Lecture 6

Single-Phase Power
Computations
Lecture Objective
The objective of this lecture is to introduce AC power.
LEARNING OUTCOMES
After completing this course you will be able to:
1. Understand the meaning of instantaneous and average
power,
2. master AC power notation, and compute average power,
and reactive for AC circuits
3. Compute the power factor of a complex load.
AVERAGE POWER CALCULATIONS
Consider the two-port network shown in the figure below. We
assume that :
i. the two-port network is linear and contain no energy
sources,
ii. the two-port network is excited by a sinusoidal input,
v(t) = Vmcost
iii. The terminal voltage v(t) and terminal current i(t) have
reached their steady state values.

i(t)

Linear
v(t)
network
AVERAGE POWER CALCULATIONS
We wish to calculate:
1. Active power consumed by the network
2. Reactive power consumed by the network
3. Power factor at the input terminals of the network.
Power Absorbed by Resistive Circuit
Consider a resistive circuit with a terminal
resistance R. i(t)
Linear
Let the terminal voltage v(t) be given by v(t)
the expression circuit

v(t )  Vm sin t  Linear resistive circuit

Ohm’s law requires that the terminal current i(t) be related to

voltage v(t) and resistance R via the equation
v(t ) Vm sin t 
i (t )    I m sin t 
R R
where Im =Vm/R is the peak current.
Power Absorbed by Resistive Circuit

Then, instantaneous power supplied to the circuit is

p (t )  v(t )i (t )
 Vm I m sin t sin t 
1
 Vm I m  1  cos 2t 
2
1
 
 Vm I m  1  2 cos 2 t   1
2

1

 Vm I m  2  2 cos 2 t
2

Power Absorbed by Resistive Circuit
Further simplifications give us

 2
p(t )  Vm I m 1  cos t 
  1  cos 2t 
 Vm I m 1   
  2 
Vm I m
 2  1  cos2t 
2
Therefore,
1
p (t)  Vm I m 1  cos2t 
2
A plot of p(t) is shown below.
From the plot, we note the following:
1. p(t) has two components: a constant component, and a
time-varying component,
2. p(t) is always positive.

The constant component is the average power consumed by

the circuit. Thus, average power consumed by the circuit is

1
P  Vm I m  Vrms I rms
2
Power Absorbed by a Purely Inductive Circuit
Consider an inductive circuit of inductance L.

Let i (t )  I m sin t i(t)

Linear
v(t)
Then, for an inductor, circuit

di
v(t )  L
dt
d
 L I m sin t 
dt
 LI m cos t  Vm cos t

where Vm  LI m
Instantaneous power supplied to the circuit is

p(t )  v(t )i (t )
 I m sin t  Vm cos t
 I mVm sin t cos t
1
 Vm I m sin 2t
2
A plot of p(t) is shown below.
From the plot, we note the following:
1. p(t) is equally both positive and negative; i.e. power is
circulating.
2. p(t) has no constant component. Thus, the average
power consumed by the purely inductive circuit element
over one cycle of the supply voltage is zero. That is,

P0
Power Absorbed by a Purely Capacitive Circuit
Consider a purely capacitive circuit of capacitance C.

Let v(t )  Vm sin t i(t)

Linear
Then, for a capacitor, v(t)
circuit
dv
i (t )  C
dt
d
 C Vm sin t 
dt
 CVm cos t   I m cos t

where I m  CVm2
Instantaneous power supplied to the circuit is

p (t )  v(t )i (t )
 Vm cos t  I m sin t
  I mVm sin t cos t
1
  Vm I m sin 2t
2
A plot of p(t) is shown below.
From the plot, we note the following:
1. p(t) is equally both positive and negative, power is
circulating.
2. p(t) has no constant component. Thus, the average
power consumed by the purely capacitive circuit element
over one cycle of the supply voltage is zero. That is,

P0
Power absorbed by a Reactive Circuit

Consider a linear AC circuit of terminal impedance Z. Let the

the circuit be excited by a sinusoidal source, v(t) = Vmcos(ωt),
as shown in the figure below. Assume that the impedance Z
causes the terminal current i(t) to lag behind the terminal
voltage by an angle . For a linear circuit we can write

i (t )  I m cost    i(t)

Linear
where Im is the amplitude of the terminal v(t)
circuit
current.
Instantaneous power dissipated by a circuit element is
given by the product of the instantaneous voltage and
current:
p (t )  v(t )i (t )  Vm I m cost cost   

