Electrical and Electronic Principles.

Unit 5

Accreditation with

BTEC National Certificate Year 1.

Chapter 1
Single phase AC circuit theory.

On completion of this chapter you should be able to:

• Alternating current,
• Periodic time and frequency,
• Equation for a sinusoidal voltage,
• Average value,
• Peak value,
• R.m.s value of a sinusoidal wave,
• Reactance,
• Capacitive reactance,
• Inductive reactance,
• Impedance,
• Graphical addition of two sinusoidal voltages.

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 Electrical and Electronic Principles.
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Significance of AC theory in Real life

?
• Transmission lines,

• Transformers,

• Generators,

• Motors,

• Domestic and industrial electricity etc

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Alternating current:

Alternating currents are bidirectional and continuously reverse their direction of

flow. The polarity of the e.m.f which produces an alternating current must
consequently also be changing from positive to negative and vice versa.

Periodic time and frequency:

The periodic time (or period) of a waveform is the time taken for one complete
cycle of the wave.

The frequency of a repetitive waveform is the number of cycles of the waveform

which occur in unit time. Frequency is expressed in Hertz (Hz) and frequency of
1 Hz is equivalent to one cycle per second.

The relationship between periodic time and frequency is thus:

T = 1/f or f = 1/T

Where T is the periodic time (in sec) and f is the frequency (in Hz).

Equation for a sinusoidal voltage:

The equation for the voltage at an angle, θ, time, T, is:

v =Vmaxsin θ

Where v is the instantaneous voltage, Vmax is the maximum voltage of the sine
wave and θ is the angle at which the voltage is measured.

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It is often more convenient to express a sinusoidal voltage in terms of time rather
than angle. Since we know that one cycle of the wave corresponds to an angle of
360o, we can replace θ in the foregoing formula with

Θ=ωt
Where ω is the angular velocity (i.e. the rate at which the coil is turning
expressed in degrees per second).

ω = 2πf

and so:

v = Vmaxsin(ωt) = Vmaxsin(2πft)

Activity:

A sine wave voltage has a maximum value of 20 V and a frequency of 50

Hz. Determine the instantaneous voltage present

a) 2.5 ms
b) 15ms from the start of cycle.

Average value:

The average value of an alternating current swings symmetrically above and below zero
will be zero when measured over a long period of time. Hence average values of
currents and voltages are invariably taken over one complete half cycle rather than over
one complete full cycle.

Peak value:

The amplitude or peak value of a waveform is a measure of the extent of its voltage or
current excursion from the resting value. In other words, the amplitude is the same as
the maximum value.

Peak-to peak value:

The peak to peak value for a wave which is symmetrical about its resting value is twice
its peak value.
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r.m.s. value:

The r.m.s. (or effective) value of an alternating voltage or current is the value that would
produce the same heat energy in a resistor as a direct voltage or current of the same
magnitude.

Given quantity Wanted quantity

Average Peak Peak-peak r.m.s.
Average 1 1.57 3.14 1.11
Peak 0.636 1 2 0.707
Peak-peak 0.318 0.5 1 0.353
r.m.s 0.9 1.414 2.828 1

Example: A sinusoidal voltage has an r.m.s value of 240 V. What is the peak value
of the voltage?

Example: An alternating current has a peak- peak value of 50mA. What is the r.m.s
value?

Example: A sinusoidal voltage 10V peak to peak is applied to a resistor of 1kΩ.

What value of r.m.s. current will flow in the resistor?

Reactance:
When alternating voltages are applied to capacitors or inductors the magnitude of the
current flowing will depend upon the value of capacitance or inductance and on the
frequency of the voltage. In effect, capacitors and inductors oppose the flow of current in
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much the same way as a resistor. The important difference being that the effective
resistance of the component varies with frequency (unlike the case of a resistor where
the magnitude of the current does not change with frequency)

Capacitive reactance:

The reactance of a capacitor is defined as the ratio of applied voltage to current and, like
resistance, it is measured in Ω. The reactance of a capacitor is is inversely proportional
to both the value of capacitance and the frequency of the applied voltage. Capacitive
reactance can be found by applying the following formula:

Xc = 1/2πfC
Where Xc is the reactance (Ω), f is the frequency (Hz) and C is the capacitance (F).

The applied voltage, Vc, and current, Ic, flowing in a pure capacitive reactance will
differ in phase by an angle of 90o or π/2 radians (the current leads the voltage).

Example: Determine the reactance of a 1µF capacitor at

a) 100Hz
b) 10KHz.

Example: A 100nF capacitor is to form apart of filter connected across a

240 V 50Hz mains supply. What current will flow in the capacitor?

Inductive reactance:

The reactance of an inductor is defined as the ratio of applied voltage to current

and, like resistance, it is measured in Ω. The reactance of an inductor is directly
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proportional to both the value of inductance and the frequency of the applied
voltage. Inductive reactance can be found by applying the formula:

XL = 2πfL
Where XL is the reactance in Ω, f is the frequency in Hz and L is the inductance
in H.

The applied voltage, VL, and current, IL, developed across a pure inductive
reactance will differ in phase by an angle of 90o (the current lags the voltage).

Example: Determine the reactance of a10mH inductor at

(a) 100Hz and
(b) 10KHz.

Example: A 100mH inductor of negligible resistance is to form part of a

filter that carries a current of 20mA at 400Hz. What voltage drop will be
developed across the inductor?

Impedance:

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(a)
(b)

Figure shows two circuits which contain both resistance and reactance. These
circuits are said to exhibit impedance ( a combination of resistance and
reactance) which, like resistance and reactance, is measured in Ω.

Impedance, Z

Reactance, X

Phase angle, ф

Resistance, R

Z = √R2 + X2

Ф = tan-1X/R

Example: A 2µF capacitor is connected in series with a 100Ω resistor

across a 115V 400Hz AC supply. Determine the impedance of the circuit
and the current taken from the supply.

Example: A 2H inductor is connected in series with a resistor of 560Ω

across a 220V, 50Hz AC supply. Determine the impedance of the circuit and
the current supplied to it.

Power factor:

The power factor of an AC circuit containing resistance and reactance is simply

the ration of true power to apparent power. Hence,

Power factor = True power/Apparent power

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The true power in an AC circuit is the power which is actually dissipated in the
resistive component. Thus,

True power = Is2×R (W)

The apparent power in an AC circuit is the power which is apparently consumed

by the circuit and is the product of the supply current and supply voltage. Hence,

Apparent power = Is×Vs

Hence,

Power factor = R/Z = cosф

Hence, the power factor of a series AC circuit can be found from the cosine of
the phase angle.

Example: A choke ( a form of inductor) having an inductance of 150mH and

resistance of 250Ω is connected to a 115V 400Hz AC supply. Determine the
power factor of the choke and the current taken from the supply.

Adding Phasors:

Phasors can be used to combine AC voltages or currents.

Example: Below two voltages (red and blue curves), which are out of phase by
90o are added. The result (black curve) has the same frequency but larger
amplitude and its peaks lie exactly between the other two.

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This result can be obtained directly by adding the two voltages in the phasor
diagram. They are added in the same way that vectors are added. This is
calculated in detail below.

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