Electricity Student Ing 2013

Rentech Experiments in Electricity
EXPERIMENTS IN ELECTRICITY
Student’s Guide
Laboratory Manual
1
(2013)
PACKING LIST
1. Basic Electrical Experiment Set
2. Internal DC Power Supply
3. Signal Generator
4. Oscilloscope
5. Multimeter
6. Resistors (with different resistances)
7. Capacitor
8. Inductor
9. Connecting Wires for Circuit Elements
10. Standard Power Cable
11. Stopwatch
2
Contents
Volume-1
1. Purpose ........................................................ 4
1.1. Ohm’s Law ........... ........................................ 4
1.2. Resistors in Series ..... ........................................ 5
1.3. Resistors in Parallel . ........................................ 7
1.4. Resistor Color Codes ... ........................................ 8
1.5. Kirchhoff’s Rules ..... ........................................ 9
Volume-2
2. Purpose ........................................................ 14
2.1. Charging and discharging a Capacitor .............................. 14
2.2. Charging a Capacitor ......................................... 15
2.3. Discharging a Capacitor ..................................... 18
Volume-3
3. Purpose ....................................................... 19
3.1. RLC Circuits ...................... ........................ 19
3.2. Resistor in an ac Circuit ................ ........................ 20
3.3. Inductor in an ac Circuit ............. ........................ 20
3.4. Capacitor in an ac Circuit ........... ........................ 21
3.5. RLC Series AC Circuit .................................. 24
3.6 Resonance in RLC Circuit ..................................... 31
Volume-1
4. Experimental Procedures ........................................ 32
4.1. Experimental Procedure: Verifying Ohm’s Law ............ ........... 32
4.2. Laboratory Report: Verifying Ohm’s Law ............. ........... 34
4.3. Experimental Procedure: Series and Parallel Combination of Resistors ....... 35
4.4. Laboratory Report: Series and Parallel Combination of Resistors .......... 38
4.5. Experimental Procedure: Kirchhoff’s Law ............... ........... 39
4.6. Laboratory Report: Kirchhoff’s Law .................. ........... 41
Volume-2
5. Experimental Procedure ......................................... 42
5.1. Experimental Procedure: Charging and Discharging a Capacitor ......... 42
5.2. Laboratory Report: Charging and Discharging a Capacitor ............... 45
Volume-3
6. Experimental Procedure ......................................... 47
6.1. Experimental Procedure: RLC Circuits and Resonance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47

6.2. Laboratory Report: RLC Circuits and Resonance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
3
Volume-1
1. Purpose
The purpose of this experiment is to study;
1. Ohm’s law to find the value of an

unknown resistance,
2. The relationship between electric current
and resistance in the circuits with parallel
and series combination of resistors,
3. Kirchhoff’s rules for analyzing any circuit
in parallel and series combination of
resistors.
(a)
1.1. Ohm’s Law
If a conductor is connected to a power supply, the

voltage difference gives a flow of electric current
through the conductor. In a current carrying wire,
the current is always along the length of the wire
(conductor), regardless of whether the wire is
straight or curved. The unit of current is the
ampere and defined one coulomb per second
(1A  1C / s) . The magnitude of the current
flowing through a conductor by a voltage
difference is determined by the electrical
properties of the conductor. One of the most (b)
important properties of a conductor is its Figure-1: Basic electrical experiment set (a) and the
circuit elements with connection cables (b).
resistance (R) . The relationship between the
applied voltage (V ) and current (I ) is given by:

For the materials obeying Ohm’s law, the
V  IR (1) potential difference V across the material is
proportional to the current I through the
This relationship is called Ohm’s Law. The
material. The electrical experiment set and the
voltage V is measured in volts, current I in
circuit elements that are going to be used in this
amperes and resistance R in the unit of ohm experiment are given in the Figure-(1).
(1  1V / A) .
4
1.2. Resistors in Series
(a)
(a)
(b)
(b)
Figure-2: The voltage V versus current I graph of a
Figure-3: Reduction of a circuit with many resistors to a
resistor R .
single equivalent resistor ( Req ) .
If we construct a circuit as shown in Figure-(2a),

When the circuit elements such as resistors are
and plot the voltage V across the resistor versus
connected in sequence, we say that they are
the current I flowing through it, then we find a
connected in series. If two resistors are
linear graph given in the Figure-(2b). The slope
connected in series, the same current I flows
of the line is the resistance R .
through both of them.
In electrical circuits, resistors are connected
For any combination of resistors, we can find a
either in series or in parallel.
single resistor that could replace the combination
and result in the same total current and potential
difference. The resistance of this single resistor
is called the equivalent resistance of the
combination. If a circuit consists of many
resistors, these resistors will combine to give an
equivalent resistor having a resistance of Req as
seen in the Figure-(3).
5
Table-1: Units for electric currents and resistance. However, the voltage supplied V is divided into
Current 1 A  1C / s
V1 across R1 and V2 across R2 . If the resistors
Potential difference 1V  1 J / C
are replaced by an equivalent resistance Req ,
Power 1W  1 J / s
then we can determine the magnitude of the Req :
Resistance 1  1 V / A
V  V1  V2 (4)
The magnitude of Req is determined by the
magnitude of the individual resistances of the

IReq  IR1  IR2 (5)
circuit. By an applied voltage, the total current
flowing into the circuit can be determined
IReq  I ( R1  R2 ) (6)
according to Ohm’s law with Req in Equation-(1).
By using Equation-(1), the equivalent resistance Req  R1  R2 (7)

can be written:
V  IReq (2)
Equation-(7) shows that the equivalent resistance
Req of two resistors connected in series is larger
V than R1 and R2 . When several resistors
Req  (3)
I
R1 , R2 , R3 .... are connected in series, the
equivalent resistance Req is the sum of the
individual resistances:
Req  R1  R2  R3  .... (8)
The same current flows through all the resistors

in a series connection:
Figure-4: Circuit with series combination of resistors.
As seen in the Figure-(4), when two resistors are

connected in series, the same current I flows Figure-5: Resistors in a series connection.
through both resistors in the circuit.
6
1.3. Resistors in Parallel
Figure-7: Resistors in a parallel connection.
By solving Equation-(10) for Req , then we obtain:

Figure-6: Circuit with parallel combination of resistors.
1 1 1
  (11)
If the resistors are in parallel as in Figure-(6), the Req R1 R2
current through each resistor need not be the
same. But the potential (voltage) difference R1 R2
Req  (12)
between the terminals of each resistor must be R1  R2
the same and equal to V . Let us now determine
what single resistor (an equivalent resistance)
By the Equation-(12), equivalent resistance Req
Req will draw the same current I as the two
of two resistors connected in parallel is smaller
resistors in parallel.
than any one of them.
The current I flowing in the circuit is divided into
When several resistors R1 , R2 , R3 .... are
I 1 through R1 and I 2 through R2 . The voltage
connected in parallel, the equivalent resistance
difference, however, is the same across the two
resistors. Req is given by:
I  I1  I 2 (9) 1

1

1

1
 .... (13)
Req R1 R2 R3
Since resistors are connected in parallel, each

All resistors in a parallel connection have the
has the same voltage V across it:
same potential difference between their terminals
V V V (Figure-7).
  (10)
Req R1 R2
7
1.4. Resistor Color Codes
Table-2: Resistor Color Codes.