The above equation can be further simplified with the aid of

trigonometric identities to yield

Vm I m Vm I m
p(t )  cos   cos2t   
2 2
where θ is the difference in phase between voltage and current.
The equation shows that the instantaneous power dissipated
by an AC circuit element is equal to the sum of an average
component:
Vm I m
cos 
2
and a sinusoidal component
Vm I m
cos2t   
2
oscillating at a frequency double that of the original source
frequency.
A plot of the instantaneous and average power is shown below.
The average power can be obtained by integrating the
instantaneous power over one cycle of the sinusoidal signal.
T
1
Pav   p (t )dt
T 0

T T
1 Vm I m 1 Vm I m
  cos dt   cos2t   dt
T 0 2 T 0 2

Therefore,

Vm I m
Pav  cos  since the second integral is equal
2 to zero and cos(θ) is a constant.
The same analysis can be also be carried out in the phasor
domain. In the phasor domain, the terminal current and
terminal are given by
I

V  Vm e j 0 Linear
V
 j circuit
I  I me

The impedance of the circuit element is defined by the phasor

voltage and current to be
V Vm e j 0 Vm j j
Z   e  Ze
I I m e  j I m
Vm
where Z
Im
The expression for the average power also be represented
using phasor notation, as follows:

1 Vm2 1 2
Pav  cos   I m Z cos 
2 Z 2
It may be expanded using trigonometric identities to obtain
the following expressions:

1 Vm2 1 2
Pav  cos   I m Z cos 
2 Z 2
In terms of rms values, we have
2
Vrms 2
Pav  cos   I rms Z cos 
Z
True, Reactive, and Apparent power
Recall the expression for the instantaneous power given
below
Vm I m Vm I m
p(t )  cos   cos2t   
2 2
It may be expanded using trigonometric identities to obtain
the following expressions:
2
Vrms
p(t )  cos   cos cos2t   sin  sin 2t 
Z

2
 I rms Z cos   cos . cos2t   sin  . sin 2t 

2
 I rms Z cos .1  cos2t   I rms
2
Z sin  sin 2t 
Now, from the impedance triangle, we have
Z cos   R Z
X
and 
Z sin   X R
where R and X are the resistive and reactive components of
the load impedance, respectively. On the basis of this fact, it
becomes possible to write the instantaneous power as
2
p(t )  I rms R.1  cos2t   I rms
2
X sin 2t 

2
 I rms 2
R  I rms R. cos2t   I rms
2
X sin 2t 
The physical interpretation of this expression for the
instantaneous power is as follow:

Instantaneous power dissipated by a complex load consists

of the following three components:

1. An average component, which is constant; this is called

the average power and is denoted by the symbol Pav:
2
Pav  I rms R

where R = Re[Z].
2. A time-varying (sinusoidal) component with zero
average value that is contributed by the power
fluctuations in the resistive component of the load
and is denoted by PR(t):
2
pR (t )  I rms R. cos2t   Pav . cos2t 

3. A time-varying (sinusoidal) component with zero

average value, due to the power fluctuation in the
reactive component of the load and denoted by
pX(t):

2
p (t )  I rms X sin 2t   Q sin 2t 

where X = Im [Z] and Q is called the reactive power.

Notes
1. Since reactive elements can only store energy and not
dissipate it, there is no net average power absorbed by X.

2. Since Pav corresponds to the power absorbed by the load

resistance, it is also called the real power, measured in
units of watts (W). On the other hand, Q takes the name
of reactive power, since it is associated with the load
reactance. The units of Q are volt-amperes reactive, or
VAR.

3. The combination of reactive power and true power is

called apparent power, and it is the product of a circuit's
voltage and current, without reference to phase angle.
Apparent power is measured in the unit of Volt-Amps
(VA) and is symbolized by the capital letter S.
Summary

There are several power equations relating the three types of

power to resistance, reactance, and impedance (all using sca
lar quantities):
Worked Example
Compute the power absorbed (i) by R, (ii) by L.

Solution
VS  Pvs (t )  20  15o V

jL  j 100 120 103  j12 

 Solution
Phasor domain circuit:

VR Compute circuit current, I .

I
VS 20  15o
VS  120  15o V j12  VL I 
Z 25  j12

 0.72  40.64o A

Z  25  j12 
Solution
Therefore,
 I m2  1
P    ReZ    0.72 2  25  234.1 W
2 2
 I m2  1
Q    ImZ    0.72 2 12  112.34 VAr
 2  2

VR

VS  20  15o V j12  VL

A plot of the voltage and current waveforms is shown in the
figure below.
120 V peak

4.327 A peak

234.1 W average

The plot shows:

1. Power flows from the supply into the load for only a part of the
cycle! For a portion of the cycle, power actually flows back to
the source from the load!
2. There is reactive power in the circuit.
Worked Example
For the circuit below, compute :
(i) true power absorbed by the load
(ii) reactive power consumed by the load
(iii) apparent power supplied by the source
Solution
Worked Example
A 10  resistor and a capacitive reactance of 20  are
connected in series to a 240 V supply. Calculate the apparent
power, the true power and the reactive power supplied by the
source.

