These large transformers are used to increase the voltage at a power plant for

distribution of energy by electrical transmission to the power grid. Voltages can be

changed relatively easily because power is distributed by alternating current rather than
direct current. (Lester Lefkowitz/Getty Images)
ALTERNATING CURRENT
CIRCUITS
•AC sources and phasors
•Resistors in an AC circuit
•Inductors in an AC circuits
•Capacitors in an AC circuits
•The RC circuit
•The RLC series circuit
•Phasor diagram
•Power in an AC circuit
•Resonance in a series RLC circuit
 1. AC Sources
• AC circuit consists of circuit elements and a power
source
• Time varying voltage described by
• Δv = ΔVmax sin ωt = ΔVmax sin 2πft ;
• ΔVmax is the max. output voltage or the voltage
amplitude

The voltage supplied by an AC

source is sinusoidal with a period
T.
1.1 Resistors in an AC circuit
The magnitude of the source voltage
equals the magnitude of the voltage across
the resistor:
Δv = ΔvR = ΔVmax sin 2πft …..(1)
ΔvR is the instantaneous voltage across the
resistor.
If I = ΔV/R, the instantaneous current in
the resistor is
iR = ΔvR / R = (ΔVmax sin 2πft )/ R , hence
iR = Imax sin 2πft ….(2)
where; Imax = ΔVmax / R ….(3)
ΔvR = ΔImax R sin 2πft

At a the current is max and positive
direction, whereas at c current also
max but negative direction
(a) Plots of the
instantaneous current iR and
instantaneous voltage vR
across a resistor as
functions of time. The
current is in phase with the
voltage, which means that
the current is zero when the
voltage is zero, maximum
when the voltage is
maximum, and minimum
when the voltage is
minimum. At time t = T,
one cycle of the time-
varying voltage and current
has been completed.
The current and voltage are
in step with each other
because they vary
identically with time
Reach max. values at same
time, hence they are said to
be in phase
 To simplify our analysis of circuits
containing two or more elements, we
use graphical constructions called
phasor diagrams.
A phasor is a vector whose length is
proportional to the maximum value of
the variable it represents ( ΔVmax and
ΔImax ) and rotates counter-clockwise
at an angular speed equal to the
angular frequency associated with the
variable
Can use the projection of phasors to represent current and voltage values that
vary sinusoidally with time.
The phase relationships among currents and voltages can be represented as
vector additions of phasors.
http://www.electronics-tutorials.ws/accircuits/phasors.html
• The average value of current over one cycle is zero.
• Current is maintained in positive direction for the same
amount of time and at the same magnitude as it is maintained
in the negative direction.
• Rate of energy delivered to resistor, power = i2R, where i is
the instantaneous current.
• Since power is proportional to square of current, hence makes
no difference whether current is direct or alternating.
In AC, the average value of current is the rms current. rms stands for root-mean-
square, which means the square root of the mean (average) of the square of the current.
Irms = √ ave of i2. But the average value of i2 is ½I2max

(a) Graph of the current in a resistor

as a function of time. (b) Graph of
the current squared in a resistor as a
function of time. Notice that the
gray shaded regions under the curve
and above the dashed line for
I2max/2 have the same area as the
gray shaded regions above the curve
and below the dashed line for
I2max/2. Thus, the average value of
i2 is I2max/2.

I 2 max I max
I rms  ave. of i 2    0.707I max
2 2
 I max
I rms   0.707Imax
2

• Thus the average power delivered to resistor that carries a.c.

• P = I2rmsR
• Alternating voltage is also best discussed in terms of
rms voltage, hence
Vmax
Vrms   0.707Vmax
2

When we speak of measuring 240-V alternating voltage from

electrical outlet, we are referring to an rms voltage of 240 V.
Hence, max voltage would be about 339 V.
AC ammeters and voltmeters are designed to read rms values.
Hence, since ohm’s law also valid for ac circuit:
Vrms  I rms R
Vmax  I max R
The output voltage of an AC generator is given by
Δv= (170 V) sin (60πt). The generator is connected across a 20.0-Ω
resistor. By inspection, what are the
(a)maximum voltage and (b) frequency?
Find the
(c) rms voltage across the resistor,
(d) rms current in the resistor,
(e) maximum current in the resistor,
(f) power delivered to the resistor, and
(g) Current when t = 0.005 s.
(h) Should the argument of the sine function be in degrees or radians?
 2. Capacitors in an AC circuit

