Chapter 11

AC Resonance
The purpose of this lab is to study the resonant behavior of RLC circuits. We will be
studying how changes in the resistance, capacitance, and inductance alter the resonant
frequency and current response of an RLC circuit.

11.1 Theory

11.1.1 Resonance

All of you have probably heard of opera singers breaking glasses by singing at a specific
frequency. The sound waves produced by an opera singer are simply periodic
vibrations in air molecules, and when these waves strike a glass, they cause the air
molecules to bounce of the surface of the glass at regular intervals. These periodic
collisions with its surface set up vibrations in the glass. Now the structure of the glass
causes it to prefer to vibrate at certain frequencies; if you cause it to vibrate at a special
frequency, called the resonant frequency, the vibrations will be huge compared to all
other frequencies. So when the singer hits the resonant frequency of the glass, the air
molecules will cause huge vibrations in the glass that will (theoretically) cause it to
shatter.

Many systems in many different areas of physics have resonant frequencies. In

electronics, one such system is the RLC circuit; if you power the circuit with an AC
voltage that oscillates at the resonant frequency of the circuit, you will get a much larger
current through the circuit than if the potential oscillated at any other frequency. In the
following sections, we will study this property of RLC circuits in depth.

11.1.2 The RLC Circuit

An RLC circuit is a circuit containing an inductor, a capacitor, and an inductor in series

with a power supply of some sort, as shown in Figure 11.1.
 Figure 11.1: The RLC circuit, with an AC power supply

When we analyze the RLC circuit, we will assume that the power supply is an AC
source whose supplied voltage produces a current I = I0 sin(ωt), where I0 is the peak
amplitude of the current and ω is the angular frequency of the current, a measure of
how rapidly it changes as a function of time. We start by assuming the current has a
particular form because the current must be constant throughout the RLC circuit
(remember Kirchhoff’s junction rule!). We don’t yet know what voltage as a function of
time the power supply must provide in order to push this current through the circuit;
one of the goals of our analysis will be to figure out this potential.

11.1.3 Components and AC current

Because the current is changing as a function of time, the behavior of each of the
components will be rather complex - the resistor will be dissipating energy through
Joule heating at a variable rate, the capacitor will be charging and discharging, and the
inductor will be storing and discharging energy from its magnetic field as the current
changes. This will lead to even more complex behavior in the circuit as a whole.
Somehow, we must sort out all of the various things happening in the circuit in order to
discover general principles of how the RLC circuit works. Let’s begin by studying how
each of the components behaves as the current across them changes with time.

Resistance in the RLC circuit

We know, from Ohm’s Law, that the change in potential V across the resistor in the
circuit is equal to V = IR, where R is the resistance and I is the current through the
resistor. By putting the current through the circuit into this formula, we get

VR(t) = I0 R sin(ωt)
This function VR is the potential across the resistor as a function of time. Next we’ll
perform the same sort of analysis to find the potential across the capacitor.

Capacitance in the RLC circuit

We can determine the change in potential across the capacitor using the capacitor
equation:
Q = CV

This is a function of the charge on the capacitor plates, but we only know the current
through the circuit. Fortunately, there is a relationship between the charge on the
capacitor and the current. The rate at which the capacitor charge changes is equal to the
current in the circuit, since the current is what moves the charge onto the capacitor:

So if we integrate both sides of this expression, we’ll find the current:

∫ ∫

Note that I have assumed that there is no charge on the capacitor at time t = 0. Now, if
we put the current in the circuit into this integral, we get

For reasons that will become apparent later, we’ll convert this cosine into a sine
function using the following trigonometric identity:

−cos(ωt) = sin(ωt − 90°)

This means that the charge on the capacitor is

 ( )

If we put this expression into the equation for the potential across the capacitor, we get

( ) ( )

Figure 11.2: A graph of sin(t) and sin(t − 90°)

This function tells us the potential across the capacitor as a function of time. It tells us
that the capacitor is charging and discharging continuously as a function of time. It also
tells us that the capacitor potential is not in phase with the current in the circuit. If you
compare the graphs of sin(t) and sin(t − 90°) in Figure 11.2, you can see how the factor of
90°, also called the phase angle, causes sin(t − 90°) to shift 90° out of phase with sin(t).
For this reason, we say that the potential across the capacitor lags the current by 90°.
Let’s finish our analysis of the components of the RLC circuit by studying the behavior
of the inductor.

