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Sinusoids and
Phasors: Complete
Guide
Categories
CONTROL SYSTEM , INSTRUMENTATION ,
MEASUREMENT , SIGNALS AND SYSTEMS

Many new electrical engineers are unaware

of the use of sinusoids and phasors when
they analyze AC circuits. In this article, we’ll
explain how these can be used in analyzing
AC circuits.

Table of Contents

Sinusoids
Sinusoids are mathematical curves that
describe smooth periodic oscillations. A
sinusoid signal has the form of the sine or
cosine function.

A-Sinusoid

Sinusoidal currents are usually referred to

as alternating currents (ac). Currents of
this type reverse at regular intervals and
alternate between positive and negative
values. Circuits driven by sinusoidal
voltage or current are referred to as AC
circuits.

A sinusoidal forcing function produces

both transient response and steady-state
response, much like the step function. The
transient response dies out with time so
that only the steady-state response
remains. When the transient response has
become negligibly small compared with
the steady-state response, we say that the
circuit is operating at sinusoidal steady-
state.

Why Sinusoids are used in AC Circuit

Analysis?

It is common to use sinusoids and phasors

to analyze AC circuits. So it is important to
learn them.

The reasons behind the use of sinusoids in

AC circuit analysis are,

1. Almost all natural phenomena have

sinusoidal characteristics.
2. Signals in the sinusoidal form are simple
to generate and transmit.
3. Using Fourier analysis, any practical
periodic signal can be represented as a
sum of sinusoids.
4. Mathematically, a sinusoid is easy to
handle

Confused? don’t worry, I’ll explain each one

to you.

First, nature itself is characteristically

sinusoidal. There is a sinusoidal variation
in the motion of most natural phenomena.
Some examples include the motion of a
pendulum, the vibration of a string, the
ripples on the ocean texture, and the
natural response to underdamped second-
order systems.

The video below shows motion of a

pendulum creating sinusoidal waveform.

Second, a sinusoidal signal is easy to

generate and transmit. A sinewave is the
projection of a circle rotating at a constant
speed along the time axis. It occurs
everywhere in nature when something
rotates, and is the most simple periodic
function you can encounter.

High Frequency
Transformers
smd power inductors
Comes in a wide variety of shapes
and sizes

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OPEN

Electrical generators rotate, so they

produce voltage and current that is
sinusoidal. That is their nature. It is the
form of voltage generated throughout the
world and supplied to homes, factories,
laboratories, and so on. It is the dominant
form of signal in the communications and
electric power industries.

Third, through Fourier analysis, any

practical periodic signal can be
represented by a sum of sinusoids. You
can express triangular and square wave in
terms of fundamental sinusoidal frequency
and its multiples according to Fourier
series. Sinusoids, therefore, play an
important role in the analysis of periodic
signals.

Squarewave Fourier Series Visualized

Finally, sinusoids are simple to calculate

mathematically. The derivative and integral
of a sinusoid are also sinusoids.

For all the above reasons and other

reasons, the sinusoid is an extremely
important function in circuit analysis.

Sinusoids in Circuit Analysis

A sinusoidal forcing function produces
both transient response and steady-state
response, much like the step function.

The transient response dies out with time

so that only the steady-state response
remains. When the transient response has
become negligibly small compared with
the steady-state response, we say that the
circuit is operating at sinusoidal steady-
state.

Lets learn how sinusoids are used in circuit

analysis.

For that, consider the sinusoidal voltage,

Where,

Vm = the amplitude of the sinusoid

ω = the angular frequency in radians/s
ωt = the argument of the sinusoid

Period of a Sinusoid

The ^gure shows the graphical

representation of v(t) as a function of its
argument ωt.

A-Sinusoid

The sinusoid repeats itself every time T

seconds, therefore T is called the period of
the sinusoid.

From the plot above, we observe that

ωT = 2
2ππ

Hence, Time period of a sinusoid is,

Periodic Signal

A periodic function is one that satis^es

Periodic signal, for all t and
for all integers n.

The fact that v(t) repeats itself

every T seconds is shown by
replacing t by (t + T) in .

Hence,

that is, v has the same value at t + T as it

does at t and v(t) is said to be periodic.

Frequency of a Sinusoid

As mentioned, the period T of the periodic

function is the time of one complete cycle
or the number of seconds per cycle.

The reciprocal of this quantity is the

number of cycles per second, known as the
cyclic frequency of the sinusoid
sinusoid.

