A Logical Exposition of Electronics Vol1 Rabbani

RABBANI
A LOGICAL EXPOSITION OF
ELECTRONICS
VOLUME-1
NETWORKS – DC & AC
Dr. K Siddique-e- Rabbani is a Professor and first
Chairman of the recently formed Post Graduate
Department of Biomedical Physics & Technology at the
University of Dhaka. He has been a teacher in the Physics
department since 1978, is a leading electronic designer,
and a successful entrepreneur of self designed electronic
products in Bangladesh. He obtained a Ph.D. in Electronics
(specifically, Microelectronics) in 1978 from the University
of Southampton, UK, under a Commonwealth Scholarship.
Realising that Bangladesh cannot put an IC chip on the
market in the next 30 years he switched to Medical Physics
and Biomedical Engineering on his return to his homeland,
initially inspired by Late Professor M Shamsul Islam of
Physics. Dr. Rabbani is a pioneer researcher in this field in
Bangladesh. Side by side he has contributed greatly in
promoting indigenous technology based electronic industry
in Bangladesh. Innovative electronic products designed by
him in the fields of Power, Medicine and Education has
been manufactured by several firms over the last two
decades.
Dr. Rabbani has put into this book more than 30 years of
teaching and practical design experience in Electronics.
Primarily written as a text for Physics undergraduate
students, this book will supplement the needs of
engineering students and professionals alike. The author
knows first hand what are the stumbling blocks that a
student faces and has addressed these with special care.
A detailed physical explanation coupled with a logical
progression of mathematical treatment and practical
application hints makes this book stand out among other
texts. Presentation in simple English makes it suitable for
self study by students of non-English speaking countries as
well.
A LOGICAL EXPOSITION OF
ELECTRONICS
VOLUME-1
NETWORKS – DC & AC
K SIDDIQUE-E- RABBANI
Department of Biomedical Physics & Technology
University of Dhaka
Dhaka, Bangladesh
Published by
Dhaka University Prakashana Samstha
University of Dhaka
Dhaka-1000, Bangladesh
First published
May 2010
Copyright
University of Dhaka
Cover Design, text illustrations & layout:

Author
Price: Bangladesh Tk-230 (Two hundred thirty) only

SAARC Countries US$-6 (Six dollars) only
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Printed by
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Dedication
To
My parents,
Wife and children
Preface
This book has been written mainly for Physics students at the undergraduate level, who have a
natural craving to know the how’s and why’s of everything. Therefore a logical presentation of
the subject has been attempted in this book with many subtleties uncovered that most of the
texts keep silent about. Mathematical treatments have been developed from the beginning as far
as practicable and have been presented in a step by step approach. This relieves the students
from unnecessary memorising and gives them the power to develop analytical solutions on their
own. There is no meaning in learning a subject as Electronics without knowing where it is
applied in our lives, and how to apply the knowledge in a practical design. Therefore practical
application examples have been included wherever possible to cater to these natural demands of
an inquisitive student.
Through a long teaching experience I have discovered many stumbling blocks in the subject that
confront a student. Concepts that are supposed to have been cleared at pre-university level have
never been with many students coming from different backgrounds. That an electrical current
direction is taken to be opposite to the direction of electron flow just for historical reasons, and
that Ohm’s law has independent and dependent variables which need careful attention, have
been clearly spelled out which other texts hardly mention. Basic differences between electricity
and electronics, emf and potential drop, signal and noise have also been spelled out. To some
students these questions remain ever unanswered. Therefore I have started at a very basic level
and have tried to clear these points as much as possible. Most questions like how a current flows
though a capacitor circuit in spite of the fact that there is an insulator interposed, why the
reactance is lower at higher frequencies, have been answered from a physical point of view.
Some physical explanations to observed phenomena like the dc transient current through a
capacitor and that in a series LCR circuit under different damping situations, have been
attempted by me intuitively, which appear to be original, found in no other book.
An overview of the methods and concepts has been given before going into the analytical details
of each topic which places a student on a better footing. While dealing with Thevenin’s
equivalent circuits, that we are following two different strategies – one for which the circuit is
known and for the other, it is unknown – have been clearly spelled out which remains mostly
obscured in other texts. Again that an RC filter is nothing but a voltage divider, a familiar
circuit, and that this simple statement makes a lot of difference to a student in comprehending
the analytical treatment is an interesting evolution of my own teaching methodology.
Most available texts on Electronics are aimed at Engineering students who have to go into the
subject in great details. These texts concentrate more in the analytical aspects and numerical
exercises while descriptions on the physical aspects and logics behind an issue are kept to a
minimum. On the other hand there are compact volumes on Electronics for scientists which give
a broad overview of the subject without providing adequate analytical details as demanded by a
formal course offering in Physics. So this book will fill a gap which has been felt acutely by all
of us teaching electronics to Physics students.
Volume 1 deals with electrical networks that form the foundation of electronics as a formal
subject of study. Without a proper understanding and grasp of these techniques one cannot
proceed to the realm of electronics. It has been pointed out clearly that electronic devices cannot
be handled directly for analytical purposes. They have to be modeled to quantities that we are
familiar with in electrical networks, which is the subject of this volume, and then solved
analytically. Therefore, electrical networks is very much a study of electronics and one should
try to grasp the matters covered in this book thoroughly.
In writing this book the syllabus of the University of Dhaka to which the author was a key
contributor has been followed mostly. Bangladesh National University which administers all
other colleges in the country follows the same syllabus, so this book will hopefully address the
requirements of a large number of students. Engineering students and professionals will also
find this book a useful addition to their existing ones, to clear out conceptual difficulties that
contribute in creating confusions now and then, and to find logical ways to tackle analytical
solutions on their own.
This book will be followed by at least another volume which will deal with the rest of the
Electronics syllabus for the Physics undergraduates in our country.
I am grateful to the University of Dhaka for granting me a Sabbatical leave which gave me the
time and opportunity for writing this book. My wife and children’s persistent goading to return
to the book has helped me from diverting to other things which I do very easily. Their whole
hearted co-operation in relieving me of many household duties has allowed me to concentrate
and complete this first volume in time. I must also acknowledge the contribution of the hosts of
students who attended my classes regularly filling me with enthusiasm and posing intelligent
questions that put me into deep thinking without which I could not have answered many of the
matters raised in this book. I am also grateful to students Samir, Sayem and Zaid, who
painstakingly made brilliant notes from my mostly impromptu lectures and have later given me
copies of their notes to help me in writing the book.
I have written the texts and drawn all the graphics directly on the computer, and have taken care
that errors are at a minimum. Since preparing the first manuscript in October 2004 I have given
copies to many colleagues and students in order to provide me feedback on the book and to
point out errors which resulted in improvements in several places. However, I would still
welcome error reporting from all the readers. I am a human being, definitely my knowledge has
gaps and limitations, so if there are conceptual or analytical mistakes, I would be grateful if the
learned readers point these out to me together with the necessary corrections. Their
contributions will be duly acknowledged in the subsequent editions.
I hope to embark upon writing the second volume next, which will go directly into
semiconductor devices and their applications. I am indeed grateful to the Almighty for the
ability and opportunity given to me to write this first volume and pray I am granted further
opportunities.
K Siddique-e- Rabbani
Department of Biomedical Physics & Technology
University of Dhaka
Dhaka, Bangladesh
Contents
Page
Chapter 1: INTRODUCTION
1.1 Why and how of Electronics 1

1.2 Electricity vs. Electronics 3
1.3 Brief History of Electronics 3
1.4 Vacuum Diode 4
1.5 Vacuum Triode and Amplifier 7
Chapter 2: BACKGROUND
Electrical circuits
2.1 EMF and Potential drop 9
2.2 Ground 11
2.3 Single or multiple cell symbol 12
2.4 Dual Power Supply 13
2.5 AC fundamentals 13
2.6 Ohm’s law 16
2.7 Incremental resistance from I-V curve 18
2.8 Series and parallel combination of resistors-
which one dominates ? 18
2.9 Constant voltage source 19
2.10 Constant current source 20
2.11 Source resistance measurement 21
2.12 Kirchoff’s Laws 23
2.13 Voltage divider network 25
2.14 Current divider network 26
2.15 Thevenin’s equivalent circuit 27
2.16 Norton’s equivalent circuit 30
2.17 Superposition principle 32
2.18 Modelling devices with single port 34
2.19 Maximum current, voltage and power transfer 36
2.20 Two port network 38
2.21 Signal and noise 42
Chapter 3: CAPACITORS & INDUCTORS: DC TRANSIENTS