COLOR VALUE VALUE VALUE TOLERANCE
BAND 1 BAND 2 BAND 3
0
Black 0 0 10
1
Brown 1 1 10
2
Red 2 2 10
3
Orange 3 3 10
4
Yellow 4 4 10
5
Green 5 5 10
6
Blue 6 6 10
7
Violet 7 7 10
8
Grey 8 8 10
9
White 9 9 10
Gold 5%
Silver 10%
None 20%
For example, if the color codes of a resistor are

given by the Figure-(8), then, the value of the
resistance R will be:
Figure-8: Color bands of a given resistor. B1 =Red (2),
B2 =Brown (1),
The resistors used in this experiment consist of
standard carbon rod type. They have specific
B3 =Orange (3), and
constant values that are color-coded by the rings
on them. The nominal value of some resistors B4 =Silver (10%);
and their tolerances are given by color codes. A
resistor is marked by having up to 4 color bands R = B1 B2  B3 =21x103=21000
painted around its body. The resistor value is
given by the first three bands and the tolerance is R() = R  B4 =21000x10%=2100
given in the band-4.
R =21000±2100
The colors and the corresponding values for
resistors are detailed in the Table-(2).
8
1.5. Kirchhoff’s Rules
Figure-10: Kirchhoff’s loop rule.
Figure-9: Kirchhoff’s junction rule.
Kirchhoff’s second rule or loop rule:
Kirchhoff’s rules important tools for analyzing any

circuit more complicated than a single loop. We
A loop is any closed conducting path. The sum of
can find the currents in circuits by combining
the changes in potential around any closed loop
resistance in series and parallel, and by using
of a circuit must be zero. It is based on
Ohm’s law. However, some circuits are too
conservation of energy and conservative nature
complicated for that analysis. To deal with such
of electrostatic fields. It states that the sum of
complicated circuits, we use Kirchhoff’s rules.
potential differences around any loop must be
There are two rules, and they are simply zero.
convenient applications of the laws of
Suppose we go around a loop as shown in the
conservation of charge and energy.
Figure-(10) with a dc power supply with
electromotive force (emf) , by measuring
Kirchhoff’s first rule or junction rule:
potential differences across successive circuit
elements as we go. When we return to the
A junction in a circuit is a point where three or starting point, we must find that the sum of these
more conductors meet. Junctions are also called differences is zero.
nodes or branch points (Figure-9).
It is based on conservation of charge. It states

that the sum of the currents into any junction
must be zero. At any junction point, the sum of all
currents entering the junction must equal the sum
of all currents leaving the junction.
9
Use these sign conventions given in the Figure-

(10) when you apply Kirchhoff’s loop rule. In each
part of the figure, “Travel” is the direction that we
imagine going around the loop. Travel direction is
not necessarily the direction of the current.
When we travel through a source in the direction

from  to  , the emf is considered to be
positive. When we travel from  to  , the emf is
considered to be negative (Figure-11a).
When we travel through a resistor in the same
(a) direction as the assumed current, the potential

difference IR is negative because the current
goes in the direction of decreasing potential.
When we travel through a resistor in the direction
opposite to the assumed current, the IR term is
positive because this represents a rise of
potential (Figure-11b).
(b)
Figure-11: Sign conventions for the loop rule.
Careful use of consistent sign rule is essential in

applying Kirchhoff’s rules. In applying the loop
rule, we need some sign conventions. We must
first assume a direction for the current in each
branch of the circuit and mark it on a schema of
the circuit. Then, starting at any point in the
circuit, we imagine travelling around a loop.
10
3. Use Junction rule: We apply Kirchhoff’s

junction rule to the currents at the junction
point "a" , where I 3 enters and I 2 and I 1

leave:
I 3  I1  I 2 (a)
The same equation holds at point "d " , so we

get no new information by writing an
equation for point "d " .
4. Use Loop rule: We apply Kirchhoff’s loop
rule to two different closed loops.
4.1. First, we can apply to the upper loop
Figure-12: The circuit with the junction point of a. "ahdcba" . We start at point "a" in the
circuit.
4.2. From " a" to " h" , we have a potential
For example, we can calculate the currents
decrease:
I1 , I 2 , and I 3 in the three branches of the circuit
Vh a  ( I1 )(30)
given by the Figure-(12) by using Kirchhoff’s
rules. For the solution: 4.3. From " h" to " d " , there is no change,
but from " d " to " c" the potential

1. Label the currents and their directions:
increase by:
Figure-(11) uses the labels I1 , I 2 , and I 3 for
Vc d  45V
the current in the three separate branches.
1.1. Since positive current tends to move 4.4. From " c" to " a" , the potential
away from the positive terminal of a decreases through the two resistances
by:
battery, we choose I 2 and I 3 to have
Va c  ( I 3 )(40  1)  (41) I 3
the directions shown in the Figure-(12).
1.2. The direction of I 1 is not obvious in

4.5. By Kirchhoff’s loop rule, we will have:
advance, so we choose the direction
indicated. Note that if the current
Vh a  Vc d  Va c  0, or;
actually flows in the opposite direction, (b)
 30 I 1  45  41I 3  0
the answer will have a negative sign.
2. Identify the unknowns: We have three
unknowns and therefore we need three 4.6. For our second loop, we take the outer
equations, which we get by applying loop, "ahdefga" (we also could have
Kirchhoff’s junction and loop rules. chosen the lower loop "abcdefga "
instead).
11
4.7. Again we start at point "a" and have: If we substitute Equations (d) and (e) into Eq. (a),
Vh a  ( I1 )(30) and,
I1  I 3  I 2  1.1  0.73I1  3.8  1.4I1
Vd h  0 .
4.8. But when we take our positive test
Now we solve I1 :
charge from " d " to " e" , it actually is
3.1I1  2.7
going uphill against the assumed
direction of the current. Thus, Ve d has a I1  0.87 A (Expected)
positive sign:
Ve d   I 2 (20)
The negative sign of the current indicates that the
4.9. Similarly,
direction of I 1 is actually opposite to that initially
V f e  I 2 (1)
assumed and shown in Figure-(11).
4.10. From " f " to " g" there is a decrease
From the Eq.(d), we find:
in potential of 80V since we go from
the high potential terminal of the I 2  3.8  1.4I1
battery to the low. Thus,
Vg f  80V I 2  3.8  1.4(0.87)  2.6 A (Expected)
4.11. Also, Va g  0
4.12. Finally, the sum of the potential And also from Eq.(e):
changes around the loop is:

I 3  1.1  0.73I1
 30I1  (20  1) I 2  80  0 (c)
I 3  1.1  0.73(0.87)  1.7 A (Expected)

