Section 1: Sinusoidal Waveforms

Learning outcome
At the end of the section, you should be able to:
1. Determine key parameters of sinusoidal waveforms.

1.1 DC and AC waveforms

Two types of commonly encountered waveforms in electrical systems
are:
a) DC voltage or current waveforms:
This type of voltage or current signal is fixed in magnitude and
direction/sign (either positive or negative). An example of DC
current from a battery is shown in Figure 1.1.

Source: https://www.electronics-tutorials.ws/accircuits/ac-waveform.html
Figure 1.1

b) AC voltage or current waveforms:

This type of voltage or current has both their magnitude and
direction/sign varying with time. Examples are shown in Figure
1.2. The sine wave shown in Figure 1.2 is a type of sinusoidal
waveform.

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 The term AC and sinusoidal are often used interchangeably as
sinusoidal waveforms are the most commonly encountered AC
voltage or current.

Source: https://www.electronics-tutorials.ws/accircuits/ac-waveform.html
Figure 1.2
Web Resource for further explanation of the differences between
DC and AC.
1.2 Characteristics of sinusoidal waveform
Figure 1.3 shows a sinusoidal voltage waveform.

Figure 1.3

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Important characteristics of sinusoidal waveforms:
• The vertical axis is in volts (V) and the horizontal axis is in time (t).
• Instantaneous value is the magnitude of the waveform at any
instant of time.
• Peak value (VP) is the maximum instantaneous value measured
from the zero level. In this case, it is also the amplitude of the sine
wave.
• Peak-to-Peak value (VP-P) is the full voltage between the positive
and negative peaks.
• Period T is the time interval between two corresponding
successive points. It is the duration of one cycle of the waveform.
T is measured in seconds (s).
• Frequency f is the number of cycles of the waveform in 1 second.
It is measured in Hertz (Hz).

1 cycle per second = 1 Hz

Frequency f is inversely related to the period T
1 1
𝑓= 𝑜𝑟 𝑇 =
𝑇 𝑓
Note: The frequency of the power supply in Singapore is 50 Hz.

Example 1.1
Refer to the periodic waveform below.
(i) Find the period T.
(ii) How many cycles are shown?
(iii) What is the frequency?
(iv) Determine the peak value and peak-to-peak value.

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(10 ms; 2; 100 Hz; 6.5 V)

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1.3 Average value of waveform
The average or mean value of a continuous DC voltage or current will
always be equal to its maximum value since it is constant. However, the
average value of a periodic voltage or current waveform is defined as:
𝐴𝑙𝑔𝑒𝑏𝑟𝑎𝑖𝑐 𝑠𝑢𝑚 𝑜𝑓 𝑎𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑠 𝑖𝑛 𝑜𝑛𝑒 𝑐𝑦𝑐𝑙𝑒
𝑉𝑎𝑣𝑔 𝑜𝑟 𝐼𝑎𝑣𝑔 =
𝑃𝑒𝑟𝑖𝑜𝑑

Example 1.2
Determine the average value of the following waveforms:

(i) Average value =

(ii) Average value =

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The average value of a sine wave taken over one complete cycle is
always zero, because the positive area (above the horizontal axis) is
equal to (or offset) the negative area (below the horizontal axis).
As such, average value may not be a useful parameter to characterise
sinusoidal electrical supplies.
1.4 Root-mean-square value
Figure 1.4 shows a resistor in a water bath to be heated from room
temperature by a DC and AC supply one at a time.

Figure 1.4
When Switch 1 is closed and Switch 2 is open, power delivered by the
DC supply equals 𝑃𝐷𝐶 = 𝐼𝑑𝑐 2 𝑅.
When Switch 2 is closed and Switch 1 is open, the instantaneous power
delivered by the AC supply equals
2 1
𝑃𝐴𝐶 = 𝑖𝑑𝑐 2 𝑅 = (𝐼𝑝𝑒𝑎𝑘 𝑠𝑖𝑛𝜔𝑡) 𝑅 = 𝐼𝑝𝑒𝑎𝑘 2 (1 − 𝑐𝑜𝑠2𝜔𝑡)𝑅
2
2 2
𝐼𝑝𝑒𝑎𝑘 𝐼𝑝𝑒𝑎𝑘
= 𝑅− 𝑅𝑐𝑜𝑠2𝜔𝑡
2 2
(For your extra knowledge, there is no need to memorise.)

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Since the average of the second term is zero, the average power
delivered by the AC supply equals
𝐼𝑝𝑒𝑎𝑘 2 𝐼𝑝𝑒𝑎𝑘 2
𝑃𝐴𝐶(𝑎𝑣𝑔) = 𝑅=( ) 𝑅
2 √2
For the water to rise to the same temperature, the energy and power
delivered by either the DC or AC supply must be the same.
𝑃𝐷𝐶 = 𝑃𝐴𝐶(𝑎𝑣𝑔)
2
2 𝐼𝑝𝑒𝑎𝑘
𝐼𝑑𝑐 𝑅 = ( ) 𝑅
√2
𝐼𝑝𝑒𝑎𝑘
𝐼𝑑𝑐 = = 𝐼𝑒𝑓𝑓
√2
𝐼𝑝𝑒𝑎𝑘
The equivalent DC value is called the effective value of the
√2
sinusoidal current. For example, if the DC supply provides 10 A of
current, then the peak value of the AC current must be √2 × 10 =
14.14 A to deliver the same power and give the same heating effect on
the water.
The same derivation can be applied to sinusoidal voltage, giving:
𝑉𝑝𝑒𝑎𝑘
𝑉𝑑𝑐 = = 𝑉𝑒𝑓𝑓
√2
For sinusoidal waveforms, the effective value is also called root-mean-
square value.
𝐼𝑝𝑒𝑎𝑘
𝐼𝑒𝑓𝑓 = 𝐼𝑟𝑚𝑠 =
√2
𝑉𝑝𝑒𝑎𝑘
𝑉𝑒𝑓𝑓 = 𝑉𝑟𝑚𝑠 =
√2

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Example 1.3
The 230 V DC source delivers 100 W to a bulb. Determine the RMS
(effective) values and peak values of the applied voltage and current of
the AC source if it is to deliver the same power to the bulb to produce
the same brightness.

(Current: RMS = 0.43 A, Peak = 0.615 A; Voltage: RMS = 230 V, Peak = 325 V)

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