3.1 Capacitors and capacitance 43
3.2 How does a capacitor work ? 43
3.3 What is capacitance ? 45
3.4 Effect of , A and d 46
3.5 Displacement current 46
3.6 How a capacitor affects a dc circuit; transients 47
3.7 Mutual inductance 56
3.8 Self inductance, inductor 57
3.9 Lenz’s law and conservation of energy 58
3.10 LR circuits, dc transients 58
3.11 Series LCR circuit, dc transients 64
Chapter 4: AC CIRCUITS
4.1 Sine waveform and phase angle 73
4.2 Combining ac voltages, phasor representation 76
4.3 Capacitors and Inductors in ac circuits 77
4.4 Use of complex numbers 84
4.5 Representation of complex numbers in diagrams 86
4.6 Keeping the form of Ohm’s law intact for ac,
complex impedance 87
4.7 RC high pass filter circuit 88
4.8 Significance of o and fo 92
4.9 Decibel scale 93
4.10 log-log plotting of voltage gain using dB scale,
cut-off frequency 95
4.11 Bode plot, rolling off slope 96
4.12 Order of filter, passive and active filters 97
4.13 Phase response 98
4.14 RC low pass filter 100
4.15 Combination of low and high pass filters 103
4.16 Series LCR circuit 105
4.17 Series-parallel LCR circuit 110
4.18 Transformer, transferring ac power 115
APPENDICES
Appendix –1: Effective and RMS value of ac, Power factor 125
Appendix-2: Average ac voltage, Form-factor 128
Appendix-3: AC voltmeter- average and RMS measurement 129
INDEX 131
Chapter 1: Introduction
1.1 Why and how of Electronics
Why do you want to study electronics? Firstly you may want to understand how
different electronic equipment work. Secondly you may want to design and develop
electronic equipment yourself. It is the latter that will take you to the real world of
electronics and you will enjoy electronics to the most. As an electronic designer you
dive into the world of unseen, juggle with ideas developed within your trained mind,
and then it is a real joy to see the magic unfolding in the seen world. At the same time
you will find that you can help everybody around you with some of your acquired
capabilities. Again, developing a small useful gadget for the house may end up as a
successful commercial product. Besides, you will suddenly find that you understand the
working of almost all appliances around you whether big or small, which others
without the knowledge of electronics can hardly comprehend. Therefore think yourself
as lucky to have taken up a serious study of electronics.
Electronics is a practical science leading to the world of technology. Therefore as you
go through this book, gather a multimeter, a breadboard and few electronic components
and try things out yourself. You may need the help of other practical oriented books to
start with, but when you combine that to what you study in this book, you will get the
real feeling of entering the world of electronics.
Designing in electronics is basically organising some logical functional units to achieve
an overall objective, a desired overall operation or function. So the first requirement is
common intelligence and a general idea of technology which you all have already.
Next comes the task of building up the logical functional units using electronic circuits.
This is where your knowledge and skill in electronics comes in. You will need to know
the following:
A. Electrical network concepts and analysis
B. Available electronic devices, their operations and functions
C. Modelling of electronic devices in terms of known electrical
parameters so that the performance of the circuit may be
analysed before it is made out of real devices and components.
D. Based on the above models, ways of integrating the electronic
devices into an electrical network to achieve the desired
objective.
A brief note on the 3rd point: we already know simple electrical devices or components
like voltage and current sources, resistors, inductors, capacitors, etc., and ways of
analysing networks employing these components. Ohms law forms a basis for all these
analyses. Since electronic devices are new to us and are varied in forms and functions,
we do not know how to analyse them directly. So we replace these devices with simple
equivalent models that are expressed in terms of known devices and functions. Once
we have done it, it boils down to the same old simple techniques of electrical network
1
Introduction Chapter 1
analysis! Such modelling is done in every branch of science. Remember the picture of
an atom with electrons circling around a nucleus? Has any one seen an atom? – No, the
picture you see is that of a model that we have made up in terms of concepts that we
can understand. That means you only need to know the simple and old Ohm’s law to
understand and analyse all electronic circuits, however complex !
Let us talk about a common application of electronics – a public address amplifier
system as shown in the simplified block diagram in Fig.1-1. When a person speaks into
the microphone it generates a minute electrical signal (with power in the range of
microwatts), which mimics the pattern of sound waves created by the human speaker.
This signal is first amplified to a suitable level using a pre-amplifier, then modified
using a signal conditioner to eliminate noise or to enhance some features of the signal.
The modified signal is then amplified sufficiently in a power amplifier stage in order to
drive a loud speaker that converts the electrical signal to a sound signal with the
original pattern that the human speaker produced, but with hundreds or thousands
times the power of the original speech so that a large crowd can hear it. This is the first
step in designing a public address system. Does it sound difficult? – Not at all, it is
simply common logical sense.
Next comes working out the details of each functional unit where we will use
electronic devices integrated into an electrical network – the electronic circuit. Just as a
sculptor or a carpenter needs to know his tools well, how to use them to create a
masterpiece, similarly you as an electronic designer need to have a knowledge of
available tools in electronics (electronic devices such as diodes, transistors, integrated
circuits, etc.), and how to combine them in a circuit to get the desired performance.
You can work out the same function in different ways using a variety of devices. Since
the workings of these tools or devices are mostly unseen, you need to know the Physics
of these devices. As is common with most of the physical sciences and engineering
practices, mathematical representation and analyses help greatly in understanding, and
designing such circuits. A study of electronics involves all of the above.
Pre- Signal Power

amplifier Conditioner Amplifier
Microphone Loud
Speaker
Fig.1-1: A public address amplifier system
Electronics has seen the sharpest development in the history of science and technology
and is continuing to do so. A complete knowledge encompassing every small aspect of
2
Chapter 1 Introduction
every device is not possible, as mysteries are still unfolding. Many subtle features and
characteristics are revealed to an observant electronic experimenter, which may not be
apparent simply by studying books. Therefore set out to designing and fabricating
electronic circuits yourself, starting with a very simple one. You will find that it
increases your understanding manifold, and as you go along, an inner confidence will
build up which will easily distinguish yourself from any other learner in electronics
who chose not to go into the designing business.
1.2 Electricity versus Electronics

Both the subjects of Electricity and Electronics deal with the movement of electrons.
“Then what is the difference?” – people often ask. One answer frequently given is that
in Electronics we can control the flow of electrons. Through an inductive fan regulator,
or using a rheostat, we can also control a current, i.e., the flow of electrons, to some
extent – but this is a domain of electricity. So the above answer is not complete. In
modern days we can control the same current in a much better way using a TRIAC or a
Transistor. We also did the same using a Vacuum Tube in the past. In these cases it is
said that we have used electronic devices. So what is the fundamental issue that divides
the two subjects? – If we look deeper into the working of the devices mentioned above,
in an inductive fan regulator and in a rheostat electron flow occurs in metallic
conductors, while in the TRIAC and in the Transistor, electron flow occurs in a semi-
conducting crystal, which is not a good conductor of electricity. In a Vacuum Tube the
electron flow occurs in „vacuum‟ – an extreme non-conductor, or an insulator of
electricity! These are against our common notions about electricity. Through special
techniques, we have been able to move electricity in semi-conductors and in insulators,
and these offer much greater opportunity of controlling the movement of electrons
according to our desires. Electronic devices provide us with control over the movement
of electrons in ways never possible with electrical devices. In a rheostat we can change
the resistance by adding or subtracting lengths of the conductor material, while in a
transistor we can change the resistance within the same material through the
application of a very minute controlling current or voltage. Therefore we possibly can
answer the question posed above as follows: in Electricity we deal with the flow of
electrons through conducting materials, while in Electronics we deal with the flow of
electrons through materials that are not good conductors, i.e., semi-conductors and
insulators.
1.3 Brief History of Electronics

It has been a continuous development that led to electronics and many a scientist‟s
contributions may be cited. The following list attempts at putting up a chronological
picture.
1850: German scientist Geissler observed that the inside of an evacuated tube (not
100% vacuum) lits up when a voltage is applied through electrodes.
3
1878: British scientist Sir William Crookes identified the above as a flow of particles
through the vacuum.
1895: Bengali Scientist J.C. Basu performed first radio transmission
Around 1895: Edison observed that current passed from a plate electrode to a heated
filament in a vacuum tube if the plate electrode is made positive with respect to
the hot filament, and not in the reverse direction. This is known as Edison
effect. He could not explain it and left it there.
1904: Fleming explained Edison Effect in terms of a flow of electrons emitted from the
hot filament material and developed the vacuum diode based on this effect,
which could be used to convert ac power to dc power.
1907: Lee de Forest developed the vacuum triode by adding a grid electrode to the
diode. This made signal amplification possible, and real development in
electronics started.
1930: Julius Lilienfield, a former Professor of University of Leipzig who migrated to
the US, disclosed the principle of Field Effect Transistor through a US patent.
1943: General purpose computer made of vacuum tubes (ENIAC)
1948: Shockley, Brattain and Bardeen fabricated the first semiconductor Transistor.
1951: Commercial production of transistor
1960‟s: IC production
1970‟s: Microprocessor, a whole Central Processing Unit of a computer in an
Integrated circuit chip
Around 1975: Desktop microcomputer
1.4 Vacuum diode