5. Solve the equations: We have three
equations labeled (a), (b), and (c), and three
unknowns: Finally, this calculation completes the solution for
From Eq. (c), we have: the three unknowns of currents in the circuit by
80  30 I 1 Kirchhoff’s rules. In a given experiment, the

I2   3.8  1.4 I 1 (d)
21 unknowns in different situations are not
necessarily currents. The unknowns might be
resistance or voltage.
Also, by the Eq.(b), we have:
45  30 I 1
I3   1.1  0.73I 1 (e)
41
12
Figure-13a: The circuit of the resistors connected in Figure-13b: The resistors with series and parallel
series and parallel. combinations on the resistor board.
For the resistors in parallel, the potential

For a given experiment, we can analyze the
difference V between the terminals of each
electrical circuit shown in the Figure-(13a) by the
resistor must be the same but the current through
measurement of the currents in each parts of the
each resistor need not be the same. The total
circuit. To determine currents in the circuit, the
current from the source splits into separate
resistors are connected in series and parallel on
branches or paths.
the resistor board (Figure-13b).
For the resistors in series, the potential

differences across each resistor supplied by a
battery need not to be the same but the current I
must be the same in all of them. The same
current I flows through the resistors.
13
Volume-2 When we say that a capacitor has charge Q (or,
a charge Q is stored on the capacitor), we mean

2. Purpose that the conductor at higher potential has charge
 Q and the conductor at lower potential has
charge  Q .
In this experiment, you will:
1. Charge a capacitor initially uncharged, The electric field at any point in the region
and then discharge it, between the conductors is proportional to the
2. Measure the charging and discharging magnitude Q of charge on each conductor. It

currents as a function of time, follows that the potential difference Vab between
3. Calculate the time constant of the
the conductors is also proportional to Q .
capacitor,
4. Find the charge accumulating on the The ratio of charge to potential difference is
capacitor when it is fully charged.
called the capacitance C of the capacitor:
Q
2.1. Charging and Discharging a Capacitor C (14)
V
The unit of capacitance is called one farad (1 F )

In the previous circuits we have analyzed, all the and one farad is equal to one coulomb per volt
potentials and currents are independent of time.
(1C / V ) . The unit of current is the ampere and
That is, the current flowing through these circuits
one ampere is defined to be one coulomb per
had always a constant and unchanged value all
second (1A  1C / s) .
the time. Now we are going to study a type of
circuit whose current varies in time. Such circuits
In the simple act of charging or discharging a
contain a circuit element called a capacitor.
capacitor, we find a situation in which the
Any two conductors separated by an insulator (or currents, voltages and powers do change with
vacuum) form a capacitor. A capacitor is a circuit time.
element that accumulates charge when

connected to a circuit. This accumulating charge
gives rise to a voltage difference V across its
terminals (plates). In most practical applications,
each conductor initially has zero net charge and
electrons are transferred from one conductor to
the other. This is called charging the capacitor.
Then, the two conductors have charges with
equal magnitude and opposite sign, and the net
charge on the capacitor as a whole remains zero.
14
2.2. Charging a Capacitor And then recalling that VR  IR , we get:
q (t )
V  I (t ) R (17)
C
Solving Eq.(17) for I (t ) , we get:
V q(t )
I (t )   (18)
R RC
Since I (t ) is just the rate of change of q (t ) :
dq(t )
I (t )  (19)
dt
Figure-14: Charging an initially uncharged capacitor. Switch
initially open. When the switch (S) closed, the charge on the Then substituting this into Eq.(18), we find:
capacitor increases over time while current decreases.
dq(t ) V q(t )
  (20)
dt R RC
Figure-(14) shows a simple circuit for charging a
capacitor. A circuit such as this that has a
Equation-(20) is a differential equation for q (t )
resistor and a capacitor in series is called an
R  C circuit. Initially the switch S is open and and it can be shown that the solution for the
equation is given by:
no current passes through the circuit. When the
switch S is closed at t  0 , a current I starts to
q(t )  VC (1  e t / RC ) (21)
flow into the circuit, and the charge q starts to
accumulate on the capacitor. Now, we can

determine the behavior of I (t ), q(t ) and the
Here, the voltage of the power supply V , resistor
voltage across the capacitor VC as a function R , and capacitance C are just constants, i.e.,
of time. At any instant of time t after closing the they are time-independent.
switch, Kirchhoff’s loop rule gives the sum of
To find the current I (t ) as a function of time,
voltages:
remember that the current I (t )  dq(t ) / dt , so
VC (t )  VR (t )  V (15) differentiating Eq. (21), we get:
Substituting for VC from Eq.(13):

dq(t ) V t / RC
I (t )   e (22)
q (t ) dt R
VC  (16)
C
15
The charge q and current I are both exponential
functions of time. Equation-(21) and (22) will give

the behavior of q and I at any instant of time.
From Equation-(21), substituting t  0 , we have

q (t  0)  0 , the capacitor is uncharged. On
the other hand, the Equation-(22) gives
I (t  0)  V / R . But this is just the current that
we would have if the capacitor were absent from
(a)
the circuit.
For a given experiment:
 At time t  0 when we first close the

switch S in the circuit, the capacitor has
no charge, and so the current I will be
determined by the resistor alone. The
capacitor here acts as a short circuit.
 At any later time, the charge will start to
increase while the current decrease. (b)
Then, q (t ) will reach the constant value Figure-15: The graph of charge q versus time t for
of q  VC . At this instant the capacitor

charging a capacitor across a resistor (a), and the graph
of current I vs time t for the same process (b). When

will be fully charged. The current, on the
the switch is closed, the charge on the capacitor
other hand, will be zero at this instant as increases over time while the current decreases.
can be seen from Eq.(22).
The curves for the charge q and the current I as An important quantity in the R  C circuits is the
a function of time during the charging of a time constant ( ) . After a time equal to RC :
capacitor are shown in the Figure-(15). Note that:
 Current I in the R  C circuits has
 At the instant the switch is closed
decreased to "1 / e " (about 0.368) of its
(t  0) in the circuit, the current jumps
initial value.
from zero to its initial value I 0 V / R.  At this time, the capacitor charge has
 After that, it gradually approaches zero. reached to "1  1 / e  0.632 " of its final
 The capacitor charge q starts at zero
charge value.
and gradually approaches the final value
given by q0  VC .
16
Therefore, the product RC is a measure of how The value of the charge q at t  RC for the
quickly the capacitor charges. We call RC as charging process can be found using Equation-
the time constant of the RC circuit and denoted (20):
by  :
q (t  RC )  VC (1  e  t / RC ) (28)
  RC (23)
q (t  RC )  0.63VC (29)
Since the constant value VC  q , at t  RC ,

where, resistance R is in ohms and C in farad,
the charge accumulated on the capacitor will be
then  is in seconds.
63% of its ultimate value VC (see Fig.15a).
When  is small, the capacitor charges quickly,
when it is larger, the charging takes more time. If
the resistance R is small, it is easier for current
I to flow and capacitor charges more quickly.
To see what we mean by this, take Equation-(22)

