Laboratory Activities 3: Types of AC Loads

Juan Glicerio C. Manlapaz Jerome Dolalas

Department of Electronics, Computer,and Communications Department of Electronics, Computer,and Communications
Engineering Engineering
Ateneo de Manila University Ateneo de Manila University
Quezon City, Philippines Quezon City, Philippines
juan.manlapaz@obf.ateneo.edu jerome.dolalas@obf.ateneo.edu

Abstract— Appliances have different ways on how they use

electricity to function. Some have capacitors to store energy in The vertical, horizontal, trigger, and display systems are
materials, others use inductors, and some work without the use the four distinct systems that make up an oscilloscope in its
of motors and simply using resistances. To differentiate these an most basic form. These systems all let you measure
oscilloscope was subjected to varying appliances. From here, the
data was checked for its waveform and phase shifts.
particular items. The waveform can be scaled and positioned
vertically using the controls for the vertical system.
Keywords—capacitor, inductor, oscilloscope, waveform, Moreover, it can be used to control input coupling,
phase shift bandwidth augmentation, and bandwidth limits. Aside from
location and scaling the waveform, the horizontal system
I. INTRODUCTION can be utilized to determine the sample rate and record
Anything that uses electricity to function is known as an length. The trigger system enables you to effectively take a
electrical load, and this includes appliances like photo of the waveform while stabilizing repeating
refrigerators, computers, and light bulbs. All of these are waveforms. There are various trigger system types that react
electrical loads since they consume electricity to operate. to particular situations in the incoming signal, like edge
Now, examining the makeup of such loads may truly divide triggering and threshold triggering. An example of a digital
them into three kinds. These include capacitive, inductive, oscilloscope can be seen in Figure 1.
and resistive loads. Resistive loads are those that solely use
active power. The voltage and current waveforms of such a
load are also completely in phase with one another. On the
other hand, inductive loads are defined as those that
exclusively use reactive power. Furthermore, examining the
voltage and current waveforms of such a load, it will be
seen that the current and voltage are 90 degrees out of phase
with one another. Inductive and capacitive loads are
comparable. Current and voltage are out of phase with one
another in capacitive loads as well. The sole difference is
that in inductive loads, current lags behind voltage while in
capacitive loads current advances by 90 degrees. In this
experiment, different appliances in the laboratory are
examined to find the three types of electrical load and show
its differences.
Fig. 1. Digital Oscilloscope
A. Objectives
The main objective of the experiment is to become
familiar with how AC power works at the fundamental
level. B. AC waveforms
In contrast to direct current or DC, which only travels in
II. THEORETICAL BACKGROUND one direction and cannot sporadically shift, alternating
A. Oscilloscope current or AC is an electric current that periodically reverses
direction. Both AC and DC define different current kinds
A multimeter is a device that can be used to measure a
that move via a circuit. Numerous energy sources, most
single value for the voltage in circuits that have constant
notably generators, create AC current with voltages that
voltages. When you begin creating circuits with greater
switch between positive and negative polarity over time. In
complexity, this becomes unnecessary. An oscilloscope can
order to purposely generate AC current, an alternator can
be very handy in this situation. You may observe how
also be used. A wire loop is rapidly spun inside a magnetic
voltage varies over time using an oscilloscope. The signals,
field in an alternator. As a result, the wire experiences an
in this case, refers to the voltages that are used to transmit
electric current. The voltage and current on the wire
information. An oscilloscopes display screen usually
alternate as it spins and occasionally enters a different
includes a graph that displays the measured voltage signal as
magnetic polarity. An AC circuit’s voltage can sometimes
well as other information. You may assess whether the
reverse because of this current’s ability to change direction
behavior of your circuit is functioning properly with this
on a cyclical basis. The voltage of alternating polarity from
display. Additionally, it will enable you to find any issues
an alternator traces a “wave” over time that has a specific
with your circuit, such as noise or unexpected signals.
shape and is referred to as a sine wave. As long as the
voltage and current are alternating, AC can take many
different shapes. If an AC circuit is connected to an
oscilloscope and its voltage is plotted over time, you are
likely to see several different waveforms including sine,
square, and triangle. These can be seen in Figure. 2. In most
buildings, the AC has an oscillating voltage in the sine wave
form.

Fig. 3. Experimental setup with an electric fan connected to it.

Fig. 2. Types of Periodic Waveform

III. METHODOLOGY
A. List of Materials utilized
For this lab activity, it involved an experimental setup
consisting of an oscilloscope, a benchtop multimeter, and
AC loads such as an electric fan, lamp, and water heater.
B. Procedure
The objective of this experiment is to obtain the voltage
and current waveforms of different AC loads and compute
Fig. 4. Oscilloscope reading of the electric fan.
their phase shifts. This is done by connecting one
oscilloscope probe to the 220 volt AC mains input as the The second AC load was the electric lamp. Shown in
reference waveform and connecting another oscilloscope Figure 5. is the physical connection of the lamp to the
probe to a 1-𝛀 shunt resistor since voltage probes are only experimental setup and Figure 6. shows the oscilloscope
available in the laboratory. The phase shift is computed reading between the voltage and current across the electric
using the mathematical functions of the oscilloscope. lamp. The oscilloscope reading showed a phase shift of
71.5° with the current waveform leading, suggesting a
IV. RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS
capacitive load.
A. Findings from the experiment
The first AC load that was examined was the electric
fan. Shown in Figure 3. is the physical connection of the
lamp to the experimental setup and Figure 4. shows the
oscilloscope reading between the voltage and current across
the electric lamp. The oscilloscope reading showed a phase
shift of 62.3° with the current waveform leading, suggesting
a capacitive load.

Fig. 5. Experimental setup with an electric lamp connected to it.

Fig. 6. Oscilloscope reading of the electric lamp.
Finally, the last AC load was the water heater. Shown in
Figure 7. is the physical connection of the water heater to
the experimental setup and Figure 8. shows the oscilloscope
reading between the voltage and current across the electric
lamp. The oscilloscope reading showed a phase shift of
48.1° with the current waveform leading, suggesting a
capacitive load.
Fig. 7. Experimental setup with a water heater connected to it.
Fig. 8. Oscilloscope reading of the water heater.
V. CONCLUSION
The concept of AC loads was demonstrated in this
experiment through the use of the oscilloscope and reading
the resulting current and voltage waveforms. From the
findings of the experiment, it was determined that all loads
are capacitive loads evidenced in the current leading the
voltage. The use of current probes is highly recommended
to give more accurate results.
REFERENCES
[1] G. M. Masters, Renewable and Efficient Electric Power
Systems, Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons., 2013.