Inductance in the RLC circuit

The inductor will resist the change in current through the RLC circuit by producing a
back emf. The inductive coil is a solenoid, so when you put current through it, the wire
will produce a magnetic field through the interior of the solenoid (verify this using the
right hand rule!). Because the magnetic field produced by the current travels through
the closed surface of the solenoid, the current in the wire produces magnetic flux. The
relationship between current through the inductor and the flux through the inductor is
given by the inductance L:
Φ = LI

By Faraday’s Law, change in flux produces a voltage in the wire that opposes the
change. So we’ll find the change in flux by taking the derivative of the flux with respect
to time:
Note that L is just a constant in this formula. So, by Faraday’s Law, this equals the
potential across the inductor:

To get the voltage across the inductor as a function of time, we’ll put the current
through the circuit into this formula to get

( ) ( )

( )

Let’s change this cosine into a sine using the trigonometric formula

cos(ωt) = sin(ωt + 90°)

which turns our formula for the potential across the inductor into

( ) ( )

In the same way that the function sin(t − 90°) lags the function sin(t) by 90°, the function
sin(t + 90°) leads the function sin(t) by 90°. So the potential across the inductor leads the
current in the circuit by ninety degrees.

Potential across the power supply

Now that we know the potentials across each component as a function of time, we can
find the potential that the power supply must provide in order to give us the current
I = I0 sin(ωt) in the RLC circuit. Kirchhoff’s loop rule tells us that if we go all the way
around the RLC circuit, adding up each potential difference as we go, the sum of the
potential changes must add to zero. So we have

VL(t) + VR(t) + VC(t) + VP(t) = 0

VP(t) = −(VL(t) + VR(t) + VC(t))

where VP(t) is the voltage across the power supply. We’re not too concerned about the
sign of VP(t), since this just tells us which way to attach the positive and negative
terminals of the power supply to the circuit. So we’ll drop the minus sign and say that
the magnitude of the potential supplied by the power supply is

VP(t) = VL(t) + VR(t) + VC(t)

If we put in the functions for each potential that we found in the previous sections, we
get

( ) ( ) ( )

Unfortunately, this doesn’t tell us very much about the behavior of the circuit as a
whole. We’ll have to use a mathematical trick to simplify this expression before we can
discover the important principles behind RLC circuits.

11.1.4 Phasor Diagrams

Our expression for the potential supplied by the power supply now consists of three
functions that cannot be added together very easily. Because each of the functions are
sine waves, a good way to combine them is to replace the functions with vectors, which
are relatively easy to add. We’ll do this using something called a phasor diagram.

Let’s say we have the function f(t) = A sin(ωt). Let’s represent this function with a vector
whose magnitude is A. If we draw the vector starting at the origin at some angle θ with
respect to the x-axis, then its x and y components will be

x = A cos(θ)
y = A sin(θ)

Notice that if θ is set equal to ωt, then the y-component of the vector we drew on the
plane is equal to the function f(t), as shown in Figure 11.3. This means that we can
represent the function f(t) with this vector as long as we understand that the value of
the function is the y-component of the vector and that the angle the vector makes with
respect to the y-axis is θ = ωt. So at time t = 0, the angle θ = ω x 0 is zero, which means
the vector is along the x-axis. As time increases, the angle will increase, which causes
the vector to rotate counterclockwise in the plane. If we want to find the value of our
sine wave function at any particular time, we can freeze this rotating vector and take its
y-component.
 Figure 11.3: The function f(t) represented as a vector on the x-y plane

Now notice that the voltages across the resistor, capacitor, and inductor are all sine
wave functions. Furthermore, they all have the same frequency ω. This means that if we
put them all on a phasor diagram, they will rotate together at the same rate. So we can
draw the vectors representing each function on the diagram and add the vectors to find
the potential across the power supply.