and substitute t  RC in the exponent. Then, we
find:
t
V  RC
I (t  RC )  e (24)
R
V 1
I (t  RC )  e (25)
R
V
I (t  RC )  0.37  0.37 I 0 (26)
R
Here, we have noted that:
1
e 1   0.37 (27)
e
So, the time constant of a given RC circuit is

the time at which the current in the circuit drops to
0.37 of its initial value. This happens at the time
t    RC seconds (see Fig.15b).
17
2.3. Discharging a Capacitor
(a)
Figure-16: Circuit for discharging a capacitor through a
resistor. When the switch (S) is closed, current I (t ) flows
into the circuit.
We can also study another situation when a

capacitor is already charged to a voltage V and it
is then allowed to discharge through a resistor R
(b)
(note that in this case there is no battery). When
Figure-17: The graphs of charge q vs time t (a), and
the switch in the Figure-(16) is closed, charge
begins to flow through the resistor R from one
current I vs time t (b) for discharging a capacitor
side of the capacitor toward the other side until through a resistor R.
the capacitor fully discharged. The voltage V

across the resistor at any instant equals that In discharging a capacitor that has a charge VC ,
across the capacitor. we will have:
In the experiment, to discharge a charged

q(t )  q0 e t / RC ; q0  VC (30)
capacitor that has a charge q  VC through a
resistor R , one should construct the circuit shown V

I (t )  I 0 e t / RC ; I0  (31)
in Figure-(16). Once, the switch S is closed, a R
current I (t ) flows into the circuit. The source of
When the above two equations are plotted, we
this current is the charge on the capacitor. find the graphs given in the Figure-(17). The
Charges move through the resistor to neutralize current I decreases exponentially as the
the charges on the other plate of the capacitor. In capacitor discharges. Also, the charge q on the
this case both the charge and current will
capacitor decreases exponentially as the
decrease with time until they come to the value
capacitor discharges.
zero.
18
Volume-3 We assume in each case that the ac source

gives rise to a current:
3. Purpose I  I 0 cos 2ft (32)
I  I 0 cos t (33)
The purpose of this experiment is to investigate
and find:
where t is time and I 0 is the peak current.
1. The voltage on a resistor R by changing
The frequency f is the number of complete
the frequency of given AC voltage,
2. Resonance frequency in a given resistor-
oscillations made per second and   2f . If
inductor-capacitor circuit ( RLC circuit) an ac source is connected to a resistor R , the

by examining the voltage on the resistor. peak current I 0 is given by:
V0
3.1. RLC Circuits I0  (34)
R
The root mean square (rms) value of the current

We have previously discussed circuits that and voltage:
contain combinations of resistors and capacitor
only when they are connected to a direct current I0
I RMS   0.707 I 0 (35)
(dc) source of emf . Now we will discuss the 2
circuit elements when they are connected to a
V0
source of alternating voltage that produces an VRMS   0.707V0 (36)
2
alternating current (ac) .
The rms values of I and V are also called the

First we will examine, one at a time, how a
effective values.
resistor R , an inductor L , and a capacitor C
behave when connected to an alternating voltage
source. The voltage source produces a sinusoidal
voltage of frequency f . We use the term ac
source for any device that supplies a sinusoidally
varying voltage (potential difference) or current.
19
3.2. Resistor in an ac Circuit
Figure-19: Inductor connected to an ac source.
Figure-18: Resistor in an ac source. Thus,
dI
When an ac source is connected to a resistor, V L 0 (40)
dt
the current increases and decreases with the
alternating voltage according to Ohm’s law: By inserting Eq.(33) of the current, we get:
V  IR (37) V L
dI
  LI 0 sin t (41)
dt
V  I 0 R cos t (38)
Using sin    cos(90 0   ) , we can write:
V  V0 cos t (39)
V  LI 0 cos(t  90 0 ) (42)
where, V0  I 0 R is the peak voltage as a

V  V0 cos(t  90 0 ) (43)
function of time. We can say that the current
and voltage are in phase, because the current is
where,
zero when the voltage is zero and the current
reaches a peak when the voltage does. V0  I 0L (44)
is the peak voltage.

3.3. Inductor in an ac Circuit
The current and voltage are out of phase by a
quarter cycle, which is equivalent to  / 2 radians
If an inductor of inductance L is connected to the 0
or 90 . So, the current lags the voltage by
an ac source, we ignore any resistance it might
have. The voltage applied to the inductor will be
90 0 in an inductor. That is, the current in an
inductor reaches its peaks a quarter cycle later
equal to the back emf generated in the inductor
than the voltage does. The voltage leads the
by the changing current. Because, the sum of the
0
current by 90 .
electric potential changes around any closed
circuit must add up to zero according to
Kirchhoff’s rule.
20
For a resistor R , the peak current and the peak 3.4. Capacitor in an ac Circuit
voltage are related by V0  I 0 R . We can write a
similar relation for an inductor:
V0  I 0 X L (45)
By using V0  I 0L , we find:
X L  L (46) Figure-20: Capacitor connected to an ac source. Current

leads voltage by a quarter cycle, or 90 0 .
where,   2f and f is the frequency of the
ac source: When a capacitor is connected to a battery, the

capacitor plates quickly acquire equal and
X L  2fL (47) opposite charges; but no steady current flows in

the circuit. A capacitor prevents the flow of the
dc current. But if a capacitor is connected to an
The term X L is called inductive reactance of alternating source of voltage, an alternating
current will flow continuously. This can happen
the inductor and has units of ohms (since X L is
because when the ac voltage is first turned on,
the ratio of a voltage and a current). The
the charge begins to flow and one plate acquires
inductive reactance X L is larger for higher a negative charges and the other positive charge.
frequencies f and larger inductance L .
By the Kirchhoff’s rule, the applied source
Common inductors have inductances in the range
voltage must equal to the voltage V across the
from about 1H to about 1H (where
capacitor at any moment:
1 H  1henry  1 . s) .
Q
Equation-(45) gives the amplitude of the voltage
V  (48)
C
across an inductor in the ac circuit. Note that if
  2f  0 (so the current is dc ), there is no where C is the capacitance and Q is the charge
on the capacitor plates. The unit of capacitance
back emf and no impedance to the flow of
C is coulombs per volt and this unit is called a
charge.
farad (F ) .
21
Using the trigonometric identity,
sin   cos(90 0   )  cos(  90 0 ) (53)
We can rewrite the Equation-(52) as:
1
V  I0 ( ) cos(t  90 0 ) (54)
C
V  V0 (cos t  90 0 ) (55)
where,
Figure-21: Capacitor connected to an ac source. Current