• Let’s begin with initial charge on the plates of the

capacitor is zero. The motion of charge through the
circuit is therefore relatively free, and there is a large
current in the circuit. As more charge accumulates on
the capacitor, the voltage across it increases, opposing
the current. After some time interval, the current
approaches zero.
 Capacitors in an AC circuit

When the charge in a capacitor increases, it starts to impede the

current. The impeding effect of a capacitor in ac circuit is
expressed as capacitive reactance (measured in ohms),
1 1
XC  
2fC C
comparing :
v C  Vmax sin t with
 
iC  CVmax sin  t  
 2

We see that the current is 90o out of phase with the voltage across the
capacitor.
The current reaches its maximum value one quarter of a cycle sooner than the
voltage reaches its maximum value.
At point b where current is zero, capacitor reached max charge, so voltage
across capacitor is max (point d )
At points a and e , the current is max, occurring at instants where charge on
capacitor has just gone to zero and begins to charge up with the opposite
polarity. Charge zero, hence voltage zero
For a sinusoidally applied voltage, the current always leads the voltage
 Capacitors in an AC circuit

The capacitive reactance (measured in ohms),

1 1
XC  
2fC C
Therefore the relation between rms voltage and rms current
to capacitive reactance can be given as:
ΔVc,rms = IrmsXc
An AC generator with an output rms voltage of
36.0 V at a frequency of 60.0 Hz is connected
across a 12.0-µF capacitor. Find the
(a) capacitive reactance,
(b) rms current, and
(c) maximum current in the circuit.
(d) Does the capacitor have its maximum charge
when the current takes its maximum value?
Explain.
 3. Inductors in an AC circuit

• Consider an AC circuit consisting of only an inductor.

• The changing current produces a back emf given by
I
v L  L
t
The inductor causes a back emf that impedes current,
acting like a resistor. Hence the effective resistance of the
coil is called inductive reactance, XL (measured in ohms):
X L  2fL  L
The reactance increases with frequency and inductance
consistent with Faraday’s law – the greater the rate of
change of current in the inductor, the larger the back emf.

We can also write the voltage across the coil as:

V L ,rms  I rms X L
 Plots of the instantaneous current iL
and instantaneous voltage vL across
an inductor as functions of time. The
current lags behind the voltage by
90°.
When the current iL is a maximum
(point b ) it is momentarily not
changing, so the voltage across the
inductor is zero.
At points like a and e, the current is zero and the rate of change
of current is at a maximum, thus the voltage across the inductor is
also a maximum. The voltage reaches its maximum value one
quarter of a period before the current reaches its maximum value.
Hence, for a sinusoidal applied voltage, the current in an
inductor always lag behind the voltage across the inductor by 90o
From the graphs, we see that the instantaneous current iL in the
inductor and the instantaneous voltage ΔvL across the inductor
is out of phase by (π/2) rad = 90o.

Phasor diagram for the inductive

circuit, showing that the current
lags behind the voltage by 90°.
 4. RC Circuits

In an RC circuit, ΔVR,max = ImaxR and ΔVc,max = ImaxXc

But the voltage across the resistor and the voltage across the
capacitor are not in phase. This means that the maximum voltage
is not the sum of the maximum resistor voltage and the maximum
capacitor voltage; they do not peak at the same time.
 4. RC Circuits
This phasor diagram
illustrates the phase
relationships. The voltages
across the capacitor and
across the resistor are at 90°
in the diagram; if they are
added as vectors, we find the
maximum.
 24-3 RC Circuits

This has the exact same form as V = IR if we

define the impedance, Z:

Hence:
Vmax  I max R 2  X C2  I max Z
Vmax
i.e I max 
Z
 24-3 RC Circuits

There is a phase angle

between the voltage and
the current, as seen in the
diagram.
 24-3 RC Circuits

The power in the circuit is given by:

but

therefore

Because of this, the factor cos ϕ is called the power

factor.
 5. The RLC series circuit

• Circuit contains resistor, inductor and capacitor in series

• Let instantaneous current be,
• i = Imax sin 2πft
• Where the applied voltage across each element may or may
not be in phase with the current
Phase relationships for
instantaneous voltages in
the series RLC circuit.

