Sinusoidal Function

Sine and Cosine functions are

periodic functions, i.e., the
waveform repeats in certain interval, called the period, T .
Note that sin(t) is the same as
cos(t 90 ).

A sinusoidal function is made of

a linear combination of Cosine
and Sine functions: A cos(t) +
B sin(t) (where A and B are
constants). In general, all sinusoidal functions can be written
as a phase-shifted Sin or Cos
function:
A cos(t) B sin(t) = M cos(t + )


M = A2 + B 2
A = M cos()
 
or
B
1

B = M sin()
= tan
A

As is
Xm :
T:
:

seen, sinusoidal functions are dened by 3 parameters:

Amplitude
Period (s)
Phase (radians or degrees)

The sinusoidal form includes which is related to T , as is shown in the graph, by T = 2.

Denoting the number of periods in one second as f , we have:
1
Frequency, Unit: Hz (or 1/s)
T
2
= 2f Angular Frequency, Unit: rad/s
=
T
f=

MAE140 Notes, Winter 2001

99

AC circuits
The response of a time-dependent circuit is in the form of X = Xn + Xf where X is a circuit
state variable. Here, Xn is the natural response of the circuit (set by the circuit elements
themselves) and Xf is the forced response set by sources. The natural response of the circuit
typically decays away and the circuit response becomes Xf after a long time (5 time constant
of the circuit). Initial conditions are used to nd the constant of integration in the natural
response. Forced response does not depend on the initial condition.
Obviously, it is much easier to nd the forced response of the circuit than the complete
response. This is very fortunate as we are also mostly interested in the forced response of
the circuit to time-dependent sources and not the natural response. It is still very dicult to
nd the forced response of a circuit to a general time dependent source. We note, however,
that most of electrical and electronic circuits use time-dependent sources which are periodic.
In addition, all periodic functions can be written as a sum of sinusoidal function (Fourier
Series Decomposition). Therefore, we are interested in nding the response of the circuit to
a sum of sinusoidal sources.
For linear circuits, the principle of superposition indicates that if we know the response of the
circuit to individual sources, we can construct the response to sum of the sources. Therefore,
we are greatly interested to nd the forced response of linear circuit to sinusoidal sources.
The trial function for the forced response to a sinusoidal source is a sinusoidal function.
Therefore, all of the state variables in the circuit will have sinusoidal waveforms.
AC Circuits: Circuits with sinusoidal sources in steady-state (i.e., forced response only).
All v and i also have sinusoidal waveforms.
The fact that all of the state variables in the circuit have sinusoidal waveforms can be
exploited to simplify solution to AC circuits. The two examples below show the logical
process that leads to our simplied procedure using phasors
Solution of AC steady-state circuit in time domain
Example: Find AC steady state response of v.
v
= 2v
R
dv
dv
= 0.5
ic = C
dt
dt
diL
diL
= 0.0825
v=L
dt
dt
4 cos(4t) iR iL iC = 0

4 Cos (4t)

iR

iC

iR =

KCL:

4 cos(4t) 2v iL 0.5
MAE140 Notes, Winter 2001

0.5

82.5mH

0.5F

+
v

dv
=0
dt
100

Dierentiating KCL with respect to time and substituting for diL /dt:
16 sin(4t) 2

dv
diL
d2 v

0.5 2 = 0
dt
dt
dt

dv
d2 v
+ 32v = 32 sin(4t)
+
4
dt2
dt
Since we are only interested in AC steady-state response, we only consider the forced response
of the dierential equation. From the Forced Response Table of page 70, we nd the forced
response should be in the form v(t) = A cos(4t) + B sin(4t) and A and B are found by
substituting v in the dierential equation:
v = A cos(4t) + B sin(4t)
dv
= 4A sin(4t) + 4B cos(4t)
dt
d2 v
= 16A cos(4t) 16B sin(4t)
dt2
Substituting in the dierential equation and after several lines of algebra we get:
(16A + 16B) cos(4t) + (16A + 16B) sin(4t) = 32 sin(4t)
Since this identity should hold for all t, the coecients of functions of time on both side
should be identical:
16A + 16B = 0
16A + 16B = 32
Solving the two equations in two unknowns, we nd A = 1 and B = 1. Thus,
v = cos(4t) sin(4t) =

2 cos(4t + 45 )