The voltage functions across each component are

( ) ( )

( )

( ) ( )

The vectors representing these functions will have a magnitude equal to the coefficient
of each sine wave function, but the angle they make with respect to the x-axis will
depend on the time at which we look at the system. Let’s draw the vectors onto the
diagram at time t = 0. Whatever angle is in each sine function at that time is that vector’s
angle with respect to the x-axis. For the resistance function, the angle is

θR = ω x 0 = 0

so the vector should have a magnitude and be along the x-axis. The inductance
function has an angle

θL = ω x 0 + 90° = 90°
so it is represented by a vector that has a length and is along the y-axis (90° from
the x-axis). The capacitor voltage has an angle

θC = ω x 0 - 90° = -90°

so it can be represented by a vector that is in length and is along the –y axis. Once we
draw these vectors on the plane, our phasor diagram should look like Figure 11.4.

Figure 11.4: The phasor diagram containing VL(t), VC(t), and VR(t)
at time t = 0

Now let’s add these vectors together to get a vector representing the voltage across the
power supply. First, since the inductance and capacitance vectors are along the same
axis, we can just add their magnitudes together to get the net vector. The magnitude of
this vector V’ will be

( )

along the y-axis. Now notice that adding together the vector V’ and the vector VR will
produce a vector VP whose x-component is the length of VR and whose y-component is
the length of V’. So the length of VP is just

√
 √ ( )

√ ( )

We also need to know the orientation of this vector. The cosine of an angle is the
adjacent side divided by the hypotenuse, so the angle φ that the vector VP forms with
the x-axis at time t = 0 is

√ ( )

√ ( )

√ ( ) )
(

These steps are all diagrammed on Figure 11.5 below. Now all of these vectors will
rotate together in time, so their orientation will be preserved. In other words, this
picture will always look the same; it will simply rotate counterclockwise. This includes
the potential across the power supply, whose function must be

( ) √ ( ) ( )

where φ is the angle defined above (verify that this is correct based on the relationship
between functions and their vectors on phase diagrams). Notice something important
here - in general, the potential produced by the power supply is out of phase with the
current in the circuit!
 Figure 11.5: The phasor diagram containing VL(t), VC(t), and VR(t)
at time t = 0

11.1.5 Impedance in the RLC circuit

Now let’s examine the relationship between the potential produced by the power
supply and the current in the RLC circuit a little more closely. It’s hard to compare the
two at any particular time since they are out of phase, but we can compare the average
value of the current and the potential. The average value of a sine function over a long
period of time is 1/√2, so to get the average value of the current Irms (which we call the
“root-mean-squared” value for reasons we won’t get into) we replace the sine function
with 1/√2:

I(t) = I0sin ωt

We’ll also replace the sine function in the voltage across the power supply with 1/√2 to
get the relationship between the average voltage and the average current in the RLC
circuit:

√ ( )
√
 √ ( )

Now let’s compare this to Ohm’s Law. Ohm’s Law says that the voltage across a resistor
is equal to the current times the resistance: V = IR. In the equation for the average
potential, we have a current times another term, which acts like the resistance for the
RLC circuit; we may therefore write this equation in the form

Vrms = IrmsZ

The quantity Z, which we call the impedance, is different from an ordinary resistance in
that it is frequency-dependent. Just by changing the frequency of the AC potential, you
can change the resistance in the circuit.

The resistance terms due to the capacitor and inductor are called the inductive reactance
and the capacitive reactance. These are defined as

where is the capacitive reactance and is the inductive reactance. Using these
definitions, the impedance in the RLC circuit becomes

√ ( )

We’ll now use what we’ve learned about the impedance in the RLC circuit to study its
resonance behavior.