Let us try to explain the inner working of the Vacuum Diode, where electron flow
occurs through vacuum, an insulator in normal terms. Fig. 1-2a shows an evacuated
glass tube with a filament at one end, and a plate electrode at the other. The filament is
heated using a battery BF as shown. When hot certain materials release electrons (called
‘thermionic emission’) and thus the filament produces an electron cloud around it. If
now another battery BP is connected with polarity as shown, the plate electrode
becomes positive with respect to the filament. This creates an electric field between the
filament and the plate which drives the electrons in the cloud towards the plate within
the evacuated tube. The positive plate takes up the electrons and pushes them towards
the positive terminal of the battery through the meter and the resistor shown, and of
course, through the connecting wires made of conductors. On the other side of the
battery, electrons pushed downwards by the negative terminal of the battery flow
towards the filament and replenish the electron cloud. Thus a continuous flow of
4
Plate Plate
electrode electrode
+ve  ve
----
no
electron electron
cloud electron flow
cloud
filament
BP
BP reversed
BF BF
a b
Fig.1-2a: Electron flows through vacuum due to a favourable electric field.
Fig.1-2b: No electron flow due to a reverse electric field.
electrons takes place in the loop (circuit), and an electric current is established through
the vacuum tube (an insulator!) by the battery BP.
On the other hand if the polarity of the battery BP is reversed (Fig.1-2b), no current
flows. This is because the electric field established between the plate electrode and the
filament forces the negative electron cloud away from the plate. Thus we have a current
flow if the battery is connected as in Fig. 1-2a and no current when it is connected in
the reverse direction as in Fig.1-2b. Interestingly Edison observed this phenomenon but
could not explain the mechanism that we just described above, as he did not have the
necessary scientific background. He just noted the experimental observation in his
diary and left it there. It was later named „Edison Effect‟.
The positive plate at the top is called the ‘anode’ while the filament, connected to the
negative end of BP is called the ‘cathode’. The battery BF and its circuit heats the
filament only, it does not have any other function. The Edison effect was duly
explained later and a practical device called the Vacuum Diode was invented by
Alexander Fleming in 1904. The vacuum diode was used by Fleming to convert an ac
power to dc power, the process being called rectification (as if ac was impure and dc
was pure!).
In later devices, the filament was covered by an electrode material which is more
efficient in emitting electrons, and this electrode was heated indirectly by the filament.
The negative of the plate battery BP was connected to this electrode instead of the
filament and this new electrode was then called the cathode. Diode (di-ode) stands for
‘two electrodes’ – the cathode and the anode necessary for the main current. The
filament is treated as a supporting mechanism and is not counted in the naming of the
5
device. In a practical diode the filament is usually arranged in a vertical configuration

and a cylindrical cathode covers the filament closely without touching it. The anode is
another co-axial (having the same axis) cylinder with a slightly larger radius.
Box 1.1: That the direction of electron flow is opposite to the direction of conventional
electric current usually confuses the student. The electric current was conceived of earlier
than the discovery of electrons. At that time electric ‘current’ was thought to be the flow of
‘positive charges’ from the positive terminal of a battery to its negative terminal through the
conductors in the outer circuitry. Later it was revealed that in solid metallic conductors
positive charges do not move, they are associated with the fixed nucleuses of atoms. It is the
negatively charged electrons in the loosely bound outermost orbits of a conductor (called free
electrons) that move in the opposite direction to cause the current. The scientific community
has a tendency to preserve history unless compelled otherwise. So, it was argued that
imagining a flow of a positive charges in the conductors do not affect the results of relevant
mathematical analyses, and in doing so we can keep some historical „rules‟ unchanged. Thus
the wrong direction for current was maintained and accepted generally.
Hopefully this should clear the confusion. We all say of a ‘conventional current direction’
while at the back of our mind we know that this is wrong! This is a „lie’ that we all have
agreed to perpetuate.
However, it should be borne in mind that in a liquid conductor, called an electrolyte, both
positive and negative charges (in the form of ions) move to constitute the current.
Fig.1.3 shows a rectifier circuit to convert ac power to dc power employing such a
vacuum Diode. The load resistor is connected between the cathode and the common
terminal (common to both input ac source and the output). The ac source provides both
positive and negative voltages on the anode alternately with respect to the cathode. The
vacuum diode conducts only when the anode is positive as described above. Therefore
the resulting current flows through the load resistor only in one direction half the time
+ Plate voltage
time->
0
cathode
-
+ Load voltage
time->
0
-
common
Fig.1-3: Rectification using a vacuum diode. Note direction of

conventional current as against electron flow in previous diagrams.
6
in each cycle, while no current flows during the other half. Thus a unidirectional
current or a dc is produced in the load resistor, though its magnitude varies with time.
The voltage existing at the source (applied to the plate) and the voltage developed at
the load resistor (both with respect to the common point, or ground) are shown
graphically on the right hand side of Fig.1.3 for a sinusoidal ac source. The
conventional current direction is shown in this figure (which is reverse to the direction
of electron flow, see box). Since current is allowed to pass only in one direction and
not the other, a vacuum diode was also called a ‘valve’ – a term generally associated
with water valves having a similar function.
1.5 Vacuum Triode and Amplifier

By adding a mesh of wire (called a ‘grid’) surrounding the cathode at close proximity
(Fig.1.4) it became possible to control the flow of anode-to-cathode current
ac input
+2V
0
RP -2V
small
power plate/anode voltage
ac +250V
input
+150V
grid
+50V
0V
anode current
+0.25A
+0.15A
+0.05A
common 0A
Fig.1-4: Amplification using a vacuum Triode.
significantly by applying a small negative voltage to the grid with respect to the
cathode (typical anode voltage ~few hundred volts, grid voltage ~few volts). The
electrons could still flow from the cathode to the anode through the holes in the grid
mesh because of the large attractive force created by the high anode voltage, but
because of its close proximity to the cathode, the negative grid could easily influence
the magnitude of electron flow by the repulsive force it provided. By varying this grid
voltage in a pattern according to our desire, it is possible to vary the large current
flowing in the anode-cathode circuit in the same pattern. In Fig.1.4 a small ac input
voltage is added to the negative dc voltage applied to the grid. The grid takes negligible
current, so the source has to deliver only a small power. However, this grid voltage
compels the anode current through load resistor RP to vary in proportion to the ac input
7
voltage. This will also cause the anode voltage to vary. The relevant voltages and
currents are also shown through graphs in Fig.1.4. The variations in anode voltage
comes in association of a dc voltage, called a dc bias, which can easily be removed
later to obtain the desired ac pattern at the output. The same applies for the anode
current. The anode power is very large because of the high anode voltage (obtained
from battery BP) and current. Thus a small varying power applied to the grid can
control a much larger power obtained from the battery BP.
Here the power in the output signal (the varying pattern) is much larger than the power
in the input signal. One can say that the small ac input signal has been multiplied or
amplified many times at the output. This is usually called ‘amplification’ and this
capability has allowed electronics to bring a technological revolution to the whole
world. Lee-de-Forest is credited with the invention of this vacuum triode (standing for
„three electrodes’) in 1907.
Vacuum tubes with more electrodes were devised to improve performances. Different
sizes of vacuum tubes were available, starting from finger-sized miniature ones to giant
chest sized ones used for powerful radio transmitters. With the advent of
semiconductor devices the vacuum tubes have almost become obsolete except in
applications like high-powered radio transmitters. The cathode ray tube used in
Television receivers and in computer monitors is also a special kind of vacuum tube.
However, it is also getting a serious challenge from various semiconductor and organic
semiconductor displays and may become obsolete in not too distant a future.
Interestingly vacuum tubes have recently made a comeback into our homes through
microwave ovens where special vacuum tubes known as „Klystrons‟ generate the high
power microwave radiation which heats up food without heating the containers.
In this book we shall not go any further into vacuum tubes, rather we shall concentrate
on semiconductor devices, which are still ruling modern electronics, and are expected
to stay on for quite a long time. However, before we go into the heart of electronics we
need to review and build up some background knowledge on electrical networks and
circuits, which form the topic of the next few chapters.
Does amplification defy conservation of energy? Have we created a much higher energy out
of a small input energy in a vacuum triode amplifier? - Not at all. The higher energy comes
from the powerful battery BP, and the small input energy has exercised a control over the
battery to deliver power in its own pattern through the use of the vacuum triode. There lies the
power of electronic devices!
Doesn’t a transformer do the same? No. In a transformer the output power is equal to the
input power (this is for the ideal situation, practically some percentage is lost), i.e., there is no
power amplification as in an electronic amplifier. Thus in a transformer if the output voltage
is greater than the input voltage, the output current has to be less than the input current. On
the other hand in an electronic amplifier both output voltage and current can be greater than
the corresponding input voltage and current. Thus there is power amplification.
8
Chapter 2: Background
Electrical Networks
In this chapter we will review some background knowledge on electricity and electrical
networks that have a direct bearing on what we are going to study.
2.1 EMF and Potential drop

EMF stands for Electro-Motive Force. EMF is a property of an electrical source
(battery cell or generator) which can create and maintain a difference of electrical
A
+ R1
V1
EMF e I V1 + V2
e =1.5V
R2 V2
_
B
e = V1+V2 = IR1 + IR2
Fig.2-1: EMF of a dry
battery cell Fig.2-2: EMF and potential drop
potential between two points and the EMF is taken to equal this potential difference. A
common dry battery cell has the ability to create and maintain a potential difference of
1.5 volts between its two terminals (Fig.2-1) which is its EMF (e).
Because of the EMF, an electrical source
can drive a current through an electrical
load. In Fig.2-2 the battery (represented by
switch
off R1 its symbol) drives a current I through
resistors R1 and R2 in series, which together
V1 + V2
act as the load. As a result there are
e I=0
potential drops, V1 across R1 and V2 across
R2, given by IR1 and IR2 respectively. So a
R2
potential drop (also called a voltage drop) is
always associated with a load when a
current flows through it. In Fig.2-2 the
V1 + V2 = IR1 + IR2 = 0 + 0
EMF,
e = V1+V2 = IR1 + IR2
Fig.2-3: Zero potential drop if I = 0 assuming the battery cell to be ideal without
any internal resistance. The EMF and the
potential drop have the same unit, volts.
9
Electrical Networks Chapter 2
If no current flows (I = 0) through a resistor no potential drop appears across it. In

Fig.2-3 the current has been stopped by breaking the circuit at a suitable point using a
switch. The EMF or the potential difference across the battery is still 1.5V but the
potential drop across R1 and R2 is zero, ie, V1+V2 = 0 since both IR1 and IR2 are zero.
You can stop the current flow by breaking the circuit at any other point in the circuit
and it will give the same result.
Box 2.1 The electrical potential is very similar to gravitational potential energy.
Compare the above example to the gravitational potential drop of a massive object
when you drop it from the rooftop of a two-storied house. We can associate a
potential drop for falling through each floor. If you are the agent carrying the
massive object to the rooftop, you are acting as the source of Gravitational motive
force (equivalent to the battery in the circuit) raising the gravitational potential of
the object.
Some books define EMF as the voltage measured across a battery cell when it is not
connected to any circuit. In fact this is not a definition, rather it is a way of measuring
EMF. All practical battery cells have some internal resistance (or source resistance, Rs)
and an equivalent circuit of such a cell is shown in Fig.2-4a where the internal
resistance is shown in series with an ideal cell. The EMF of the ideal cell is still e, but
you cannot access the internal terminal X of this battery cell, you have access only to
the external terminals A and B. If you do not connect the cell to any circuit (open
A
A I
Rs
Rs IRs
R
X X
V
e
e
B B V = e  IRs
a b
Fig.2-4: Practical battery cell with internal resistance
circuit), no current flows through Rs and therefore there is no potential drop across Rs.
Therefore the voltage measured across A and B is equal to the EMF. However, if you
connect the battery cell to a resistor circuit so that a current flows as shown in Fig.2-4b,
a voltage IRs is dropped across the internal resistance, and the measured voltage across
terminals A and B of the cell,
V = e – IRs
which is obviously less than the EMF. Therefore to measure the EMF, no current
should flow, i.e., a cell cannot be connected to any closed circuit.
10
Chapter 2 Electrical Networks
A voltmeter has also an internal resistance, Rm. Therefore a current, however small,
flows through the voltmeter when we attempt to measure the EMF of a cell as shown in
Fig. 2-5. The measured voltage, Vm, is basically the voltage dropped across this
voltmeter resistance Rm (ie, Vm = IRm = e – IRs). Thus the measured voltage is always
less than the EMF. To measure the EMF accurately, an ideal voltmeter is needed which
has infinite internal resistance so that the current equals zero, which is never possible.
Practically, if a voltmeter with a very high internal resistance is used so that Rm >> RS,
then the voltage drop across RS will be negligible and the measured potential would
represent the EMF effectively. There is a very good age-old technique using a
potentiometer circuit where no current is taken from the cell by balancing against an
exactly equal potential, but the procedure is not straightforward for quick
measurements.
A E
I VA=1.5V
Rs
Voltmeter V1
R1
Vm
Rm D
e
e R2
V2
B VB=0 C
Fig.2-5: Voltmeter
measurement Fig.2-6: Ground reference
2.2 Ground
Potential does not have any absolute value, it is always expressed between two points.
In Fig.2-6 the potential difference between the points A and B is 1.5 volts, we can say
that VAB = 1.5V. For convenience we usually choose a single point in a circuitry as the
reference point where we choose the potential to be zero. Potentials at all other points
are expressed with respect to this single point. This point is usually called common
point, ground or earth in a circuit and one of the symbols frequently used is shown in
Fig.2-6 where we have chosen the point B to be the ground (i.e., VB = 0). Once we have
chosen a ground in a circuit, we do not need to mention the potential difference
between two points all the time, we can just say that „the potential at such and such
point is so many volts‟. This would naturally mean potential with respect to the ground.
Thus in Fig.2-6, VA= +1.5V is enough to describe the potential at point A with respect
to the ground. We can also see that
since VB = 0, VAB = VA – VB = VA.
Potentials at other points can be similarly defined. Thus,
VD = V2 and VE = V1+V2.
11
To describe potentials between any two points not including the ground, we have to
express using the difference as before. Thus
VE – VD = VED = V1.
Here we would like to mention that in all drawn circuits we assume the line segments
as connections having zero resistance, and therefore potentials at all points along an
unbroken line is the same. Thus in Fig.2-6, points B and C have the same potential, 0V
while points A and E are both at 1.5V.
A E
A VA= 0 E VA=1.5V
R1 VD1=VE
D1
D D
R2 VD= VC
B VB= 1.5V C B VB=0V C
Fig.2-7: Choice of Ground Fig.2-8: Voltage at break
As mentioned above, choosing the ground is entirely a matter of convenience. We

could have chosen any other point as the ground, but once we choose one, we have to
stick to it for the entire circuit. Thus in Fig.2-7 we have chosen point A as the ground
(VA = 0), so that VB = – 1.5V, but we cannot choose both A and B as grounds
simultaneously in the same circuit.
We would like to emphasise one further point before we leave this section, if there is
no current through a resistor, the potential drop across it is zero and therefore potentials
at both its ends are the same. Thus in Fig.2-8, since the circuit is broken in the middle,
VD = VC = 0V while VD1 = VE = 1.5V. The whole picture will change as soon as we
connect together points D and D1.
2.3 Single or multiple cell symbol?
+VSS +VSS
+VSS
Fig.2-9:
Single (a) or
multiple cell (b)
symbols and dual
power supplies (c)
a b VSS
c
12
It needs to be mentioned that though it is logical to show the symbol of a single

electrical cell as in Fig.2-9a and a battery (multiple) of cells as in Fig.2-9b, this is not
given much importance. We do not bother at all regarding the number of cells. We just
use either of the symbols. However, to show a suggestion for high voltages where
required, people often use the multiple cell symbol, having many cells.
2.4 Dual power supply
Sometimes we need both a positive and a negative dc supply in the same circuit. This is
achieved by connecting two dc power supplies (or batteries) together with their
common point grounded as shown in Fig.2-9c. This is called a dual power supply. In
this figure, the two supply terminals are shown at +VSS and –VSS respectively with
respect to the ground.
2.5 AC fundamentals
What is an ac? We know it stands for alternating current, but what happens
physically? When we have a dc battery as the power source in a closed circuit, the
current always flows in one direction in the circuit-loop (that is the reason for the name
direct current). On the other hand, the polarity of an ac generator reverses repeatedly
(for which it is sometimes called an alternator) so that the current through a closed
+VP pure ac a
va
t
0
-VP
T Fig.2-10: Pure
Sinusoidal ac,
pure dc and
pure dc b combined ac + dc
VB (or, varying dc)
t represented
0 graphically
VB + VP ac + dc
va+VB c
VB
VB - VP t
circuit alternates in direction  once clockwise then anticlockwise. For this alternately
changing direction of current we call it an alternating current or ac. However, ac has
become more of an adjective than a noun, and we frequently use terms like ac voltage
and ac current, none of which strictly make any sense if we expand the abbreviation.
Mathematically, an ac voltage means that the voltage changes in magnitude with time,
once becoming positive then negative, then positive again. An ac current is similarly
13
defined. Which direction is taken to be positive and which one negative is arbitrary, it
is simply a matter of choice, but once we define a direction, that becomes the reference
for all further descriptions involving that circuit. Again the pattern of change of this
voltage or current may be anything, sudden or slow. A very common pattern is called a
sinusoidal shape or waveform where the quantity (voltage or, current) changes exactly
like a Sine function in mathematics. The ac generator mentioned above also produces
sinusoidal ac waveforms.
A sinusoidal ac voltage v is given by,
v = VP Sin  t ... 2.1
where VP is the peak value of voltage and  is the angular frequency in radians per
second. Again,  equals 2 f where f is the frequency in number of repetitions per
second. This is usually expressed in the unit of Hz (Hertz). We also see square,
triangular or saw-tooth or other complex ac waveforms.
Fig.2.10a shows the time response of a sinusoidal ac voltage, va , having peak voltages
of +VP and –VP on positive and negative sides respectively. It repeats with a period T
such that the frequency, f = 1/T. Most of the analyses of ac circuits performed in
electronics also assume sinusoidal shapes for voltages and currents, as this shape is
mathematically simple to handle. Besides, all complex waveforms can be expressed as
a combination of many pure sine waveforms with different amplitudes and frequencies
(Fourier’s theorem).
Just for comparison, Fig.2.10b shows the time response of a pure dc voltage, VB. We
can see that it has a constant value which remains unchanged with time (obviously, it
does not change direction). Such a dc is called a smooth dc. On the other hand, we may
have a varying dc, where the magnitude changes with time, but remains always on one
side of the time axis. Fig. 2.10c shows a sinusoidally varying dc voltage. Physically, in
a varying dc the current is also varying in magnitude, but flows in only one direction in
the circuit. A varying dc may also be considered as a sum of an ac and dc. As in
Fig.2.10c, we can write the total voltage as Vtot = va + VB where VB is a dc which forms
a baseline above which va, a sinusoidal ac is superposed. The dc baseline is also called
a dc bias, or simply bias, in all electronic analysis.
Almost all electronic devices (vacuum diodes, transistors) are basically dc devices,
they can work only in one direction. Therefore to amplify ac signals (where current
flows in both directions) we have to add a dc bias to it so that the resulting voltage is a
varying dc as shown in Fig.2.10c. When the whole job of amplification is complete, the
dc is blocked using any suitable technique, either using a capacitor-resistance circuit or
a transformer, and a pure ac is taken out at the output.
Any periodic ac will have a frequency f as defined above. Sometimes we like to
describe dc as a special case of ac. We say that as f approaches 0, an ac becomes a dc.
This is particularly useful in mathematical analysis. For ease of understanding, we try
to follow a standard convention in designating ac, dc and mixed electrical quantities
14
using symbols. These are given in Box 2.2. For mathematical analysis, sometimes we
represent ac quantities using Complex numbers, and the conventions are also given in
the same box. (See Chapter 4 for the basics of Complex representation)
Box 2.2 Convention for ac and dc variables

In this book we will follow the conventions for representing voltages and currents
by variables with appropriate subscripts as given below.
Pure dc:
Variable: Capitals, Subscript: Capital.
Example: VIN, VOUT, VAB, IAB, VC, IC, etc.
Pure ac:
Variable: Small, Subscript: Small.
Example: vin, vout, vab, iab, vc, ic, etc.
Mixed dc + ac:
Variable: Capitals, Subscript: Small.
Example: Vin, Vout, Vab, Iab, Vc, Ic, etc.
Complex form(ac):
Variable: Bold capital, Subscript: bold capital
Example: VIN, VOUT, VAB, IAB, VC, IC, X, Z, etc.
While writing by hand you cannot use bold faced font. Use a bar instead, either
below or above, such as V , I , X , Z , etc.
Magnitude (absolute value) of a Complex quantity:
It is simply shown without the bold face.
Example (for variables given above): VIN, VOUT, VAB, IAB, VC, IC, X, Z, etc.
15
2.6 Ohm’s Law

In Fig.2-11, a source of EMF creates a potential difference V across a conductor (if the
source is ideal, having zero internal resistance, then V = e, otherwise V < e). This
potential difference V causes a current I to flow through the conductor. Ohm‟s law
states that temperature remaining constant, the current through a conductor is
proportional to the potential across it.
This means, I V ... 2.2a
Constant
I I temp
V
e
V
I V
Fig.2-11: Ohm‟s law Fig.2-12: I-V curve of an

definition Ohmic conductor
This is the basic form of Ohm‟s law. Note that there is no mention of resistance in this
law. When we form an equation from this law we define Conductance, G, as the
proportionality constant,
I  GV ... 2.2b
where G relates to a property of the conductor which determines how much current it
will allow to pass due to a certain applied voltage across it.
Resistance, R, is defined as the inverse of Conductance as,
1
R ... 2.2c
G
so that in terms of R, 2.2b becomes
1
I V ... 2.2d
R
This is the more well known equation formed from Ohm‟s law. R is a characteristics of
the conductor which attempts to oppose a current through it (I decreases if R increases),
therefore the name Resistance was chosen for this property of the conductor. A piece of
material having this property is called a Resistor. Therefore the name resistor is a
product of Ohm‟s law [note that we use conductor and resistor to represent the same
thing]. The basic statement of Ohm‟s law is graphically shown in Fig.2-12 (I – V
16
curve). We can see that the graph is a straight

line passing through the origin extending to both
Constant T
the 1st and 3rd quadrants. The line has a positive I
slope and the inverse of the slope is the
resistance R. A material having such features is
called an Ohmic conductor. V
If the I – V curve of any material deviates from
this straight line behaviour it is called a non-
Ohmic conductor. Thus a semiconductor diode
(to be described later) having non-linear I – V
Fig.2-13: I-V curve of a
curves (Fig. 2-13) is said to be non-Ohmic in
non-ohmic conductor
nature.
Box 2.3 The statement V = IR is not strictly Ohm‟s law as is popularly used, it is an
inference of Ohm‟s law. The same can be said about R = V/I . However, these
forms are useful in finding any one of the three parameters when the other two are
known. You should also note that in Eq.2.2, V is the independent parameter and I is
the dependent parameter, as I depends on V, so they are drawn with the axes as
shown in these graphs. We usually do not plot with the axes other-way round.
Box 2.4 Incidentally some books tend to show a non-linear behaviour for tungsten
filaments of light bulbs (Fig.B-2-1) implying that it is non-ohmic. This is not right
and they miss out one important point – the temperature is not constant throughout
the curve, it increases with increasing voltage. Had the temperature been kept
constant (through appropriate heat removal), it would have been a straight line. Of
course, we would get separate straight lines with different slopes at different
temperatures indicating that the resistance vary with temperature. For a metal the
slope decreases, i.e., the resistance increases with temperature (Fig.B-2-2).
Temperature not constant Different Const Temp

T
I I
V V
Fig.B-2-1: I-V curve of a Fig.B-2-2: Ohmic conductor at

tungsten filament bulb different temperatures
17
2.7 Incremental resistance from I – V curve

Even for a non-linear I – V curve we can define an incremental resistance by taking the
inverse of the slope of the tangent at any point on the curved line as,
1
 dI 
r   ... 2.3
 dV 
which may change with voltage unlike an ideal resistor whose value is constant. This is
also shown in Fig. 2-13 where the tangent represents the slope at the point of interest.
For an ohmic resistor, this is the same as the normal resistance obtained from R = V/I.
You may ask why we did not use dV/dI in Eq.2.3. Well, according to Ohm‟s law, I is
dependent on V (V does not depend on I), so there can be dI/dV, and not dV/dI.
2.8 Series and parallel combination of resistors, which one dominates?

You know that a series combination of two resistors R1 and R2 (Fig.2-14a) is simply
Rser = R1 + R2 ... 2.4
and a parallel combination is (Fig.2-14a),
1
1 1 R1 R2
R par     ... 2.5
 R1 R2  R1  R2
If they have widely different values which one dominates? In series combination it is
obviously the larger one. If you have to cross equal lengths of a very difficult route and
an easy route respectively to go to your destination, it is always the harder one which
will bother you and will determine the difficulty of your journey. The same happens for
electrons! Suppose R1 = 1000 and R2 = 100, the equivalent combined resistance is
1100 which is closer to the larger 1000 value.
On the other hand when you have two resistors having widely different values in
parallel (Fig.2-14b), it is always the
smaller resistor that dominates the final
equivalent value. Suppose you have two R1
parallel roads – a very rough one and a R1 R2
smooth one. If a hundred students are
asked to go to a destination on the other R2
end of these parallel roads, which one a b
will most of them take? – Obviously, the
smooth one with less resistance. Fig.2-14: Series (a) and parallel (b)
Electrons do the same! Taking the combination of resistors
previous values for R1 and R2, the parallel
18
combination is 90.9 which is closer to the smaller 100, supporting the above
argument. Note also that the combined result is less than even the smaller one in the
group. This you should remember to verify your results. You can take note of another
point, 1000 is 10 times greater than 100, and the equivalent value is about 10%
below 100. This information comes handy in making quick estimates when you
design a circuit.
2.9 Constant Voltage source
IL
VL RS VL
e RL RL
e
VL = e
Fig.2-15: Ideal Constant Fig.2-16: Practical Constant

Voltage Source, RS = 0 Voltage Source, RS<<RL
As shown in Fig.2-15 an ideal battery cell with zero internal resistance (RS = 0) can be
considered a Constant Voltage Source (shaded portion) as its output or load voltage
will remain equal to its EMF irrespective of the load resistance. In practice such a
source can never be found, therefore, a Constant
Voltage Source can be defined as a source of V a
EMF with an internal resistance RS (shaded part
in Fig.2-16) such that for all practical values of
load resistance (RL) in a particular application,
RL
the voltage dropped across RS is negligible. This
is clearly possible for RS << RL , which is the RLmin
requisite condition for a Constant Voltage
Source. Therefore, for a good constant voltage V
source RS should be as low as possible. For a b
fixed e and RS the above condition will be
satisfied if RL is above a certain minimum value
IL
RLmin as shown in Fig.2-17a. Below RLmin the
load voltage will decrease and can no more be ILmax
called constant. Fig.2-17: Characteristics of
Since the load current, a practical constant voltage
source, with RL (a) and
e with IL (b)
IL  ... 2.6
RS  RL
19
it is clear that for the above situation, there will be a corresponding maximum load
current ILmax (Fig. 2-17b) above which the source will no longer act as a Constant
Voltage Source. How much reduction in load voltage can be tolerated depends upon
the particular application. For some applications, 10% may be satisfactory, for some
1% may be adequate, some may require 0.1% or even lower figures. It should be noted
that for a constant voltage source, the load current would vary if RL changes.
2.9.1 Constant Voltage Source for ac: In an ac
source the voltage is always changing, so how do we
define a constant source? If the amplitude (peak +
value) of an ac remains constant, we call it a constant
voltage ac source. Obviously its rms or average
values would also be constant. The symbol of a
sinusoidal ac constant voltage source is shown in Fig. Fig.2-18: Symbol
2-18. Though the direction continuously alternates, of a sinusoidal ac
we need a reference direction for algebraic analyses. constant voltage
Therefore you will see that we have placed a “+” sign source
on one side of the source. Do not confuse it with a dc
source!
2.10 Constant Current source
An ideal Constant Current Source will supply a constant current to any load
irrespective of the value of RL as shown in Fig.2-19 (shaded part); again it cannot be
achieved strictly in practice. Besides, we do not know of any simple source besides a
battery which can provide a current, but a battery is very nearly a constant voltage
device. Therefore in terms of a constant voltage source with an internal resistance RS
(shaded part in Fig.2-20) we can visualise a practical constant current source such that
RS >>RL. From equation 2.6 above we can see that under this condition
e
IL  ... 2.7
RS
which is constant if e and RS are fixed. We can show the behaviour graphically as in
IL IL
+ +
RS
I RL RL
 e 
Fig.2-19: Constant Current Source, Fig.2-20: Practical Constant

I = constant for any RL Current Source, RS >> RL
20
Figs. 2.21. With reference to Eq.2.6 we can see

that a maximum load RLmax exists beyond which it
can no longer be called a constant current source. IL
As opposed to the constant voltage source, to keep
the current constant for different RL, the load
voltage will vary in a Constant Current Source RL
(since V = IRL).
RLmax
Here it can also be noted that for a good constant Fig.2-21: Characteristics of
current source, RS should be as large as possible. a practical constant current
However, this also lowers the value of current IL source
which can then only be increased by increasing e
to a large value. We can also visualise that an ideal
Constant Current Source can be made up of a
constant voltage source with infinite internal resistance though it would be of no use as
the current would be zero. You can make a good practical constant current source using
large external resistors in series to the source of EMF. To overcome the current
limitation problem, special circuits have been designed
using semiconductor transistors which can provide
large constant currents even with low voltage sources.
You should note that the sign of potential developed
across the load would depend on the current direction.
For the current source direction shown by the arrow in
Fig.2-22: Fig.2.19, the sign of the potential developed across RL
Alternative symbols is also shown in the figure. Alternative symbols for a
of a constant current current source are also used as shown in Fig.2-22
source where the directions of current are implied (for the
triangular one the apex gives the direction).
2.10.1 Constant Current Source for ac: The same symbol is used for both ac and dc.
The peak, RMS, or average current values are constant, as for an ac voltage source.
2.11 Source Resistance Measurement
The source resistance RS , if it is unknown, can be measured in both the above cases
using a very simple technique.
We know that VL = IL RL , and using equation 2.6 we get,
RL
VL  e ... 2.8
RS  R L
We can see that,
when RL =  (open circuit), VL  e,
and VL = e / 2 when RL = RS
21
The following technique evolves from the above analyses and is widely used
experimentally. In either Fig. 2-16, or Fig.2-20, open the load, connect a voltmeter with
a very high input resistance and measure the output voltage, which can be treated as the
open circuit voltage. Next, connect a variable RL and adjust it to obtain an output
voltage exactly equal to half the open circuit voltage. Take the load resistance out from
the circuit and measure its value. This would give you the value of RS. (If you measure
RL while connected to the circuit a wrong value will be obtained because of RS
connected in parallel, and the EMF of the source may complicate the measurement.)
Do not try the above method with batteries and voltage supply units, which will
require very high currents in bringing down the output voltage to 50%, and you
may damage the equipment and cause a fire hazard. In such cases, first measure the
open circuit value, and then bring the output down to about 95% of the open circuit
value by adjusting RL. These measurements will give you two equations based on
equation 2.8, which you can easily solve to get RS. We will leave it to you to find
an analytical solution. Try it!
2.12 Kirchoff’s laws

Kirchoff’s laws are direct descendants of Ohm’s law to make analyses simpler in
certain circuit situations.
2.12.1 Kirchoff’s voltage laws
Kirchoff’s law for voltage says the sum of all the voltages within a closed circuit loop,
considered with appropriate signs, is zero, or,
Vi
i closed loop 0 ... 2.9
This is natural to expect because when you move out from a point and come back to the
same original point there cannot be any net gain or loss in potential energy. Now let us
apply this law to sample circuit-1 shown in Fig. 2-23. We have to assume any reference
direction for the current in the loop to start with (for complex circuits with branches,
you have to consider the currents through each component separately, as appropriate).
Because of the assumed current direction, the
high and low potential ends of any resistor in
+ R 
the path will be determined as shown in the b c
figure. Let us start our journey from a and
travel clockwise through bcd to come back to V2
the starting point. As we make our first
journey through V1, we have the freedom to V1
choose this potential difference as either
a d
positive, or negative. However, once we
make the choice, we will have to stick to the Fig.2-23: Sample circuit-1
same choice for the rest of the journey. Let
22
us choose V1 as positive as we go from a lower potential at a to a higher potential at b.

Then as we go along, the potential drop across R makes a travel from a higher to a
lower potential, so we have to give it a negative sign. Travel through V2 is also similar,
so it gets a negative sign too. Finally travel through V3 is again from a low to high
potential giving it a positive sign. Thus we get,
V1 – IR – V2 + V3 = 0  R +
b c
wherefrom, I = (V1 – V2 + V3)/R
The result is the same whatever current V2
I
direction you choose and wherever you start
from. Fig.2-24 shows the same circuit but here V1
V3
we have chosen the reference current in the a d
opposite direction, and we would also start
Fig.2-24: Sample circuit-2
from a different point. Let us start form point c
and choose an anticlockwise travel through
points bad. Following the above convention (+ ve for going from low to high potential)
we get,
– I R –V1 –V3 +V2 = 0
wherefrom, I = – (V1 – V2 + V3)/R
Had we chosen the opposite convention (+ ve for going from high to low potential) the
result would have been the same (try it!). The magnitude of the current calculated in
both the above procedures is the same; only the sign is different. This is because we
chose a reference current in the opposite direction in the latter case. Following such
methods you can determine the voltage loop equations in any circuit. Remember, if a
circuit is not closed, you cannot apply Kirchoff’s voltage law there.
2.12.2 Kirchoff’s current law for nodes

This law applies to a node (junction) of a circuit
I1 I2
where currents come in and go out through
different branches as shown in Fig.2-25, and
states that the total current going into a node is
zero, i.e.,
I3 I4
i
Ii node 0 ... 2.10
Fig.2-25: Current node
This is also common sense, if there is a net non-
zero current going into a node, there will be a
build up of charge there. Where would this excess charge go? Here the reference
direction has been taken as the current going into a node for algebraic analysis, current
going out of the node would be taken as negative then. In practice there has to be
currents in both directions, charges brought in by one or more branches have to be
23
carried away by the remaining branches. If the total algebraic sum of such currents is
non-zero in a given problem, the problem itself is wrong!
2.13 Voltage Divider Network

In spite of its simplicity, this circuit needs special attention. You will need it almost in
any circuit design or analysis, therefore you have to familiarise yourself with different
approaches to this circuit and its variations. In
Fig.2-26, the loop current,
A E
e
I ... 2.11
R1  R2 R1
V1
Therefore, voltage V1 across R1 and V2 across I D

e
R2 can be given as: R2
V2
V1 = I R1 ... 2.12a
B C
and V2 = I R2 ... 2.12b
where e = V1 + V2 ... 2.12c Fig.2-26: Voltage Divider
You can substitute the value of current I from

Eq.2-11 to see the values of V1 and V2 in
terms of e and the resistors. Equations 2.11 and 2.12 show how a voltage e can be
divided into two parts using a circuit as shown in Fig.2-26; hence the name ‘voltage
divider’. Here V2 is especially useful in many circuits as this may be an output voltage
where e is the input voltage with a common ground, and is given by,
R2 e
V2  e  ... 2.13a
R1  R2 R
1 1
R2 vin
which can also be written as a ratio of output to R1
input voltages, called the voltage gain,
vout
V2 R2 1 R2
  ...2.13b
e R1  R2 R
1 1
R2
Fig.2-27: Gain control
It can be seen from equation 2.13 that if e and R1
are kept fixed, V2 increases if R2 increases. If both
R1 and R2 vary then V2 increases if the ratio R1/R2
decreases.
24
This is the basis of all gain control circuits using a variable three terminal resistor,
called a potentiometer as shown in Fig.2-27 where the central contact (called ‘brush’)
can be moved to vary the ratio R1/R2 from  (infinity) with the brush at the lower
extreme, to 0 with the brush at the upper extreme. If the input voltage is vin the
corresponding output voltage then varies from 0 to vin. The volume control in your
radio or amplifier uses this very device.
Equations 2.13 also gives us,
V1 R1
 ... 2.14
V2 R2
which has to be remembered very well. The ratio of potentials or voltages across the
two resistors is equal to the ratio of their resistance values, which means that the higher
resistance of the two drops more voltage. Besides, the sum equals the input voltage.
Example: If e = 10V, R1 = 6k and R2 = 4k , then V1 would be 6V and V2 would be
4V which we can evaluate by a glance without performing any calculation. The
voltages will remain the same if the 6k and 4k resistors are replaced by 300 and
200 resistors respectively. Here the current will increase, but that is not of much
concern when we are interested only in voltages (of course, we do not want to waste
power, so would not like the current to be unnecessarily high).
2.14 Current Divider Network

Fig. 2-28 shows a current divider network. Here
the current I obtained from a constant current
source is divided between two resistors. Since I I1 I2
the voltages across R1 and R2 are the same
always, therefore, R1 R2
I1R1 = I2R2 I
I1 R2
so that,  ... 2.15 Fig.2-28: Current Divider
I2 R1
Note that there is inverse dependency. The
smaller resistor will take the larger amount of current. This was discussed before with
parallel resistor combinations. In fig.2.28, if you are asked to find the voltage across R2
you can calculate it either from I1R1 or I2R2. The same applies for the voltage across R1.
Example 2.1: If I = 1A, R1 = 6 and R2 = 4 , then I1 = 0.4A and I2 = 0.6A, which we
can evaluate by a glance without performing any calculation. What is the voltage
across the resistors in this case? Find out yourselves.
25
2.15 Thevenin’s equivalent circuit

Equivalent circuits are needed to simplify and analyse complex circuits. Electronic
devices like diodes and transistors which cannot be directly described in terms of any
known electrical parameters like resistance, capacitance, inductance, etc. are not
amenable to analysis unless we represent them in terms of the above parameters.
Therefore we cannot do without equivalent circuits in electronics, and Thevenin’s
equivalent circuit is possibly the most widely used
circuit. This is based on Thevenin’s theorem whose
statement is given below.
RTh a
Thevenin’s theorem states that any complex
network can be replaced by a constant voltage VTh
source, VTh in series with a resistor, RTh as shown in b
Fig.2-29, where VTh is given by the open circuit
voltage at the output and the RTh is given by the
total resistance measured between the output Fig.2-29: Thevenin’s
equivalent circuit
terminals with all internal voltage sources replaced
by shorts, and all internal current sources replaced
by open circuits.
(Remember, an ideal voltage source has zero internal resistance, and an ideal current
source has infinite internal resistance.)
We can see in Fig.2.29 that since there is no current through RTh under open circuit
condition, the open circuit voltage VOC across ab is equal to VTh. Again looking back
through terminal ab, the total resistance is RTh since VTh has zero internal resistance.
This is just a model proposed by Thevenin and we have to represent a whole complex
circuit in this way. There could have been other models, but this simple model has
gained wide acceptance. We will discuss another model based soon on a current source
instead of the voltage source in the above model, which is also widely used.
2.15.1 Determination of Thevenin’s equivalent circuit
This basically means reducing any complex circuit to the arrangement shown in Fig.2-
29 and determining the values of the Thevenin parameters VTh and RTh. There are two
common approaches – one for an unknown circuit, and the other for a known circuit.
Unknown Circuit
If the internal circuit details are not known, or if it is too complex to be analysed easily,
we can determine the Thevenin parameters (VTh and RTh) through a knowledge of the
open circuit output voltage VOC and short circuit output current ISC. These values may
be measured directly as shown in Fig.2.30. We can measure the open circuit voltage
VOC using a voltmeter with very high internal resistance as shown in Fig.2.30a and the
short circuit current ISC using a current-meter (Ammeter) with very low internal
resistance (a short) as shown in Fig.2.30b. With reference to Fig.2-29, VTh itself is the
open circuit voltage VOC. Now RTh can be easily obtained from the ratio of VTh to ISC .
26
Unknown Unknown Fig.2-30:

Circuit Circuit
V A Measuring VOC
(Black (Black and ISC of an
box) box) unknown circuit
a VOC ISC
b
Thus we have, VTh = VOC ... 2.16

and RTh = VTh / ISC ... 2.17
which are determined from the measured values completely. Thus we obtain the values
of VTh and RTh for this unknown circuit which completes the requirement to draw the
corresponding Thevenin’s equivalent circuit as given in Fig.2-29.
We frequently use the alternative form of Eq.2.17,
ISC = VTh / RTh ... 2.18
Known Simple Circuit

If the circuit is reasonably simple and the internal circuit details are known, we usually
perform network analysis directly to reduce the circuit. This method will be clarified
using a few examples below.
Example 2.1 (for a known simple circuit): Let us determine the Thevenin’s equivalent
circuit for the simple voltage divider circuit shown in Fig.2-31a between its two output
R1 p p
e R1 R2
R2 q
q b
a
Fig.2-31: Voltage Divider and its output resistance
points shown as p and q.

The Thevenin voltage (open circuit voltage between p and q) is, following Eq.2.13:
R2
VTh  VOC  e ... 2.19
R1  R2
27
To determine RTh, we short the internal voltage source e in Fig.2.31a following

Thevenin’s theorem. This leads us to the parallel combination of R1 and R2 as shown in
Fig.2.31b. According to Thevenin’s theorem this combination looking back from the
terminals p and q is the required series resistance RTh which is given by,
R1 R2
RTh  ... 2.20
R1  R2
Thus we obtain both VTh and RTh in terms of the circuit parameters e, R1 and R2 and
Fig.2-29 is the required equivalent circuit.
A slightly more complex network can be systematically simplified using Thevenin’s
equivalent network as shown in the example below.
Example 2.2 (for a known circuit, slightly more complex): Let us determine the
Thevenin’s equivalent circuit for the circuit shown in Fig.2-32a between its two output
points r and s. Firstly we determine the Thevenin’s equivalent circuit for the segment
a R1 p R3 b R
1
Th p R3 c 1
R 3
r r r
1 1
e R2 R4 V Th R4 V Th R4
q s q s s
Fig.2-32: A complex circuit and its sequential simplification
to the left of points p and q, which is exactly the same as the simple voltage divider
given in Ex.2.1. This first simplified equivalent circuit is shown in Fig.2-32b and we
can use the previous solutions to write down the following intermediate values directly.
Thus,
R2
VTh1  e ... 2.21
R1  R2
R1 R2
and, 1
RTh  ... 2.22
R1  R2
Now R1Th and R3 can be combined to get the series combination in the next equivalent
circuit shown in Fig.2.32c as,
R13 = R1Th + R3 ... 2.23
The circuit in Fig.2.32c is again a simple voltage divider and we can use the previous
results, as before, to get values for the final equivalent circuit as given by Fig.2.29,
28
R4
VTh  VTh1 ... 2.24
R  R4
1
3
R31 R4
and, RTh  1 ... 2.25
R3  R4
where the intermediate values are as given by equations 2.21 to 2.23.
Example 2.3 (to determine the current through a resistor in a network): In the circuit
of Fig.2.32a if it is asked to find the current through resistor R4, this needs a slight
1
R1 p R3 R 3 r
r
1 R4
e R2 V Th
q s s
a b
Fig.2-33: Determining current through a resistor
modification. Here we have to take R4 out of the circuit as shown in Fig. 2.33a and
determine the Thevenin’s equivalent circuit between points r and s as shown in
Fig.2.33b, without R4. Here V1Th and R13 are the same as in Fig.2.32c and given by
equations 2.21 and 2.23. Then we connect R4 as a load and determine the current
through R4 straightway as,
VTh1
I4  1 ... 2.26
R3  R4
Thus we can simplify complex circuits step by step to reach its final Thevenin’s
equivalent circuit as given by Fig.2-29, and perform the required analysis.Next we will
discuss another model as mentioned before.
2.16 Norton’s equivalent circuit