 1 
I  I 0 cos t leads voltage by a quarter cycle ( 90 0 ). V0  I 0   (56)
 C 
is the peak voltage.

The current I at any instant (given as
I  I 0 cos t ) is: The current I ( I 0  cos t ) and voltage V

across the capacitor are graphed in the Figure-
dQ (20).
I  I 0 cos t (49)
dT
As seen from the graph given in the Figure-(21),
Since the charge Q on the plates at any instant is the current I  I 0 cos t and the voltage
given by:
V  V0 cos(t  90 0 ) are out of phase by a
t t 0
quarter cycle ( 90 ). So, the current leads the
Q   dQ   I 0 cos t dt (50)
0 0 voltage across a capacitor by 90 0 .
Alternatively, we can say that the voltage lags the
I0
Q sin t (51)
0
current by 90 . This is opposite of what happens

for an inductor.
Then, the voltage across the capacitor is:
Q  1 
V  I0   sin t (52)
C  C 
22
Table-3: Circuit elements and units.
Circuit Element Circuit Quantity Symbol Unit Relationship
Resistor Resistance R Ohm () V  IR
Henry (H )
Inductance L V0  I 0 X L
1H  1 . s
Inductor
Inductive
XL Ohm () X L  2fL
Reactance
V0  I 0 X C
Capacitance C Farad (F )
Q  CV
Capacitor
Capacitive 1
XC Ohm () XC 
Reactance 2fC
A relationship between the applied voltage V Equation-(57) relates the peak values of voltage
and the current I in a capacitor can be written V across the capacitor and current I . When X C
just as for an inductance L : is larger the current will be smaller.
Units of the circuit elements are given in the

V0  I 0 X C (57)
Table-(3). Inductance L and capacitance C
offer impedance to the flow of alternating current
where X C is the capacitive reactance of the just as resistance R does.
capacitor and has units of ohms .
The capacitive reactance X C of the capacitor is:
1 1
XC   (58)
C 2fC
23
3.5. RLC Series AC Circuit
Table-4: Circuit elements with alternating current.
Circuit element Relationship Circuit Quantity Phase of Voltage

Resistor VR  IR R In phase with I
Inductor VL  IX L X L  L Leads I by 90
0
Capacitor VC  IX C X C  1 / C Lags I by 90
0
In an ac RLC series circuit, the total impedance

Z is defined by the equivalent of V  IR for
resistance:
V0  I 0 Z
VRMS  I RMS Z
The impedance Z is related to R , L and C by:
R, X L and X C as a function of
Z  R 2  X L  X C 
2 Figure-22: Graphs of
(59)
angular frequency .
Table-(4) summarizes the relationships of the If   0 , corresponding to a dc circuit , there is

peak current and the peak voltage for the three
no current through a capacitor because
circuit elements with R , L and C . Note that
X C   , and there is no inductive effect
instantaneous voltage and current are
proportional in a resistor. There is zero phase because X L  0.
difference between voltage and current. The
instantaneous voltage and current are not In the limit    , X L also approaches infinity,
proportional in an inductor or capacitor, because and the current through an inductor becomes
0
there is a 90 phase difference in both cases. vanishingly small. In the same limit, X C and the
voltage across a capacitor both approach zero.
Figure-(22) shows how the resistance R of a
The current changes direction rapidly, and so no
resistor, the reactance X L of an inductor and the charge can build up on either plate.
reactance X C of a capacitor vary with angular
frequency  .
24
In a general ac circuit, the voltage and the

current amplitudes are related by the circuit
impedance Z . In an RLC series circuit, the
values of R , L , C and the angular frequency
 determine the impedance and the phase
angle,  of the voltage relative to the current.
So, we use the term impedance to represent
reactances and resistance.
Figure-23: RLC circuit.
1. The current at any instant must be the same
In a given experiment, let us examine a circuit at all points in the circuit. Thus, the currents
containing all three elements in series; a resistor in each element are in phase with each
other, even though the voltages are not. We
R , an inductor of inductance L and a capacitor
choose our origin in time as t  0 . So the
C in the Figure-(23). We let VR , VL , and VC
current I at any time t is:
represent the voltage across each element at a
given instant in time. Also let VR 0 , VL 0 and VC 0 I  I 0 cos t

represent the maximum (peak) values of these
and the instantaneous voltage from the
voltages. The voltage across each of the
elements will follow the phase relations. source V is:
At any instant, the voltage V supplied by the V  V0 cos (t   )

source will be by Kirchhoff’s loop rule;
2. Now, we can analyze a RLC circuit using a
V  VR  VL  VC phasor diagram.
2.1. Arrows are drawn in an xy coordinate
Because the various voltages are not in phase,
system to represent each voltage.
they do not reach their peak values at the same
2.2. The length of each arrow represents the
time, so the peak voltage of the source V0 will magnitude of the peak voltage across
not equal to VR 0  VL 0  VC 0 . Therefore, the each element. Voltage drops across
each element are found using Ohm’s law
peak voltages do not add to yield source voltage.
or equivalent for each element:
Let us now find the impedance of a RLC circuit
as a whole the effect of:
VR 0  I 0 R
 R, X C and X L , VLO  I 0 X L
 The peak current I0 ,
 The phase relation between V and I . VC 0  I 0 X C
25
2.3. The relationship between the rms Therefore the vector sum of these vectors
voltage (voltmeter readings) across will be the vector that represents the peak
each element and the current I RMS in source voltage, V0 as shown in the Figure-
the RLC circuit at a given source 23d. Here, it is seen that V0 makes an angle
voltage frequency f can be written as:  with I 0 and VR 0 .
9. As time passes, V0 rotates with the other
(VR ) RMS  I RMS R
vectors, so the instantaneous voltage V
(projection of V0 on the x  axis ) is:
(VL ) RMS  I RMS X L
V  V0 cos(t   )
(VC ) RMS  I RMS X C

10. The voltage V across the whole circuit must
equal the source voltage given in the Figure-
22. Thus the voltage from the source is out
3. VR 0 is in phase with the current and it is
of phase with the current by an angle .
initially (t  0) drawn along the positive 11. From this analysis, we can now determine
x  axis as is the current I (Figure-24a) the total impedance Z of the circuit, which
4. V L 0 leads the current by 90 0 , so it leads is defined in analogy to resistance and

reactance as:
VR 0 by 90 0 and is initially drawn along the
positive y  axis .
VRMS  I RMS Z
0
5. VC 0 lags the current by 90 , so VC 0 is
drawn initially along the negative y  axis V0  I 0 Z
(Figure-23a).
6. If we let the vector diagram rotate
Remember that:
counterclockwise at frequency f , we get the
diagram shown in Figure-24b. V0

VRMS 
7. After a time t , each arrow has rotated 2
through an angle of “ t ”. After that, the
I0
projections of each arrow on the I RMS 
2
represent the voltages across each element
at the instant t (Figure-24c). For example
I  I 0 cos t .
8. The sum of projections of the three voltage
vectors represents the instantaneous
voltage across the whole circuit, V.
26
12. From the Figure-(24d), we find V0 as the

hypotenuse of a right triangle.
V0  VR20  (VL 0  VC 0 ) 2
V0  I 0 R 2  ( X L  X C ) 2
13. Finally, we get the total impedance Z :
Z  R2  ( X L  X C )2
2
 1 
Z  R   L 
2

 C 
14. Also from the Figure-(24d), we can find the

phase angle  between voltage and current:
VL 0  Vc 0
tan  
VR 0
I0 (X L  X C )
tan  
I0R
(X L  XC )
tan  
R
Figure-(24d) was drawn for the case XL  XC

and the current lags the source voltage by .
27
(a) (c)
(b)
(d)
Figure-24: Phasor diagram for a series RLC circuit at t  0 (a), a time t later (b). Projections on reflect the
current and voltage (c). The circuit RLC has the sum vector, V0 (d).
28
To obtain the current we need to determine the

Example for the RLC Circuit Experiments:
total impedance Z ;
Suppose that we have R  25.0  ,

Z  R2  ( X L  X C )2
L  30.0mH and C  12.0F for the RLC
circuit. They are connected in series to an ac
Z  (25) 2  (94.2  26.5) 2
90V (rms) source with f  500Hz . Then we
can calculate: Z  72.2
a. Current in the circuit,

b. The voltmeter readings (rms) across Then, by the impedance version of Ohm’s law,
each element and, the current I in the circuit:
c. The phase angle  .