11.1.6 RLC Resonant Frequency

The driving frequency at which the response of the system is maximized is the resonant
frequency; for the RLC system, this is the frequency at which the voltage supplied by
the power supply maximizes the current through the circuit. We found that the
relationship between the average voltage and the average current through the system
was
Vrms = IrmsZ
So if we want to maximize Irms for some fixed voltage Vrms, we need to minimize Z. Let’s
look at the form of Z again:

√ ( )

Now R is a fixed value that we can’t change. But the inductive and capacitive reactances
are frequency-dependent, so they can take on different values depending on the
frequency at which the system is driven. The ( ) term can only be positive since
it is some number squared, so the lowest value it can take is zero. Therefore, if we make
this term equal to zero, the impedance will have the lowest value possible. So we’ll set
this term equal to zero and solve for the frequency:

( )

This is the resonant frequency of the RLC circuit. If we set our power supply to produce
a sine wave output voltage at this frequency, the current through the RLC circuit will be
maximized.

One more interesting thing happens at the resonant frequency of the system. Let’s look
back at the expression for the phase angle φ between the input voltage and the current:

√ ( )

At the resonant frequency, = 0, so this expression becomes

 √ ( )

If the cosine of φ is one, then φ must be zero:

φ = cos−1(1) = 0 when ω = ωR

Therefore, the phase angle φ is equal to zero at the resonant frequency. This means that
the voltage and current will be in phase at the resonant frequency.

11.1.7 Power dissipated in the RLC circuit

The formula for the power dissipated by a resistor is

P = I2 R

The resistor is the only component in the RLC circuit that dissipates power, so this
formula holds true for the RLC circuit as well. The current through the circuit changes
with time, so let’s focus on the average power dissipated by the circuit. We’ll get the
average power dissipation by putting the rms value for the current into this equation:

〈 〉

where 〈 〉 just means the average rate at which the current dissipates energy. We may
rewrite this in terms of the impedance Z and the phase angle φ using the relation

R = Z cos φ

This makes the average power dissipated across the RLC circuit

〈 〉
Because it appears in the equation for the average power dissipation, the cosine of the
phase angle φ is also called the power factor.

For some fixed AC voltage amplitude, the power dissipation will be maximized when
the current through the circuit is maximized (since the resistance R in the circuit is
fixed). And the current is maximized when the circuit is driven at the resonant
frequency. Therefore the power dissipation in the RLC circuit is greatest at the resonant
frequency.

11.2 Procedure
For this lab, you will need the following equipment:

• Breadboard
• Function generator
• Oscilloscope
• Scope probes - one with banana clips
• 150, 220, and 270 Ohm resistors
• 10, 22, and 50 nF capacitors
• 2.2 and 10 mH inductors
• Wires

To construct the RLC circuit, start by attaching the banana clip probe to the function
generator and then insert the red banana clip into the Va port and the black banana clip
into the Vb port. Wire the Va port into the positive column of the breadboard and the Vb
port into the negative column. Then insert one prong of the 10 nF capacitor into a hole
in the positive column and the other into one of the five-hole rows. Next put the 2.2 mH
inductor in series with this capacitor. The resistor should be put in series with this
inductor, with one prong going into the negative column. Finally, take the other probe,
attach it to channel A of the oscilloscope, and clip it to the resistor on the prong closest
to the inductor. This will measure the potential across the resistor.

The procedure for this experiment is as follows:

1. Turn on the function generator and oscilloscope. Set the function generator to sine
wave output and its amplitude to about two-thirds of the maximum setting. Do not
change this setting during the experiment!
2. In this experiment, we will be varying the resistance, capacitance, and inductance of
the RLC circuit and observing the resulting changes in current response and resonant
frequency. We will use a total of six setups, listed in the table below. Your circuit should
already be in setup 1 - this is the basic setup that the others are compared to.

Setup Resistance (Ω) Capacitance (μF) Inductance (mH)

1 150 10 2.2
2 220 10 2.2
3 270 10 2.2
4 150 22 2.2
5 150 50 2.2
6 150 10 10

3. Adjust the settings of the oscilloscope until the sine wave from the function generator
fits on the screen and you can see a few periods.

