Review of AC Circuit Analysis

Part I : sinusoidal circuit analysis

Outlines
• Basic AC circuits
• Phasors
• Impedance and admittance
• Circuit analysis
• Power calculations
Basic AC circuits
• A sinusoidal excitation will
produce a sinusoidal response
• When comparing two AC signals
they need to have the same
frequency
• If φ=0 we say the two are said to
be in phase.

v2 leads v1 by φ
Phasor relationship in R, L & C
Impedance and Admittance
• Impedance of a circuit is the
ratio between the phasor
voltage V and phasor current I.
• Notice that as frequency
changes the impedance of C & L
changes.
• Impedance is a complex quantity

• Admittance is reciprocal of
impedance
Example 1
Find 𝑣 𝑡 & 𝑖 𝑡
Sol:
From time domain to frequency domain

The impedance
So the current :

Time
domain
Example 2
In the given circuit, find 𝑉𝑥
• Transform the voltage source
into a current source

• Now combining the 5 Ω and

(3+j4)Ω in parallel
Example 2
• Converting the current source to
a voltage source

• Using voltage division

Thevenin’s Theorem

Thevenin equivalent Norton equivalent

Example 3
Find the Thevenin equivalent as
seen from a-b terminals
Solution :
First find the Vth using KCL

Apply KVL on the loop at right-side :

so ,
Or
Example 3
• Now let us find Thevenin
equivalent impedance :
1. First we remove the
independent source(s) At the node apply KCL
2. Since we have a dependent
source, we need to add a dummy
current source (or voltage source) KVL on the outer loop
with arbitrary value
The Thevenin impedance is
Instantaneous and Average Power
• The instantaneous power (in
watts) is the power at any
instant of time

• The average power, in watts, is

the average of the
instantaneous power over one
period (also know as active
power & real power)
 Example 4
Solution: • Find the average power
Find the current I delivered by the voltage source

The average power supplied by

the voltage source is
Example 4
• Note that the consumed power by the resistor is
1 1
• 𝑃𝑅 = ∗ 𝐼2 ∗ 𝑅 = ∗ 1.1182 ∗ 4 = 2.5 𝑊
2 2
Which equals the power supplied from the source as capacitor (and
inductors ) consumes no average power.
When calculating power pay attention to the passive sign convention
Maximum Average Power Transfer
• For maximum average power
transfer, the load impedance ZL
must be equal to the complex
conjugate of the Thevenin
impedance ZTh
• maximum average power
transfer theorem for the
sinusoidal steady state is:

Finding the maximum average power transfer: (a)

circuit with a load, (b) the Thevenin equivalent
Average Power in Terms of RMS
• The average power can be written in terms of the rms values.

• the average power absorbed by a resistor R

 Example 5
• Determine the rms value of the current
waveform in Figure. If the current is
passed through a resistor, find the
average power absorbed by the resistor:
• Sol.
Apparent Power and Power Factor
• The apparent power (in VA) is
the product of the rms values of
voltage and current.
• The power factor is the cosine of
the phase difference between
voltage and current. It is also the
cosine of the angle of the load
impedance
Complex Power
• the complex power S absorbed by the ac load is
the product of the voltage and the complex
conjugate of the current

• assuming the passive sign convention. In terms

of the rms values
Summary of Complex Power
Power Triangle

• for resistive loads (unity pf).

• for capacitive loads (leading pf).
• for inductive loads (lagging pf).
Example 6
• The voltage across a load is v(t) =60 cos(ωt- 10) V and the current
through the element in the direction of the voltage drop is i(t) = 1.5
cos(ω t+50) A.
Find:
• (a) the complex and apparent powers,
• (b) the real and reactive powers, and
• (c) the power factor and the load impedance
Example 6 : solution
A. For the rms values of the voltage and current, we write

• Complex power

• Apparent power is 45 VA
B. Write complex power in rectangular form (P+jQ)
Example 6 : solution
C. Power factor

Leading because the sign of Q was negative , alternatively we can look

at the impedance

In this case the impedance is capacitive  leading PF.