LC circuits: Sinusoidal Voltages and

Currents
Aims:
To appreciate:
Similarities between oscillation in LC circuit and
mechanical pendulum.
Role of energy loss mechanisms in damping.
Why we study sinusoidal signals
RMS Current and Voltage

To be able:
To analyse some basic circuits.
Lecture 9
Lecture 10 1

L and C connected together

The capacitor is charged up to a voltage V
What happens when the switch is closed?

C L
1. C discharges through L
2. Current in L decays and
charges C with the reverse
e.m.f. (in the reverse polarity)
3. C discharges through L

and so on .

Lecture 9
Lecture 10 2

1
LC oscillation Pendulum
Energy Energy
1 C L
CV 2 +V mgh
2 h

1 2 C L 1 2
LI +I mv
2 2
v

1 -V
C L
mgh
CV 2
2 h

1 2 C L 1 2
LI -I mv
2 2
Lecture 9
Lecture 10 v 3

Form of oscillation
dI
The voltage across the inductor is V = L
dt
dV
but for the capacitor, I =C
dt
so

This is the differential equation describing simple harmonic motion

The solution is The details depend on the initial

conditions.

is the ANGULAR frequency (radians per second)

The true frequency

1
(oscillations per second or HERTZ) is f = = Hz
2 2 LC
Lecture 9
Lecture 10 4

2
Form of oscillation
dI
The voltage across the inductor is V = L
dt
dV
but for the capacitor, I =C
dt
d 2I
so I = LC 2
dt
This is the differential equation describing simple harmonic motion

The solution is I = I 0 sin t The details depend on the initial

conditions.
V = V0 cos t
1
is the ANGULAR frequency (radians per second) = rad s-1
LC
The true frequency
1
(oscillations per second or HERTZ) is f = = Hz
2 2 LC
Lecture 9
Lecture 10 5

Relationship between peak

current and voltage
Conservation of energy:

High capacitance high current

High inductance high voltage

Lecture 9
Lecture 10 6

3
Relationship between peak
current and voltage
1 1
Conservation of energy: CV02 = LI 02
2 2
I0 C
=
V0 L

High capacitance high current

High inductance high voltage

Lecture 9
Lecture 10 7

Sinusoidal oscillations
Voltage

Current phase difference

VP
IP
time

Period Frequency = 1/

Sine waves are fundamental to electronic systems

The natural form of oscillations in LC circuits (and sound and radio waves)
The form of voltages generated by rotating dynamos
Any complex waveform can be built up from superpositions of fundamental
sinusoidal waves (Fourier Series)

Lecture 9
Lecture 10 8

4
Damping
With ideal components, the oscillation will R
continue indefinitely (no energy loss).
C L
With real components, there is resistance and
power (I2R) is dissipated on each cycle.

dI Q
L + iR + = 0 (KVL)
dt C
d 2I dI
LC 2 + RC + I = 0
dt dt

This differential equation has a solution like

R
I = I 0 exp( t ) sin(t + ) where is the damping coefficient =
2L
1 R2
and = 2 Note a reduction
Damping term LC 4 L
in the frequency
Lecture 9
Lecture 10 9

Damped oscillations
Time constant of
decay is 1 2L
= = The number of oscillations in
R one time constant of the
(-t
) decay is called the quality
ex p factor, or Q of the circuit:

1
Q=
2

When R is small, this is

given approximately by

1 L
Q=
R C
High Q means long ringing time and high voltage (high L)
Lecture 9
Lecture 10 10

5
Fourier series The first few HARMONICS
(multiples of the fundamental frequency)
can be used to reconstruct any regular
f 3f waveform.
5f
The accuracy of the reconstruction
improves as you increase the number
of harmonics.

time

This is important because it means

that we can predict the behaviour of
an electronic circuit with any
Time domain complex waveform by studying the
effect on pure sine waves of
different frequencies

Lecture 9
Lecture 10 11

Jean Baptiste Joseph Fourier

1768 1830

The son of a tailor in Burgundy he

developed much of the mathematical basis
of heat transfer, which led to the Fourier
expansion. This was heavily criticised by
Laplace and Lagrange.

His life was much affected by turbulent

French politics. He narrowly escaped the
guillotine during the Terror, and under
Napoleon he was a senior administrator in
Egypt (where he wrote his Description of
Egypt) and Prefect of Grenoble.

Lecture 9
Lecture 10 12

6
 Frequency ranges
Frequency Period Applications a.k.a.

0 Hz Constant voltages, battery circuits DC

10 100 Hz 100 ms Power generation / transmission; mains LF

50 / 60 Hz 10 ms sockets; TV frame rate
50 Hz - 20 20 ms Audible frequencies (speech, music), RS- audio
kHz 50 s 232, phone modem, TV line rate AF
60 kHz 15 s AM SW- FM radio; computer data bus; Radio
100 MHz 10 ns Ethernet; CD sampling rate RF, VHF
100 MHz 10 ns Mobile phones, TV channels, satellite links, UHF
100 GHz 10 ps radar, microwave ovens, PC clocks Microwave

> 100 GHz < 10 ps ??? medical imaging? communication? Terahertz

high speed super highways?

remember: time constants must be less than this

Lecture 9
Lecture 10 14

Heinrich Rudolf Hertz

1857 1894
Born in Hamburg and became Professor
of Physics in Bonn (via Berlin and
Karlsruhe).

In 1885 he was the first person to

demonstrate experimentally the
electromagnetic waves that had been
predicted theoretically by Maxwell in the
previous year.
(Marconi did not begin his work on radio
until 1894).

Lecture 9
Lecture 10 15

7
Some general properties of sine waves
Average voltage over one cycle is ZERO
Since power depends on V2 we get an
VP
effective value by taking the square time

root of the average of the SQUARE of

the voltage or current over one cycle:
V = VP sin( t + )
T
1
V2 =
T
0
VP2 sin 2 ( t + ) dt

with T (the period)= 2

VP
This works out to VRMS = = 0.707VP
2
This is the RMS - root-mean-square value of the voltage
Lecture 9
Lecture 10 16

RMS values and power

For resistors (current and voltage in phase), RMS values of
voltage or current can be used to calculate power dissipation:
2
VRMS
P= = I RMS
2
R
R
Example: Mains voltage has a peak voltage of 339.4 V
so: RMS voltage is 0.707 x 339.4 = 240 V
If we connect this to a heater with a resistance of 57.6
the total power disputed is P=240 x 240/57.6 = 1000 W = 1kW

We cant use this when the current and voltage are not in phase.

Lecture 9
Lecture 10 17