Capacitor in the AC circuit with Cobra3 TEP

Principle
A ca
capa
paci
cito
torr is co
conn
nnececte
ted
d in a ci
circ
rcui
uitt wi
with
th a va
vari
riab
able
le-fr
-freq
eque
uenc
ncyy volt
voltag
agee so
sour
urce
ce.. Th
The
e
impeda
imp edance
nce and pha
phasese dis
displa
placeme
cement
nt are det
determ
ermine
ined
d as a funfuncti
ction
on of freque
frequency
ncy and of
capacitance. Parallel and series impedances are measured.
Related topics

Capacitance, Kirchhoffs laws, !a"wells equations, AC impedance, Phase displacement

Equipment
# $esistor in plug-in bo" %& ' ()#*%-+
# $esistor in plug-in bo" #** ' ()#*%-+(
# $esistor in plug-in bo" * ' ()#*%-+%
# Capacitor case  # /012* 3 ()##(-*#
# Capacitor case  . /012* 3 ()##(-*
# Capacitor case  %.& /012* 3 ()##(-*(
# Connection bo" *+*(*-(
 Connecting cord, l 4 2** mm, red *&(+#-*#
 Connecting cord, l 4 2** mm, blue *&(+#-*%
# Cobra( 5asic 6nit, 675 ##2*-2*
# !easuring module function generator ####-**
# Power8raph 7oftware
Power8raph #%22-+#
# Cobra( 6niversal writer software #%2*%-+#
 Power supply, # 3- ##2#-))
##2#-) )
PC, 9indows: )2 or higher

0ig. #@ ="perimental set-up

P%%*2#2 P;<9= 7ysteme 8mb; > Co. K8 ? All rights reserved #

 TEP Capacitor in the AC circuit with Cobra3

Tasks
#. eter
etermine
mine the impedance
impedance of a capacitor
capacitor as a function of frequency
frequency..
. eter
etermine
mine the total
total impedance
impedance of capacitors
capacitors connected
connected in series
series and in parallel.
parallel.
(. eter
etermine
mine the phase
phase displacement
displacement between
between current
current and voltage
voltage over a $C networB
as a function
f unction of frequency.

Set-up
1. Impedance measurement
Connectt the 0unction
Connec 0unction 8en
8ener
erato
atorr !od
!odule
ule to the Cob
Cobra
ra(
( uni
unitt and set up the equipment
equipment
according to 0ig. #. The Analog Dn  1 7E should be connected in a way that it measures
the voltage drop over the capacitor. Connect the Cobra( unit to your 675 port. Connect
both Cobra( and 0unction 8enerator !odule to their # 3 supplies. 7tart the measureE
program on your computer. 7elect the 8augeE Power8raphE.

Fn the 7etupE chart of Power8raph clicB the Analog Dn  17E symbol and select the
module 5urst measurementE with the following parameters to enable the Analog Dn  1
7E to perform ac measurements. The obtained values are AC amplitude values, i.e. the
positive peaB voltage. To obtain the effective voltage in case of sine waves the values have
to be divided by √ 2 .

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 Capacitor in the AC circuit with Cobra3 TEP

0ig. @ Analog Dn  1 7E settings for ac measurement

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 TEP Capacitor in the AC circuit with Cobra3

ClicB the 0unction 8eneratorE symbol and set the parameters liBe this@

0ig. (@ 0unction 8eneratorE settings

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 Capacitor in the AC circuit with Cobra3 TEP

Add a 3irtual deviceE with two calculated channels liBe this@

0ig. %@ 3irtual device settings channel #

0ig 2@ 3irtual device settings channel 

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 TEP Capacitor in the AC circuit with Cobra3

Set the channels to be recorded like this (see Fig. 6) and configure a diagram to be seen during
measurementt like this (see Fig. 7)
measuremen

0ig +@ Power8raph settings

0ig &@ isplay settings

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 Capacitor in the AC circuit with Cobra3 TEP

$eco
$ecordrd cur
curve
ves
s for di
diff
ffer
eren
entt va
valu
lues
es of re
resi
sist
stan
ance
ce an
and
d cap
capac
acit
itan
ance.
ce. Aft
After
er cli
clicB
cBin
ing
g th
the
e
ContinueE button the 7tart measurementE button appears. <o <ouu may stop the
measurement when the current does not rise much any longer, but for easy evaluation with
Adopt channelGE it is best to always record the same number of values H the drop down
menu under 7top conditionE you find a feature for this. Df you select only current D and
voltage 6 to be displayed, current and voltage curves plotted against frequency may looB
liBe this@