VRMS 90V
I RMS  
First we find the reactance of the inductor and Z 72.2
capacitor at f  500Hz  500s 1 . I RMS  1.25 A
 The reactance X L of the inductor is:

Now we should read the voltage drops V across
X L  2fL  (6.28)(500s )(30  10 H )
1 3
each element. In the experiment, the voltmeter
readings (rms) across each element must be:
X L  2fL  94.2
For the resistor R :
 The reactance X C of the capacitor: (VR ) RMS  I RMS R

1 1
XC   (VR ) RMS  (1.25 A)(25)
2fC (6.28)(500s )(12  10 6 F )
1
1 (VR ) RMS  I RMS R  31.2V

XC 
0.03768 ( s 1 )( F )
1 For the inductor L :

XC   26.5
2fC
(VL ) RMS  I RMS X L
(VL ) RMS  (1.25 A)(94.2)
(VL ) RMS  I RMS X L  118V
29
For the capacitor C:
(VC ) RMS  I RMS X C
(VC ) RMS  (1.25 A)(26.5)
(VC ) RMS  I RMS X C  33.1V
f  500Hz
V  90V
VR (V ) VL (V ) VC (V ) VSUM (V )
31.2 118 33.1 182.3
NOTE: These voltages do not add up to the

source voltage 90V (rms) . Indeed, the rms
voltage across the inductance exceeds the
source voltage. This can happen because the
different voltages are out of phase with each
other, and any instant one voltage can be
negative, to compensate for a larger positive
voltage of another.
The phase angle  is given by:
R 25
cos     0.346
Z 72.2
so that   69.7 0 . Note that  is positive

because XL  XC .
30
3.6. Resonance in RLC Circuits
The rms current in a given RLC series circuit

is:
VRMS
I RMS  (60)
Z
VRMS
I RMS 
2
 1  (61)
R   L 
2

 C  Figure-25: Current in LRC circuit as a function of angular
frequency,  . For the LRC circuit, resonance peak at
  0  1 / LC .
Because the reactance of inductors and
capacitors depends on the frequency f
(  / 2 ) of the source, the current in an RLC When   0 , the circuit is in resonance, and
the frequency f0 :
circuit will depend on frequency.
0
From Equation-(61), we can see that the current f0  (64)
will be maximum at a frequency that satisfies:
2
is the resonant frequency of the circuit. The

1
(L  )0 (62) rms current I at resonance is given by:
C
which gives X L  X C condition. VRMS VRMS

I RMS   (65)
Z R
If we solve this equation for  and call the
solution as  0 , we find:
In an RLC series circuit, the current becomes
1 maximum and the impedance becomes minimum
0  [Resonance] (63)
LC at an angular frequency. At resonance, the
voltage and current are in phase, and the
impedance Z is equal to the resistance R . At the
The RLC series circuit resonates at the frequency f 0 , X C  X L , so the impedance is
resonance angular frequency 0 . A graph of
purely resistive and cos   1 .
I RMS versus  is shown in the Figure-(25). For
small R compared to X L and X C , the

resonance will be higher.
31
Volume-1
4. Experimental Procedures
4.1. EXPERIMENTAL PROCEDURE
Part-1: Verifying Ohm’s Law
1. Construct the circuit shown in the Figure-

(26) below by using the resistor board. Figure-27: The voltage across the resistor versus the
current in the circuit.
4.4. For each output voltage, read and

record the reading values of the voltage
V and current I by the multimeter and
then fill the values in the Table-(5).
5. Using the data values, plot the graph of V

Figure-26: Set-up to determine the resistance. vs I on a graph paper (Figure-27).
5.1. Draw the best line passing through the
2. Keep the power supply off until you have the data values on the graph.
circuit approved by your instructor. 5.2. Find the slope of the best line.
5.3. From the slope, find the experimental
3. Don’t forget to bring the multimeter to its value of the resistance R .
maximum range for the voltage (V ) and
6. Using the resistor color codes, find also the
current (I ) readings, respectively.
expected value of the resistance.
4. Switch on the DC power supply.

7. Compare the experimental and expected
4.1. Set the output voltage to V  1V .
values of the resistance used in the circuit.
4.2. Vary the output voltage of the supply
using the voltage adjusting button.
4.3. Take voltage V and current I
measurements for different output
voltages of the supply on the basic
electrical experiment set.
32
Figure-28: The circuit on the resistor board to determine the resistance R.
33
Volume-1
4.2. LABORATORY REPORT
Part-1: Verifying Ohm’s Law
Name
Department
Student No
Date
1. Record the data values of V and I Resistance By Color Codes

measurements in the Table-(5) below. R .....
2. Report the slope (m) of the V vs I graph.
3. From the slope, find the experimental value
of the resistance R . Find also the expected
value of R from the color code and
compare it with the experimental value.
Table-5: Experimental voltage and current values.
Measurement Experimental Expected
Resistance Reading No Voltage Current Slope, m (V / A) Color Coded
V (Volts) I (Amperes) R (Ohm) R (Ohm)
1 ….. …..
2
3
4
5
R ….. …..
6
7
8
9
10
34
1.5. Repeat the same measurement to find

Volume-1
the resistance of the resistor R3 .
1.6. Record the data values in the Table-(6).

Part-2: Series And Parallel Combination of 2. Find also the expected values of resistances
Resistors
for the resistors R2 and R3 from their color
codes.
3. Compare the expected values with the
measured resistances of the resistors R2

and R3 .
4. Take the three resistances R1 , R2 and R3 ,

i.e., one used in the circuit in the Part-(1) and
two measured above.
4.1. Now, construct the circuit shown in the
Figure-(29) below by using the resistor
board of the electrical experiment set.
4.2. In this circuit, resistances R2 and R3

Figure-29: The experimental circuit with series and are connected in parallel. Then, the
parallel combinations of resistors.
equivalent resistance of R2 and R3 is
connected in series with R1 .
1. Measure and record the resistances of two
5. Now, by taking a single measurement of V
resistors R2 and R3 by using the circuit in
and I , determine the equivalent resistance
the Part-(1).
Req of the three resistors experimentally.
1.1. To do this, replace the resistor R used
5.1. Fill the experimental value of the Req in
in Part-(1) with one of the resistors R2
the Table-(7).
and R3 at a time.
6. Calculate also the expected equivalent
1.2. Adjust the output voltage V  10V .  of the resistors using their
resistance Req
1.3. To obtain V and I for the each
color codes .
resistance R2 and R3 , get only one 7. Compare the experimental and expected
reading of voltage V and current I . equivalent resistances.
1.4. Now, calculate the resistance R2 using

the relation of R V / I .
35
Figure-30: The circuit on the resistor board for a single measurement of V and I for each
resistance.
36
Figure-31: Schematic representation of the circuit with the series and parallel combinations of the
resistors on the resistor board.
37
Volume-1

Part-2: Series and Parallel Combination of
Resistors
1. Report the voltage and current Resistance By Color Codes

measurements of the resistors R2 and R3 R2 .....
in the data Table-(6).
R3 .....
Table-6: The voltage and current measurements for the two resistors.
Measurement Experimental Expected
V
Resistance Voltage Current R Color Coded
I
V (Volts) I (Amperes) R (Ohm) R ()
R2 10 ….. …..
R3 10 ….. …..
Resistances By Color Codes

2. Report the voltage V and current I
R1 .....
measurements of the circuit given in the
Figure-(29). Then, find the values of the R2 .....
equivalent resistance of the circuit found by R3 .....

both measurement and color code
calculations:
Table-7: Equivalent resistance of the circuit.
Measurement Experimental Expected Difference
Voltage Current R V / I Color Coded

Req (Ohm)
V (Volts) I (Amperes) Req (Ohm)  (Ohm)
Req
10 ….. ….. …..
38
Volume-1
Part-3: Kirchhoff’s Law
1. Use the circuit with series and parallel

combinations of resistors (Figure-32).
Figure-32: The circuit constructed.
2. Adjust the output voltage V  10V .

3. Measure the voltage VBC between points B
and C and also current I AC flowing in the
branch AC .
4. Now, take the output voltage of the power
supply as V.
5. By using the color code values of R1 , R2 and
R3 found earlier, apply Kirchhoff’s rule to
calculate the current I AC flowing in the
branch AC , and voltage VBC .
6. Compare the measured and calculated
values. Fill the values in the data Table-(8).
39
Figure-33: Schematic representation of the series and parallel combinations of the resistors on the
resistor board for Kirchhoff’s law.
40
Volume-1
Part-3: Kirchhoff’s Law
1. Report the values of the current I AC and

voltage VBC for both measured and
calculated values.
2. Compare the measured and calculated
values of the current I AC and voltage VBC .
Resistances By Color Codes
R1 .....
R2 .....
R3 .....
Table-8: Data values of the current I AC and voltage VBC in the circuit.
Voltage By Color By Kirchhoff’s Rule
Measured
Source Codes Calculated
VOUT (V ) VBC (V ) I AC (A) R1 , R2 , R3 VBC (V ) I AC (A)
10
41
Volume-2
5. Experimental Procedure
Part-4: Charging and Discharging a Capacitor
Figure-35: Switch positions on the electrical experimental

set.
2. Now turn on the power supply by keeping

the switch at the neutral position.
2.1. Set the power supply output voltage V to 5

volts.
Figure-34: Experimental set-up of the RC circuit for the
charging and discharging a capacitor.
2.2. Measure and record the output voltage V
across the terminals of the power supply.
2.3. Now, connect a piece of wire to the two
1. Construct the RC circuit shown in the terminals of the capacitor by forming a short
circuit across them. This will eliminate the
Figure-(34) to experimentally obtain the
capacitor from the circuit.
charging and discharging curves of the 2.4. Bring the switch to the charging position
current I . (Figure-35) and measure the current I in the

circuit.
Resistance Capacitor 2.5. Record the current in the data Table-(9). Do you
find a constant or varying current?.
R(k) C ( F )
33 1000 3. For the charging the capacitor, bring the
switch to the neutral position and then
1.1. Note that the capacitor used in this remove the wire from the terminals of the
experiment has polarities (positive and
capacitor.
negative terminals) so take the polarities
into account when you connect it to the
circuit. 3.1. Adjust the stopwatch to zero second.
1.2. Keep the power supply off and bring the switch 3.2. Bring the switch to the charging position and
to its neutral position. simultaneously start the clock.
42
3.3. Measure and record the current in the circuit at
t  0. By noting that the current starts to

decrease, measure and record the current with
the corresponding time given by stopwatch at
each 5 or 10 second interval.
3.4. Continue until the current in the circuit drops to
a value of 1 or 2 microamperes ( A) .
3.5. Record your values in the experimental data

Table-(10).
3.6. Bring the switch to the neutral position (not the
discharge position). Stop the clock only when
you finish taking data values.
Figure-36: Plotting the I vs t graphs for charging and

4. Now, you will discharge the capacitor that
discharging.
you charged in the step-3 above.
6. By the graphs you plotted in the step-5

4.1. To discharge a charged capacitor that has a
above, obtain the time constant  of the
charge q  VC , first bring the stopwatch to the
circuit by finding the time t at which the
zero position, and then bring the switch to the
discharge position while simultaneously starting
current drops to 37% of its initial value.
the clock.
4.2. Now, measure and record the current I at 6.1. Find time constant  from both the charging and
t  0 . Note that the current starts to decrease. discharging graphs.

6.2. Calculate also the theoretical value of the time
4.3. Repeat what you did in the step-3 above and
record your data values in the data Table-(11). constant by using the formula   RC .
4.4. Switch off the power supply when you finish taking 6.3. Compare the theoretical value of the time
your data. constant with the values you have found from the
graph.
5. Using the data in the Table-(10) and (11), 6.4. Verify that the time constant RC has units of
time as seconds.
plot the graphs of I vs t for both the
6.5. Fill the value of  in the Table-(12).
charging and discharging currents.
7. Using Equation-(21), calculate the charge q

5.1. Plot the two graphs on the same graph paper by
choosing a common time axis as shown in the
accumulated on the capacitor at the time t
Figure-(36). fully charged and record it in the Table-(13).
7.1. For this calculation, use the last time

measurement, t in the experimental data Table-
(10).
7.2. Compare this value with the value of the charge,
q  VC .
43
Figure-37: Schematic representation of the RC circuit and the power supply output voltage V on the
resistor board for the charging and discharging a capacitor.
44
Volume-2 2. The data of I and t measurements during

the charging of the capacitor will be given
by the Table (10).
Table-10: The data values during the charging of the
Part-4: Charging and Discharging a Capacitor
capacitor.
Measured Measured
t (sec) t (sec)
I ( A) I ( A)
1. For the RC circuit with a piece of wire
connected across the capacitor: 0 .....
1.1. Measure and report below the current

I flowing in the circuit.
1.2. Measure the voltage V across the
terminals of the power supply.
Resistance Capacitor
R(k) C ( F )
..... ..... 3. The data values obtained during the
discharging of the capacitor will be filled in
the data Table-(11).
Table-9: The current in the short circuit.