Because all elements are in

series, current everywhere
in circuit must be the same
at any instant.

That is, the current at all

points in a series AC
circuit has the same
amplitude and phase
From previous discussion, Voltage across each element
has different amplitude and phase

•Voltage across resistor

is in phase with the
current

•Voltage across inductor

leads the current by 90o
and

•Voltage across
capacitor lags behind
the current by 90o

•We can write the

instantaneous voltages
as follows
 The net instantaneous voltage equals the sum of the
instantaneous voltages across the separate element:

∆v = ∆vR + ∆vL + ∆vC

We can sum up using the phasor diagram as follows:

Phase relationships between the voltage and current phasors

for (a) a resistor, (b) an inductor, and (c) a capacitor connected
in series.
Adding up the vectors will give:
(a)Phasor diagram for the series RLC circuit shown in Figure
above. The phasor VR is in phase with the current phasor Imax,
the phasor VL leads Imax by 90°, and the phasor VC lags Imax by
90°. The total voltage Vmax makes an angle  with Imax.
(b)Simplified version of the phasor diagram shown in part (a).
 2

Vmax  V  V L  VC
R 2

v L  vC
tan  
v R

The voltages across the resistor, capacitor, and inductor are not
in phase, hence cannot add them together to get the voltage
across the combination of element or to get the source voltage
 Vmax  VR2 
 VL  VC 
2
 ImaxR 2  Imax XL  Imax XC 2
Vmax  Imax R 2  XL  XC 2 , hence can express
Vmax
I max  , where
R 2  XL  XC 2

Z  R 2  XL  XC 2 is called the impedance

The impedance has units of ohms, hence ΔVmax = ImaxZ

By removing the common factor
Imax from each phasor, we can
construct the impedance triangle as
above. From the figure the phase
angle is,
1  XL  XC 
  tan  
 R 

When XL > XC (at high frequencies), the phase angle is positive,

means that current lags applied voltage. This situation called
more inductive than capacitive
When XL < XC the phase angle negative, current leads applied
voltage – more capacitive than inductive
When XL = XC, phase angle is zero, circuit is purely resistive
A resistor (R = 9.00 x 102 Ω), a capacitor (C = 0.250 µF), and
an inductor (L = 2.50 H) are connected in series across a
2.40 x 102-Hz AC source for which Δvmax=1.40 x 102 V.
Calculate
(a)the impedance of the circuit,
(b)the maximum current delivered by the source, and
(c)the phase angle between the current and voltage.
(d)Is the current leading or lagging the voltage?
 6. Power in an AC circuit
• Lets look at energy approach in analyzing AC circuit.
• Power delivered by battery to a DC circuit = current x emf
• Likewise, instantaneous power delivered by an AC source =
source current x applied voltage
• For RLC circuit, can express power as
• P = iΔv = Imax sin (ωt – φ).ΔVmax sin ωt
• = Imax ΔVmax sin (ωt – φ). sin ωt
• = Imax ΔVmax sin2 ωt cos φ - Imax ΔVmax sin ωt cos ωt sin φ
• Looking at average and using further trig. The average power
is
• Pave = ½ImaxΔVmax cos φ
• The average power can be express in terms of rms
current and voltage as:
• Pave = IrmsΔVrms cos φ
• Where cos φ is called the power factor
• From phasor diagram, ΔVR = ΔVmaxcos φ = ImaxR, and
ΔVrms = (ΔVmax/√2), we can express average power as:
• Pave = I2rmsR
• The average power delivered by the source is
converted to internal energy in the resistor
• When load is purely resistive, φ = 0, cos φ = 1, hence
• Pave = Irms ΔVrms
• No power losses are associated with pure capacitors
and pure inductors in an AC circuit.
• Because when current begins to increase in one
direction, charge accumulate on capacitor, voltage
appears across it
• When voltage max, energy stored = ½C(ΔVmax)2.
• However energy stored momentarily, capacitor
discharge, charge returns to source
• Therefore average power supplied by the source is
zero.
• Similarly in inductors.
• Power delivered by AC source to any circuit depends
on phase:
• Pave = IrmsΔVrms cos φ
• Hence , many interesting applications.
• Example, a factory uses large motors in machine,
generators, or transformers has a large inductive load(
because of all the windings).
• To deliver greater power to such devices without
using excessively high voltages, technicians
introduce capacitance in the circuits to shift the
phase.
 7. Resonance in series RLC circuit
• RLC circuit is said to be in resonance when current has its
max value.
ΔVrms ΔVrms
I rms  
Z R 2  X  X 
2
L C