Solution
Solution
Impedance seen by the source

Z  R 2  X C2  10 2  20 2  22.4 

Current flowing through the circuit

VS 240
I   10.7 A
Z 22.4
Apparent Power supplied to the load

S  VI  240 10.7  2570 VA leading

True power supplied to the load is the power consumed by

the resistor R.

1 2 2
Pav  I m Z cos   I rms R  10.7 2 10  1145 W
2
Reactive power supplied to the load is the power consumed
by the capacitance C.
1 2 2
Q I m Z sin   I rms X C 10.7 2  20  2290 VAR
2
Exercise
Calculate voltage drop across each element, the
apparent power, the true power and the reactive
power supplied by the source. Given : vS(t) =
1002cos1000t
Solution

X L L 10002010 3  20 

1 1
XC    6
10 
C 100010010

Impedance seen by the source

2

Z  R  X L  XC 2
 10 2  102  14.14 

Current flowing through the circuit

VS 100
I   7.07 A
Z 14.14
Solution
Voltage drop across each element:
VR  IR  7.07 10  70.7 V
VL  IX L  7.07  20  141.4 V
VC  IX C  7.07 10  70.7 V

Apparent power supplied to circuit elements by the voltage

source

S  IVS  7.07  100  707 VA

Solution
True power supplied to the load is the power consumed by
the resistor R.
2
Pav  I rms R  7.07 2 10  500 W

Reactive power supplied to the load is the power consumed

by the inductor and the capacitance.

1 2 2
Q  I m Z sin   I rms X L  X C   7.07 2 10  500 VAR
2
Worked Example
Calculate the total active and reactive powers supplied by the source
to the resistors.
Solution
The total impedance seen by the source is

Z  10   j 4 // 8  j 6  12.6920.62o 
In rectangular form,

Z  11 .877  j 4.47  

Z
Solution
Current supplied by the source to the load is
VS 240
I rms    18.9 A
Z 12.69
Total active supplied by the source is equal to the active
power consumed by the real part of the load.
2
Pav  I rms ReZ   18.9 2 12.69  4533 W
Reactive power supplied to the load is the power consumed
by the capacitance C.
1 2 2
Q  I m Z sin   I rms X C   18.92  6  2143 VAR
2
Power Factor
The ratio of the real power to the apparent power is called
the power factor (pf).
real power P
Power factor(p.f.)  
apparent power S

1
Vm  Im cos  
2
1
Vm  Im
Therefore, 2

p. f .  cos 

where    V - I
Worked Example
Calculate the power factor seen by the source and the average power
supplied by the source.
Solution
The total impedance seen by the source is

Z  10   j 4 // 8  j 6  12.6920.62o 
In rectangular form,

Z  11 .877  j 4.47  

Z
Note
When we have reduced the load seen by the source into one
equivalent impedance, Z , then the power factor of the load is
simply equal to the cosine of the angle  in the impedance triangle.
That is,
I
P
p. f .   cos  Linear
S V
network
Therefore, power factor of load is

P I 2R R Z
p. f .     cos 
S I R   I X 
2 2 2 2 Z
Z
X
Hence, for the circuit given 

 
p. f .  cos 20.62o  0.936
R
To determine whether the current is leading or lagging the source
voltage, we recall that

V  I Z
By setting I  I0o , we obtain

V  I  Z  I0o  Z20.62o  IZ20.62o

This result tells us that phasor V is leading phasor I by 20.62o. More

usually, we say that phasor I is lagging phasor V by 20.62o.

Hence, for the circuit given

 
p. f .  cos 20.62o  0.936 lagging
Load current is

Vs 400o
I   31.25220.62o A
Z 12.6020.62
Average power supplied by the source to the load is

 I m2 
P    ReZ 
2
In terms of rms values, we can write

P  I 2  ReZ   3.152 2 11 .877  118

Therefore,

P  3.152 2 11.877  118 W

VA Rating of Electrical Apparatus
Why is electrical apparatus is rated in VA instead of watts ?

The calculations above show both loads dissipate 120 kW, but the
current rating of generator (b) is exceeded because of the power
factor of its load.
 Summary
In this study unit we have looked at
1. Active power
2. Reactive power
3. Apparent power, and
4. Power factor