4. Adjust the frequency of the function generator and observe the change in the
amplitude of the output on the oscilloscope. Continue to change the frequency until you
get to a maximum amplitude; at this point, increasing or decreasing the frequency will
lower the height of the trace. This frequency is the resonant frequency of the system.
With this setup, the resonant frequency will be approximately in the 10 - 50 kHz range.
While looking for this frequency, you may adjust the TIME/DIV and VOLTS/DIV
settings on the oscilloscope (but do not change anything on the generator - this will
actually change the nature of the circuit itself!)

5. When you find the resonant frequency, record the frequency from the function
generator, the period of the trace on the oscilloscope screen, and the amplitude of your
trace. Be sure to increase the size of the trace on the oscilloscope screen as much as
possible by changing TIME/DIV and VOLTS/DIV settings to reduce the error in your
measurements. Remember also that the amplitude of the trace is the peak-to-trough
amplitude divided by 2. Review the Oscilloscope Lab if you need a refresher on
oscilloscope measurements!

6. Increase the frequency of your function generator enough to see a noticeable decrease
in the amplitude of the trace on your oscilloscope screen. Record the frequency from the
function generator, the period of the trace on the oscilloscope screen, and the amplitude
of your trace.
7. Increase the frequency again until you can see another measureable decrease in the
trace amplitude. Record the frequency from the function generator, the period of the
trace on the oscilloscope screen, and the amplitude of your trace.

8. Change the frequency back to the resonant frequency. Now decrease the frequency of
the function generator below the resonant frequency until you can see a significant
decrease in the amplitude of the trace. Record the frequency from the function
generator, the period of the trace on the oscilloscope screen, and the amplitude of your
trace.

9. Decrease the frequency again so that you can see another decrease in the height of the
trace. Record the frequency from the function generator, the period of the trace on the
oscilloscope screen, and the amplitude of your trace. You now have five measurements
of frequency, period, and amplitude - one at the resonant frequency, two above the
resonant frequency, and two below the resonant frequency.

10. Change the circuit to setup 2 by replacing the 150 Ω resistor with the 220 Ω resistor.
Repeat steps 3 through 9 to obtain five measurements of function generator frequency,
trace period, and trace amplitude.

11. Change the circuit to setup 3 by replacing the 220 Ω resistor with the 270 Ω resistor.
Repeat steps 3 through 9 to obtain five measurements of function generator frequency,
trace period, and trace amplitude.

12. Change the circuit to setup 4 by changing the resistance back to 150 Ω and
exchanging the 10 μF capacitor for the 22 μF capacitor. Repeat steps 3 through 9 to
obtain five measurements of function generator frequency, trace period, and trace
amplitude.

13. Change the circuit to setup 5 by replacing the 22 μF capacitor for the 50 μF capacitor.
Repeat steps 3 through 9 to obtain five measurements of function generator frequency,
trace period, and trace amplitude.

14. Change the circuit to setup 6 by changing the capacitance back to 10 μF and
exchanging the 2.2 mH inductor for the 10 mH inductor. Repeat steps 3 through 9 to
obtain five measurements of function generator frequency, trace period, and trace
amplitude.
15. Convert all of your trace period measurements to the trace frequency by taking the
inverse of the period. Make sure that your period is in seconds to ensure that your
frequency is in Hz: f = 1/T.

16. Convert your voltage readings to rms current by dividing them by the square root of
2 times the resistance in the RLC circuit. Note that the resistance varies in some of the
setups; you must use the value of the resistance in each particular setup to find the
current values. This formula comes from the fact that the rms voltage is the amplitude
divided by the square root of 2 and Ohm’s Law:
√

17. When you get home, you will be making three scatter plots. The first will show the
effects of changing the resistance on the current and resonant frequency, the second will
show the effects of changing the capacitance, and the final graph will show the effects of
changing the inductance. Each plot will be of rms current vs. frequency, where
frequency refers to the frequency you calculated from the trace period, not the
frequency in the function generator. Make sure that the data from different setups are in
different series on your plot! With programs like Excel, this is usually done by having
one column for all the x values and putting the y values from each series in separate
columns.