Note that we did not need any initial conditions to nd the AC steady-state response as
the initial conditions set the starting point for the transient behavior and not steady-state
response.
Above example shows major simplication in nding response of the circuit. Complete
solution of the circuit (including natural response) requires several pages of algebra. Still,
we need to nd and solve a dierential equation. We also have to keep track of two sets of
MAE140 Notes, Winter 2001

101

functions sin(t) and cos(t). If instead of sinusoidal functions, we were using exponential
function, derivatives would have been easier, (d/dt)(est ) = sest , and est would have canceled
out from both side (similar to the case of natural solution). This would simplify the algebra
signicantly. Fortunately, sinusoidal functions are related to exponential functions through
the Eulers formula:
vs ej(t+s ) = vs cos(t + s ) + jvs sin(t + s )
and linear nature of the circuits allows a new approach.
Transformation to Complex Sources and Response
Consider a linear circuit driven by one source
vs cos(t + s ). Let the voltage across an element of interest to be v1 cos(t + 1 ). In the
same circuit, if we replace the source strength
with vs sin(t+s ), the voltage across our element will be v1 sin(t + 1) as this is equivalent to shifting the time axis by /(2)
(t t /(2)).
Because the circuit is linear, principles of
superposition and proportionality tells that
if the source is replaced with a source
vs cos(t + s ) + vs sin(t + s ), the response of the circuit will be v1 cos(t + 1 ) +
v1 sin(t + 1 ). We now move from real
circuit to mathematical circuits by setting
= j:
Source
vs cos(t + s )
vs sin(t + s )
vs cos(t + s ) + vs sin(t + s )
Let = j
vs cos(t + s ) + jvs sin(t + s )
Eulers Formula:
vs ej(t+s )
Note:

+
v1cos( t+ 1)

Rest of
Circuit

v sin( t+ s )
+ s

+
v1 sin( t+ 1)

vs cos( t+ s )

Rest of
Circuit

+
v1cos( t+ 1)

+v1 sin( t+ 1)

Rest of
Circuit

vs cos( t+ s )
vs sin( t+ s )

Response
v1 cos(t + 1 )
v1 sin(t + 1 )
v1 cos(t + 1 ) + v1 sin(t + 1 )
v1 cos(t + 1 ) + jv1 sin(t + 1 )
)
v1 ej(t+1

v1 cos(t + 1 ) = Re v1 ej(t+1 )

Therefore, we can use the following procedure to nd the response of AC steady-state circuits:
1) Replace the sources with their complex counterpart using Eulers formula
MAE140 Notes, Winter 2001

102

2) Solve the circuit and nd the complex response V1

3) Circuit response is Re{V1 }
Lets try the above procedure in the context of the above example:
Following the above procedure, we replace the source
with its complex counterpart 4ej4t . We also denote the 4 Cos (4t)
state variables with upper case to remember that they
are complex responses. Then, we have:
V
= 2V
R
dV
dV
= 0.5
IC = C
dt
dt
dIL
dIL
= 0.0825
V =L
dt
dt
j4t
4e IR IL IC = 0
dV
4ej4t 2V IL 0.5
=0
dt

iR

iL

0.5

82.5mH

IR

0.5

82.5mH

iC

0.5F

+
v

IR =

KCL:

j4t
4e

IC

0.5F

+
V

Dierentiating KCL with respect to time and substituting for dIL /dt:
dV
d2 V
+ 32V = j32ej4t
+4
2
dt
dt
The dierential equation is identical to before, only the RHS side is replaced with the complex
source. Trial function for the forced solution is:
V = Vm ej4t

dV
= j4Vm ej4t
dt


d2 V
= 16Vm ej4t
dt2

16Vm ej4t + 4 j4Vm ej4t + 32Vm ej4t = j32ej4t

Vm (16 + j16 + 32) = j32

j2(+1 j)
+j2 + 2
j2
=
=
= 1 + j = 2
1+j
(1 + j)(1 j)
2

V = Vm ej4t = 2ej45 ej4t

v = Re{V } = 2 cos(4t + 45 )

Vm =

45

2ej45

As can be seen the solution is simplied because we are only calculating Vm as opposed to A
and B in time-domain case. In addition, time dependence of all voltages and currents show
up as ejt , and ejt cancels out from both side of circuit dierential equation.
MAE140 Notes, Winter 2001

103

Phasors
In previous examples, we found that transformation of a circuit to complex domain simplies
the solution. All voltages and current will have the form:
V = Vejt