0ig. J@ Current1voltage dependence on the frequency

Plot the impedance against the inverse frequency H e"change the set for the "-a"is with
!easurementE I Channel manager
managerGGE. The linear dependence of the impedance from the
inve
invers
rse
e fr
freq
eque
uenc
ncy
y ca
can
n be seseen
en.. To pu
putt mo
more
re cu
curv
rves
es in
into
to th
the
e sa
same
me di
diag
agra
ram
m ususe
e
!easurementE I Adopt channelGE
channelGE

0ig )@ Dmpedance dependence on the time scale

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 TEP Capacitor in the AC circuit with Cobra3

2. Total impedance of parallel and series connection

Also measure the impedance of capacitors in parallel and in series connection

The rule for adding capacitances in parallel is C tot 4 C#  C.

Capacitances in series sum up liBe

1 1 1 C1 C2
= + or C tot =
C tot C1 C 2 C 1+ C 2

(. Phase shift measurement

Connect the Analog Dn  1 7E terminals so as to measure the voltage drop over both
capacitance and resistance.

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 Capacitor in the AC circuit with Cobra3 TEP

7tart the 8augeE Cobra( 6niversal 9riterE and select the 0ast !easurementE chart so
that your Cobra( can be used similar to an oscilloscope. 7et the parameters liBe this@

0ig #*@ 0ast !easurement and function

f unction 8enerator settings

$ecord
$eco rd cu
curv
rves
es wi
with
th di
diff
ffer
eren
entt fr
freq
eque
uenc
ncie
ies
s fo
forr ea
each
ch co
comb
mbin
inat
atio
ion
n of re
resi
sist
stan
ance
ce an
and
d
capacitance and taBe down the phase shift to be plotted in a separate curve. 0or low
frequencies it may be better to put the voltage higher to get lower current noise as the
current is quite low for low frequencies. <ou may checB the phase shift with a resistor
without capacitance to be Lero.

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 TEP Capacitor in the AC circuit with Cobra3

6se the 7urveyE function for phase shift evaluation. 9ith a sample rate of ** B;L one
channel corresponds to 2 /s.

0ig. ##@ 7ample measurement for phase shift

;ere a curve obtained with , /0 and #** Fhm@

0ig. #@ Phase shift

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 Capacitor in the AC circuit with Cobra3 TEP

0ig. #(@ Tangent

Tangent of the phase shift vs. frequency

Theory and evaluation

The voltage UC on a capacitance C with charge

2
Q (t ) = ∫ 0
I ( t ) dt
is
U C (t ) = Q ( t ) .
C
dQ
The voltage on the resistance R is with current I ( t ) =
dt
dQ
U R ( t ) = R⋅I ( t ) = R
dt

(t ) dQ
U ( t ) = U c ( t )+ U R ( t ) = Q +R = U 0 cos (ω t )
C dt

for a resistor and a capacitance in series connected to an ac voltage source. ifferentiating

this equation yields

I dI
C + dt =−ω⋅U 0 sin (ω t )
R

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 TEP Capacitor in the AC circuit with Cobra3

This differential equation has the solution

I ( t ) = I 0 cos ( ω t + φ )
with

1
tan (φ ) = >0
ω⋅CR

i.e. the current is ahead of the voltage and

U0
I0 =

√ +( ω⋅ )
2
2 1
R
C
The impedance is then

√ ( )
2
U0 2 1
= R+
I0 ω⋅C
and the impedance of the capacitance alone  R 4 * is

1 = R^ c .
ω⋅C
Dn a plot of impedance vs. inverse frequency is the slope m hence with ω = 2 π⋅f

1 1
m= and C=
2 π⋅C 2 π⋅m

1 ms As
m = 36 Ω/ ms ⇒ C = = 4.42⋅10−
6
= 4.42 μ F
v V
36 ⋅2⋅π
A
1 ms As
m = 72 Ω / ms ⇒ C = = 2.21⋅10−
6
= 2.21 μ F
v V
72 ⋅2⋅π
A
1 ms As
m = 142 Ω / ms ⇒ C = = 1.12⋅10− 6
= 1.12 μ F
v V
142 ⋅2⋅π
A

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