18. Put the five rms current and frequency data points from setups 1, 2, and 3 on a rms
current vs. trace frequency scatter plot. Because the resistance was the only property
changing between these setups, this plot will show you the effect of changing the
resistance in the RLC circuit.

19. Put the five rms current and frequency data points from setups 1, 4, and 5 on a rms
current vs. frequency scatter plot. Because the capacitance was the only property
changing between these setups, this plot will show you the effect of changing the
capacitance in the RLC circuit.

20. Put the five rms current and frequency data points from setups 1 and 6 on a rms
current vs. frequency scatter plot. Because the inductance was the only property
changing between these setups, this plot will show you the effect of changing the
inductance in the RLC circuit.

Graph Graph Determines Effect of … Setups Used

1 changing resistance 1, 2, 3
2 changing capacitance 1, 4, 5
3 changing inductance 1, 6
Your data section should contain:

• Tables of the function generator frequency, trace amplitude, trace period, trace rms
current, and trace frequency for the five measurements in each of the six setups

Your results section should contain:

• Three graphs, one showing the effect of changing the resistance, one showing the
effect of changing capacitance, and one showing the effect of changing inductance

11.3 Questions
1. What does your first graph tell you about how the rms current and resonant
frequency changes when you change the resistance in an RLC circuit? Keep in mind that
the resonant frequency is the frequency at which you get the greatest current response
in the circuit. Discuss whether or not this agrees with what you’ve learned about RLC
circuits.

2. What does your second graph tell you about how the rms current and resonant
frequency changes when you change the capacitance in an RLC circuit? Discuss
whether or not this agrees with what you’ve learned about RLC circuits.

3. What does your third graph tell you about how the rms current and resonant
frequency changes when you change the inductance in an RLC circuit? Discuss whether
or not this agrees with what you’ve learned about RLC circuits.

4. Does your data confirm that the resonant frequency is a function of inductance and
capacitance but not resistance? Describe the features of your graphs that lead you to
your conclusion.

5. Does your data confirm that the impedance in the RLC circuit is a function of all three
properties (resistance, capacitance, and inductance)? Describe the features of your
graphs that lead you to your conclusion.

6. What are two sources of error in this experiment? What are two things that could be
improved? Suggest another experiment that could be used to study RLC circuits or
resonance behavior.
11.4 Data Sheet

Capacitance of Provided Capacitor:

Setup 1: R = 150 Ω, C = 10 μF, L = 2.2 mH

Generator Trace Trace RMS Current

Trace Period (s)
Frequency (Hz) Amplitude (V) Frequency (Hz) (A)

Setup 2: R = 220 Ω, C = 10 μF, L = 2.2 mH

Generator Trace Trace RMS Current

Trace Period (s)
Frequency (Hz) Amplitude (V) Frequency (Hz) (A)

Setup 3: R = 270 Ω, C = 10 μF, L = 2.2 mH

Generator Trace Trace RMS Current

Trace Period (s)
Frequency (Hz) Amplitude (V) Frequency (Hz) (A)
Setup 4: R = 150 Ω, C = 22 μF, L = 2.2 mH

Generator Trace Trace RMS Current

Trace Period (s)
Frequency (Hz) Amplitude (V) Frequency (Hz) (A)

Setup 5: R = 150 Ω, C = 50 μF, L = 2.2 mH

Generator Trace Trace RMS Current

Trace Period (s)
Frequency (Hz) Amplitude (V) Frequency (Hz) (A)

Setup 6: R = 150 Ω, C = 10 μF, L = 10 mH

Generator Trace Trace RMS Current

Trace Period (s)
Frequency (Hz) Amplitude (V) Frequency (Hz) (A)

TA Signature: