination of resistors, inductors
and capacitors (RLC Circuit). In an AC circuit which only involves resistors, the current
and voltage are said to be in phase with each other as they vary identically with time.
That is, the maximum voltage is reached at the same instant the maximum current is
reached and also both reach zero or their minimum values at the same time. The average
value over one cycle is zero. This is because the current is maintained in one direction
(the positive direction) for the same amount of time and at the same magnitude as it is in
the opposite direction (the negative direction). However, the currents direction has no
effect on the resistors behavior in the circuit as the collisions between the atoms of the
resistor and the electrons result to the generation of heat regardless of current direction.
In an AC circuit consisting purely of capacitors, there is a /2 (90) phase difference
between the current and voltage, with the current reaching its peak 90 (1/4 cycle) before
the voltage reaches its peak. That is, the current leads the voltage by 90 in a purely
capacitive circuit and the voltage across a capacitor always lags the current by 90. The
impeding effect of the capacitor on the current in an AC circuit is expressed through the
capacitive reactance (XC). An increasing frequency or capacitance decreases the
capacitive reactance. In an AC circuit consisting purely of inductors, the current lags the
voltage by 90, so it reaches its peak 1/4 cycle after the voltage peaks. That is, when a
sinusoidal voltage is applied across an inductor, the voltage reaches its maximum value
one-quarter of an oscillation period before the current reaches its maximum value. Thus,
the voltage across an inductor always leads the current by 90.
In RC circuits, a resistor, capacitor and an AC source are connected in series with
each other. As observed in the experiment, the direction of the current reverses in every
half-cycle. This is due to the sinusoidal nature of the applied voltage. Also, it was
observed that the charges on the capacitor plates reverse as the current reverses. This is
actually consequential. If the voltage across the resistor is at its maximum (highest
voltage in the positive direction) or minimum (highest voltage in the negative direction),
the voltage across the capacitor is zero and vice versa. Based on the data gathered, given
a frequency of 1 Hz, the voltage across the resistor as measured by a voltmeter is 6.73 V,
the voltage across the capacitor is 7.22 V, and the voltage across both components is 9.98
V, which is also the maximum voltage measured with an amplitude of 10 units. The sum

of the square of the maximum voltages across the resistor and capacitor (VR2+ VC2) has a
value of 97.42 V2 while the square of the voltage across both elements (VRC2) is equal to
99.6 V2 resulting to a percent difference of 2.24% between the said values. The total
current in the circuit I is derived through the formula V = IZ. In this formula, the
impedance Z is derived through the square root of the sum of the squares of the total
resistance and capacitive reactance (XC = 1/wC, where w = 2pf ) in the circuit. The phase
angle is the angle between the voltage and current in the circuit. This is stated as the
voltage relative to the current, so the phase angle is positive if the voltage is ahead of the
current and negative if the voltage lags the current. In this case, the capacitor wants the
voltage to lag behind the current by 90o while the resistor wants both the voltage and the
current to be in phase, thus the vectors are perpendicular.
In an RL circuit, the current and voltage both change directions in every half
cycle. If the voltage across the resistor is at its maximum or minimum (highest voltage is
the negative direction), the voltage across the inductor is zero and vice versa. Based on
the data gathered, given a frequency of 1 Hz, the voltage across the resistor as measured
by a voltmeter is 5.64 V, the voltage across the inductor is 7.62 V, and the voltage across
both components is 9.98 V, which is also the maximum voltage measured with an
amplitude of 10 units. The sum of the square of the maximum voltages across the resistor
and inductor (VR2+ VL2) has a value of 89.87 V2 while the square of the voltage across
both elements (VRC2) is equal to 99.6 V2 resulting to a percent difference of 10.33%
between the said values. Resistors want the voltage and current to be in phase, while
inductors want the voltage to lead the current by 90o. Again the two vectors are
perpendicular, with the effective resistance of the inductor in the opposite direction from
the way the effective resistance of the capacitor went. The total current in the circuit I is
also derived through the formula V = IZ. In this formula, the impedance Z is derived
through the square root of the sum of the squares of the total resistance and inductive
reactance (XL = wL, where w = 2pf ) in the circuit.
In an RLC circuit, once the voltage in the inductor is at a maximum (highest
level), the voltage in the capacitor is at its minimum and vice versa, while the voltage
across the resistor is zero. Whenever the voltage across the resistor is zero, the voltage
across either the capacitor or the inductor is at its highest level or at the lowest level. If
the instantaneous voltage is at its maximum or minimum, both the voltage drops across
the capacitor and inductor are zero. In RLC circuit, the impedance Z in the circuit refers
to the equivalent resistance of the components of the RLC Circuit that opposes the flow
of an AC. Impedance, given by the formula (insert formula here) is not purely resistive as
it also include both the capacitive and inductive reactance Based on the data gathered,
given a frequency of 0.1 Hz, a resistance of 10 , an inductance of 10 H, a capacitance of
0.1 F, and an E0 value of 10 V, the maximum voltage across the entire RLC circuit as

measured by a voltmeter is 9.99 V, the maximum current in the circuit I0 is 0.72 A, and
the voltage when the current in the circuit is zero is 6.98 V. The experimental value of the
impedance is 13.875 while the theoretical value is 10 resulting to a percent
difference of 38.75%. The experimental and theoretical phase angles both have a value of
0o thus there is no percent difference between the values.