From the equations of time period and

frequency, it is clear that, angular
frequency,

While ω is in radians per second (rad/s), f

is in hertz (Hz).

The unit of f is named after the

German physicist Heinrich R.
Hertz (1857–1894)

Phase and Argument

Let us now consider a more general

expression for the sinusoid,

v(t) = V m sin(
sin(ωωt + )

where, ω t is the argument and is the

phase
phase.

Both argument and phase can be in

radians or degrees.

Let us examine the two sinusoids, v 1 (t) =

V m sin ω t and v 2 (t) = V m sin ((ω
ωt + )

The starting point of v2 occurs ^rst in time.

Therefore, we say that v2 leads v1 by or
that v1 lags v2 by .

If ≠ 0, we also say that v1 and v2 are out

of phase. If = 0, then v1 and v2 are said
to be in phase; they reach their minima and
maxima at exactly the same time.

We can compare v1 and v2 in this manner

because they operate at the same
frequency; they do not need to have the
same amplitude.

A sinusoid can be e xpressed in either sine

or cosine form. When comparing two
sinusoids, it is expedient to express both
as either sine or cosine with positive
amplitudes.

Some practice questions on sinusoids are

given below.

1. Find the amplitude, phase, period, and

frequency of the sinusoid.
v(t) = 12 cos(50t + 10°) V

Solution:
The amplitude is Vm = 12 V.
The phase is = 10°.
The angular frequency is ω = 50 rad/s.
The period T = 2 π / ω = 2π/50 = 0.1257
s.
The frequency is f = 1/T = 7.958 Hz.

2. Calculate the phase angle between v1 = −10

cos(ωt + 50°) and v2 = 12 sin(ωt − 10°). State
which sinusoid is leading.

Solution
We may regard v1 as simply −10 cosωt
with a phase shift of +50°. Hence, v1 is
as shown in ^gure.
Similarly, v2 is 12 sinωt with a phase
shift of −10°, as shown in ^gure.
It is easy to see that v2 leads v1 by 30°
30°,
that is, 90° − 50° − 10°.

Phasors
A phasor is a complex number that
represents the amplitude and phase of
a sinusoid
sinusoid.

Sinusoids are easily expressed in terms of

phasors, which are more convenient to
work with than sine and cosine functions.

Phasor method in ac circuit analysis

is introduced by Charles Proteus
Steinmetz (1865–1923). He is a
German-Austrian mathematician and
engineer. He is also noted for his
work on the theory of hysteresis.

Phasors provide a simple means of

analyzing linear circuits excited by
sinusoidal sources; solutions of such
circuits would be intractable otherwise.
The notion of solving ac circuits using
phasors was ^rst introduced by Charles
Steinmetz in 1893.

Before we completely de^ne phasors and

apply them to circuit analysis, we assume
that you are thoroughly familiar with
complex numbers.

Basics of Complex Numbers

A complex number z can be written in

rectangular form as

z = x + jy

where j = √−1 ; x is the real part of z; y is

the imaginary part of z.

The complex number z can also be written

in polar or exponential form as,

where r is the magnitude of z, and is the

phase of z.

We notice that z can be represented in

three ways:

The relationship between the rectangular

form and the polar form is
shown in the graph below.

Representation of a complex number

Given x and y, we can get r and as,

On the other hand, if we know r and , we

can obtain x and y as,

Thus, z may be written as,

Phasor Representation

The idea of phasor representation is based

on Euler’s identity. In general,

which shows that cos and sin as the

real and imaginary parts of ej .

Given a sinusoid v(t) = Vm cos(ωt + ), we

use above equation to express v(t) as,

V is thus the phasor representation of the

sinusoid v(t).

In other words, a phasor is a complex

representation of the magnitude and phase
of a sinusoid.

A phasor may be regarded as a

mathematical equivalent of a
sinusoid with the time dependence
dropped.

Consider the plot of the sinor Vejωt =

Vmej(ωt+ ) on the complex plane.

As time increases, the sinor rotates on a

circle of radius Vm at an angular velocity ω
in the counterclockwise direction. We may
regard v(t) as the projection of the sinor
Vejωt on the real axis.

Representation of Vejωt

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The value of the sinor at time t = 0 is the

phasor V of the sinusoid v(t). The sinor
may be regarded as a rotating phasor.

Thus, whenever a sinusoid is expressed as

a phasor, the term ejωt is implicitly present.
It is therefore important, when dealing with
phasors, to keep in mind the frequency ω
of the phasor; otherwise we can make
serious mistakes.