V = vm ej

The time dependence of circuit variables are captured in ejt and the amplitude (vm ) and
phase () of each state variable is captured in V. As such, V is called the phasor. Because
the time dependence ejt cancels out of the circuit equations, it is possible to write the circuit
equations directly in terms of phasors:
Suppose we write KVL for a loop in a circuit and arrive at:
v1 + v2 v3 + v4 = 0
In complex domain, the KVL will become:
V1 ejt + V2 ejt V3 ejt + V4 ejt = 0
V1 + V2 V3 + V4 = 0
The last equation includes only phasors and is identical to our original KVL equations.
Therefore, Phasors obey KVL. Identically we can show: Phasors obey KCL.
As all of our circuit analysis tools are build upon KVL, KCL, and i-v characteristics, we now
examine element Laws:
Resistor:
Capacitor:
Inductor:

Or in general:
Resistor:
Capacitor:
Inductor:

v = Ri Vejt = RIejt
V = RI


dv
d
1
Iejt = C
I
i=C
Vejt = jC Vejt
V=
dt
dt
jC
di
d
jt 
v=L
Vejt = L
Ie
= jL Iejt V = jL I
dt
dt

V = ZI

Z : Impedance (Unit: )

Z=R
1
jC
Z = jL

Z=

MAE140 Notes, Winter 2001

104

We found that phasors obey KCL and KVL and I-V characteristics reduce to a generalized
Ohms Law. As such, using phasors reduces AC circuits to a resistive circuit. All resistive
circuit methods (node-voltage and mesh-current methods, Thevenin Theorem, etc.) could
be used.
Use of phasor simplies analysis of AC circuit signicantly. Table below shows the steps
which are taken in this approach. Note that as transformation from time domain to frequency
domain (phasors) and back is straight forward and the formulas are given in the table.
Procedure for Solving AC Steady-State Circuit with Phasors
1) Time Domain:
2) Complex Domain:
3) Frequency
Domain:
4) Complex Domain:
5) Time Domain:

Real Sources
vs cos(t + s ) vs sin(t + s )
jvs ejs ejt
Complex Sources
vs ejs ejt
Phasor Sources
Vs = vs ejs
Vs = jvs ejs
Solve resistivecircuit
Phasor Response
V1 = v1 ej1 = v1  1
Complex Response
V1 ejt = v1 ej1 ejt
Real Response
v1 cos(t + 1 )

Power in AC circuits
Instantaneous power in AC circuits is given by
p = vi. As both v and i are sinusoidal functions,
p is also sinusoidal. The instantaneous power can
be divided into two components. One components which averages out to zero over each period.
This is called reactive power. The remain portion
(which averages to P ) is called the real power as
is shown in the gure.
Complex power, S, allows one to nd P and Q
using phasors:
1
1
S VI = Z|I|2 = P + jQ
2
2
For example:
Resistor:
Capacitor:
Inductor:

1
S = R|I|2
2
1 j 2
|I|
S=
2 C
1
S = jL|I|2
2

1
P = R|I|2,
2

MAE140 Notes, Winter 2001

Q=0
|I|2
C

P =0

Q=

P =0

Q = + L|I|2
105

Note that P = 0 for capacitor and inductor as these elements do not dissipate power. They
absorb power in portion of cycle and supply power in remaining of the cycle. Q = 0 for a
resistive as this element absorbs power all the time.
Parallel and Series Impedances:
Since impedances are similar to resistors, we expect that series and parallel rules for resistors
apply also to impedances:
Series:
Parallel:

Zeq = Z1 + Z2 + Z3 + ...
1
1
1
1
=
+
+
+ ...
Zeq
Z1 Z2 Z3

An impedance is a complex number (specially when parallel and series reduction is used).
Z = R() + jX()
R() :

AC resistance

X() :

Reactance

Resistor:

R() = R

X() = 0

Capacitor:

R() = 0

X() =

Inductor:

R() = 0

1
C
X() = L

Example: Find Zeq

As the frequency is not given, we use parameter . First step is to transform the
circuit to frequency domains:
1F

1H

1
1
=
jC
j
jL = j

1
eq

1H

1F

1
j

1
Z2 = 1 + j
Z1 = 1 +
j
1
j
1
1
1
1
1
=
+
=1
=
+
=
1 +
Z3
Z1 Z2
1 + j
1 + j
j + 1 1 + j
Zeq = Z3 + 1 = 1 + 1 = 2

MAE140 Notes, Winter 2001

106