Table-11: The data values during the discharging of the
Measured Measured Calculated
capacitor.
V
V I I t (sec) I ( A) t (sec) I ( A)
R
5V ..... ..... 0 .....
45
4. Find the experimental time constant  of the

circuit from the I vs t graphs. Find it from
both the charging and discharging graphs.

Then, compare experimental time constant
 with its theoretical value obtained by
  RC . Fill the experimental and
theoretical time constant in the Table-(12).
Table-12: Time constant  of the circuit from the
I vs t graphs.
Comparison Time constant  (sec)

Charging Curve .....
Discharging Curve .....
Theoretical Value .....
5. Find and report the charge q on the

capacitor at the time you finished charging.
Compare this value with the q  VC by
using the data Table-(13).
Table-13: The charge on the capacitor after charging

process.
Experimental Theoretical Difference
Charge, q q  VC q(%)
..... ..... .....
46
Volume-3 5. According to the voltage V R measurements,

calculate the rms value of the current
I ( A) passing through the resistor R for
6. Experimental Procedure
each frequency f by using the equation
(VR ) RMS  ( I RMS ) R .
6. Also measure the rms current through the
Part-5: RLC Circuits and Resonance (Optional)
resistor R experimentally in the circuit and
record it as I (A) .
7. Plot the theoretical and experimental values
of the current I according to frequency f (or
angular frequency  ) in the same graph.

8. Calculate theoretical value of the angular
resonance frequency 0 and the
resonance frequency f 0 by using the

Equation-(63) and (64).
8.1. Note that at the resonance frequency f0 , the

Figure-38: The constructed RLC circuits.
impedance Z of the RLC circuit is equal to the
resistance R such that XC  XL .

1. Connect the circuit as shown in the Figure-
8.2. Fill the calculated values for the resonance
(38). For the circuit, you can use a R  10 frequency in the Table-(15).
resistor and 1000F capacitor. 9. Show the both theoretical and experimental
resonance frequency f 0 on the graph.
Resistance Inductor Capacitor
10. When the circuit is in resonance (the
R(k) L(mH ) C ( F ) condition Z  R ), calculate the rms
10 2.2 1000 current I passing through the circuit by
using the Equation-(65).
2. Set the signal generator output (signal 10.1. In the LRC circuit, calculate also the rms
amplitude) to V  3.0V , sine ac waveform, voltage VR on the resistor R , rms the
at f  10.0 Hz. voltage VL on the inductor L , and the rms

3. Connect the voltage sensor (oscilloscope) to voltage VC on the capacitor C when the
the ends of the resistor R to measure the circuit is in resonance.
rms voltage (VR ) across the resistor. 10.2. Fill the calculated values in the data Table-(16).
11. Explain how the inductor L and capacitor

4. Record and measure the frequency values
( f ) and the corresponding rms voltage C behave at the resonance frequency f 0 of
the circuit.
(VR ) in the data Table-(14).
47
Volume-3
Part-5: RLC Circuits and Resonance
Resistance (R) ..... 

Capacitance (C ) ..... F
Inductance (L) ..... H
Table-14: Voltage V R on the resistor and current I in the RLC circuit.

Measured Calculated Measured Calculated
RMS RMS RMS RMS

Frequency Frequency
Voltage Current Current Voltage Current Current
f (Hz) VR (V ) I (A) I (A) f (Hz) VR (V ) I (A) I (A)
48
Table-15: Resonance frequency in the RLC circuit.
Frequency Experimental Calculated
Resonance Frequency, f 0 ( Hz)
Resonance Angular Frequency, 0 (rad / s)
Table-16: Voltage and current values in the RLC circuit when the circuit is in resonance.
Calculated
Resonance Source Voltage The rms current The rms potential differences across
Resistance at resonance each circuit element at resonance
Frequency Output (rms)
Current in the
Voltage Voltage Voltage
Circuit
f 0 ( Hz) V (V ) R(Ohm) I ( A) VR (V ) VL (V ) VC (V )
..... ..... .....
49

Electricity Student Ing 2013

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Electricity Student Ing 2013

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Rentech Experiments in Electricity

1. Basic Electrical Experiment Set

2. Internal DC Power Supply

6. Resistors (with different resistances)

9. Connecting Wires for Circuit Elements

10. Standard Power Cable

6.1. Experimental Procedure: RLC Circuits and Resonance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47

The purpose of this experiment is to study;

1. Ohm’s law to find the value of an

1.1. Ohm’s Law

If a conductor is connected to a power supply, the

applied voltage (V ) and current (I ) is given by:

1.2. Resistors in Series

If we construct a circuit as shown in Figure-(2a),

seen in the Figure-(3).

The magnitude of Req is determined by the

magnitude of the individual resistances of the

By using Equation-(1), the equivalent resistance Req  R1  R2 (7)

Req  R1  R2  R3  .... (8)

The same current flows through all the resistors

Figure-4: Circuit with series combination of resistors.

As seen in the Figure-(4), when two resistors are

through both resistors in the circuit.

1.3. Resistors in Parallel

Figure-7: Resistors in a parallel connection.

By solving Equation-(10) for Req , then we obtain:

Since resistors are connected in parallel, each

1.4. Resistor Color Codes

Table-2: Resistor Color Codes.

For example, if the color codes of a resistor are

Figure-8: Color bands of a given resistor. B1 =Red (2),

1.5. Kirchhoff’s Rules

Figure-10: Kirchhoff’s loop rule.

Figure-9: Kirchhoff’s junction rule.

Kirchhoff’s second rule or loop rule:

Kirchhoff’s rules important tools for analyzing any

It is based on conservation of charge. It states

Use these sign conventions given in the Figure-

When we travel through a source in the direction

When we travel through a resistor in the same

(a) direction as the assumed current, the potential

Figure-11: Sign conventions for the loop rule.

Careful use of consistent sign rule is essential in

3. Use Junction rule: We apply Kirchhoff’s

point "a" , where I 3 enters and I 2 and I 1

The same equation holds at point "d " , so we

but from " d " to " c" the potential

1.2. The direction of I 1 is not obvious in

changes around the loop is:

I 3  1.1  0.73(0.87)  1.7 A (Expected)

80  30 I 1 Kirchhoff’s rules. In a given experiment, the

For the resistors in parallel, the potential

For the resistors in series, the potential

Volume-2 When we say that a capacitor has charge Q (or,

a charge Q is stored on the capacitor), we mean

and then discharge it, between the conductors is proportional to the

2. Measure the charging and discharging magnitude Q of charge on each conductor. It

The unit of capacitance is called one farad (1 F )

vacuum) form a capacitor. A capacitor is a circuit time.

element that accumulates charge when

2.2. Charging a Capacitor And then recalling that VR  IR , we get:

Solving Eq.(17) for I (t ) , we get:

Since I (t ) is just the rate of change of q (t ) :