The impedance depends on the frequency of source, the

current also depends on the frequency.
The frequency ωo at which XL – XC = 0 is called the
resonance frequency of the circuit.
1
If XL = XC, hence ωoL = 1/ ωoC, or o  or
LC
1
2f o 
LC
1
 fo 
2 LC
 ΔVrms ΔVrms
I rms  
Z R 2  X L  X C 
2

1 1
o  or f o 
LC 2 LC

• This frequency also corresponds to the natural

frequency of oscillation of an LC circuit.
• The current in RLC circuit reaches max when
frequency of the applied voltage matches the natural
oscillator frequency which depends only on L and C
• At this frequency, current is in phase with applied
voltage.
(a) The rms current versus frequency for a series RLC circuit, for
three values of R. The current reaches its maximum value at the
resonance frequency ω0. (b) Average power delivered to the circuit
versus frequency for the series RLC circuit, for two values of R.
What happens when R = 0 at resonance ? Current becomes infinite !
But real circuits always have some resistance.
At resonance, the average power is a max. As R becomes smaller, curve becomes
sharper in the vicinity of the resonance freq. This curve sharpness is usually
described by a dimensionless parameter known as the quality factor, denoted by Q.
• Receiving circuit of radio, an application of a
resonant circuit.
• When tuning to a particular station, vary the
capacitor, which changes the resonance frequency of
the receiving circuit
• When resonance freq of circuit matches incoming
EM wave, current in receiving circuit increases
• Signal caused by incoming wave is then amplified
and fed to speakers.
• Important to design a high-Q circuit to eliminate
unwanted signals.
 Transformer
• A device to change AC voltage from small
voltage to large and vice versa.
 Transformer

• When input AC voltage, ∆V1 applied to the primary, the induced

voltage across it is given by
 B
V1   N 1
t

Each flux through the primary equals flux through the

secondary, hence the voltage across the secondary coil is
 B
V 2   N 2
t
 Transformer

• Equating previous equation gives:

V1 V2 VP VS
 or 
N1 N2 NP NS
N2
 V2  V1
N1
When N2 > N1 , ∆V2 > ∆V1 . This is called step-up transformer.

If N2 < N1 , ∆V2 < ∆V1 . This is called step- down transformer.

 Transformer

• In ideal transformer, the input power equals output power:

I 1 V1  I 2 V2 or I P VP  I S VS

If voltage at secondary is higher than at primary, it will have a

smaller current at the secondary than at the primary.

Ideal transformer assumes no power loss, but typical transformer

efficiency is between 90 to 99 %

Power loss due to eddy current induced in iron core and lose as heat
(I2R)
 Transformer

• Also the following equation can be used for ideal transformer:

I1 N1  I 2 N 2 or IP NP  IS NS
A step-down transformer is used for recharging the batteries of portable
devices. The turns ratio N2/N1 for a particular transformer used in a CD
player is 1:13. When used with 120-V (rms) household service, the
transformer draws an rms current of 250 mA. Find the
(a) rms output voltage of the transformer and
(b) power delivered to the CD player.

A transformer on a pole near a factory steps the voltage down from 3 600
V (rms) to 120 V (rms). The transformer is to deliver 1 000 kW to the
factory at 90% efficiency. Find
(a) the power delivered to the primary,
(b) the current in the primary, and
(c) the current in the secondary.