This is basically a complement to Thevenin’s equivalent circuit. Norton’s equivalent
circuit uses a Constant Current Source as against a Constant Voltage Source in a
Thevenin’s equivalent circuit.
Norton’s theorem states that any complex network can be replaced by a constant
current source, IN in parallel to a resistor, RN as shown in Fig.2-34a, where IN is given
by the short circuit current at the output and RN by the total resistance measured
29
between the output terminals with all internal voltage sources replaced by shorts, and
all internal current sources replaced by open circuits.
Fig.2-34:
IN p RTh p
Norton’s and
RN Thevenin’s
VTh equivalent
q q
circuits
a b
(Remember, as before, an ideal voltage source has zero internal resistance, and an ideal
current source has infinite internal resistance.)
To determine a Norton’s equivalent circuit it may sometimes be easier to determine the
Thevenin’s equivalent circuit first and then convert. Therefore we need to know the
correspondence between the two equivalent circuits.
Let the Norton’s equivalent circuit and the Thevenin’s equivalent circuit shown in
Figs. 2.34a and 2.34b represent the same original circuit. Now, in Fig.2.34a, when the
output is open all the current IN flows through resistor RN. Therefore, the open circuit
output voltage is,
VOC = IN RN
This should equal the open circuit voltage in Fig.2.-34b which is VTh .
Therefore, IN RN = VTh ... 2.27
VTh
or, IN  ... 2.28
RN
Again, when the output is shorted in Fig.2-34a, the whole of IN flows through this
shorted path (no current goes through the resistor RN, having non-zero value).
Therefore, IN is the short circuit current in Fig.2-34a. On the other hand in Fig.2-34b,
the short circuit current is given by VTh / RTh (Eq.2.18). Therefore equating these two
we get,
VTh
IN  ... 2.29
RTh
Comparing equations 2.28 and 2.29, we get,
RTh = RN ... 2.30
which means that the equivalent resistances in both the circuits are the same. This also
comes from the statements of both the equivalent circuits.
30
Thus we get the Thevenin parameters VTh and RTh in terms of the Norton’s parameters
from equations 2.27 and 2.30 respectively while the Norton’s parameter IN and RN are
obtained from the Thevenin parameters using equations 2.28 and 2.30 respectively.
Example 2.4: A Thevenin’s equivalent circuit has a VTh = 2V and RTh = 1k. What is
the Norton’s equivalent circuit?
Answer: From the above circuits and analyses,
IN = VTh / RTh = 2V / 1k = 2 mA,
and RN = RTh = 1k
... as simple as this!
2.17 Superposition Principle:
This is mostly required where more than one source (voltage or current) is present.
Suppose you are to determine the voltage between two specific points in such a circuit.
According to this principle, you break the solution into several parts, in each you
obtain the voltage between the specified points considering only one source at a time
while replacing each of the other voltage sources by a short circuit, and replacing
each of the other current sources by an open circuit. After doing this for all the
sources, you add up all the partial answers taking care of the signs (algebraic
addition) to get the final result. You can
R1
determine the current through a branch
100 R2 R3
instead of the voltage in the same R4
10V
manner. An example will clarify the
principle. e1 5V 0.2A
e2 I
Example 2.5: We have to find out the
current through R4 in the network shown
Fig.2-35: The circuit for analysis
in Fig. 2.35. Since there is more than one
source, we shall use the superposition
principle in three steps as follows.
Step-i:
To analyse the effect of e1 only, we redraw the circuit first as in Fig.2-36a, where e2 is
R1
R2 R3
100 R4 50 Req-i R4
10V 5V
Veq-i I4-i
e1
a b
Fig.2-36: Step – i: Solution for e1
31
replaced by a short and I is replaced by an open circuit.

Next we draw the Thevenin’s equivalent circuit for the part to the left of R4, which is
essentially a voltage divider, in Fig.2-36b (note that R3 has no contribution as one of its
end is open).
Now we can evaluate,
100
Veq i  10V  5V ,
(100  100)
100  100
and, Req i   50
(100  100)
Therefore,
5V
I 4 i   0.05 A  50mA
(50  50)
Step-ii:
Next we analyse the effect of e2 only and redraw the circuit first as in Fig.2-37a, where
e1 is replaced by a short, and I is replaced by an open circuit. Here we redraw the
R1 R2
R2 R3
100 R4 100 R4 50 Req-ii R4
5V 2.5V
I4-ii
5V e2 R1 Veq-ii
e2
a b c
Fig.2-37: Step –ii: Solution for e2
circuit as in Fig.2-37b where the circuit to the left of R4 is essentially a voltage divider
(note repositioning of R1 and R2; R3 has been taken out as it is of no use). Note that the
sign of e2 is in opposite sense to that of e1 and we have already represented the polarity
of e1 as positive (which we have chosen as our reference direction). Therefore, when
we draw the Thevenin’s equivalent circuit in Fig.2-37c, we draw the symbol with our
reference polarity but place a () sign for the voltage value. As before, we evaluate,
100 100  100

Veq ii   5V   2.5V , and Req ii   50
(100  100) (100  100)
32
 2.5V
Therefore, I 4ii    0.025A   25mA
(50  50)
Again, note that we have shown the direction of current in Fig.2-37c according to our
chosen reference. The negative result above signifies that the actual current is in the
opposite direction.
Step-iii:
R3 R4 I4-iii
R12 Req-iii
R4
R3 R3 V4
R1 R2 0.2A 0.2A
50 50
0.2A
25
I I I
a b c
Fig.2-38: Step –iii: Solution for I
Next we analyse the effect of I only and redraw the circuit first as in Fig.2-38a, where
both e1 and e2 are replaced by shorts. To determine the current through R4 we draw the
equivalent circuit shown in Fig.2-38b which essentially is a current divider network.
Here R12 is the parallel combination of R1 and R2. Since both of these resistors equal
100 each, R12 should be exactly half of this, ie, 50 which we can determine even
without calculation (check it for yourself through calculation). So the current of 0.2A
from the source passes first through R3 and then branches out into two paths, through
R12 and through R4. They then recombine together and reaches back the source. Again
since these two resistances are exactly equal, they will share half of the total current
each (check it yourself using Eq.2.15). Therefore the current through R4 is,
I4-iii = 0.2A / 2 = 100 mA
Note that its direction is also the same as for I4-i and hence has a positive sign.
Final step, Combining all the three currents:
We shall now combine all the three part currents obtained above by adding these
algebraically (ie, with appropriate signs). This gives,
I4 = I4-i + I4-ii + I4-iii = (50  25 + 100) mA = 125 mA.
Since this is positive, we can conclude that the resulting current direction is downwards
in Fig.2-38, i.e., in the same direction as for I4-i and I4-iii and opposite to that for I4-ii.
Thus we have solved a complex problem using Superposition Principle. Note that it has
employed all the techniques for a Voltage divider, a Current divider and Thevenin’s
33
equivalent circuit. We have not used Norton’s equivalent circuit, but we could have
done that as well. (Try it yourself!)
Alternative approach for I4-iii

In obtaining the current I4-iii through R4 we could have taken another approach which
we shall show now. In this approach we determine the voltage across R4 first from
which we determine the current. To do this, we redraw the circuit as in Fig.2-38c
where the parallel combination of R12 and R4 are combined to form the equivalent
resistor,
50  50
Req iii   25
(50  50)
Now if V4 is the voltage across R4 then it is also the voltage across the parallel
combination Req-iii. Since the whole of I (0.2A) passes through Req-iii we can determine
the voltage across it as,
V4 = I  Req-iii = 0.2A  25  = 5V
Therefore, the current through R4 would be that due to V4 and is,
I4-iii = V4 / R4 = 5V /50  = .1A = 100mA
Obviously the former current divider approach is simpler in this case where we only
asked for the current through R4. However, the latter method shows how the output
voltage needs to be calculated if you have two parallel resistors driven by a current
source.
2.18 Modeling devices with Single port

How to handle devices like microphones, Loudspeakers, etc. in electrical circuit
analysis? Obviously, we have to model these devices either using Thevenin’s or
Norton’s equivalent circuits. A microphone has only one signal output port as shown in
Fig.2-39a, (actually there are at least two wires which are needed to convey the signal
output port +vout

output port
ROUT
Source iout
System
vout
microphone
a b c
common
Fig.2-39: A microphone as a single port Source system and its Thevenin equivalent circuit
34
potential, but it is essentially a single port carrying a single signal). Why is it called a
port? Well, a port is an outlet or inlet to a country through which it interacts with the
outside world. Similarly any electrical device may have one or more ports to interact
with the outside world. If it only sends out signals through this port, we call it an
Output Port. Similarly if it only receives signals through this port, as happens in a
Loudspeaker, we call it an Input Port. The microphone is a source of signal therefore
we can generalise such devices as Source Systems as shown in Fig.2-39b which has an
output port only. Now this source system can be modeled in terms of a Thevenin
equivalent circuit which has been shown in Fig.2-39c. At the output we have two
readily measurable parameters, output voltage vout and output current iout. The voltage
has been shown to be + ve with respect to common for algebraic reference though the
symbol vout represents an ac which changes direction alternately. The reference
direction of current is shown inwards for the same reason, i.e., for algebraic reference.
This direction somewhat corresponds to Kirchoff’s current law discussed before where
all positive currents are assumed to flow inwards towards a node. It is clear that the
Thevenin voltage source has a driving voltage of vout while the output resistance ROUT
is directly related as
vout
ROUT  ... 2.31
iout
Therefore Fig.2-39c having the above relationship for its parameters represents any
Source System completely.
We can in the same way talk about a Load System such as a Loudspeaker shown in
Fig.2-40a which has only an input port. It receives an input voltage vin from a source
which is not shown here and an input current iin is driven into this load system. This
load system can also be represented by a Thevenin’s equivalent circuit consisting of a
+vin +vin
input port
iin RIN iin

+vr
RIN
Loud Speaker common

common
Load
a b Load System c
Fig.2-40: A Loudspeaker as a single port load system and its Thevenin equivalent circuits
voltage source vr and a series resistance which we call the input resistance RIN of the
load system as shown in Fig.2-401b. Here vr is a voltage source within the load system,
usually called a reverse voltage, which is different from, and may be independent of vin
(the loud speaker may produce a very small voltage due to the movement of the
35
speaker coil in a magnetic field). Therefore current iin would be determined by the
difference vin – vr as,
vin  v r
iin  ... 2.32a
RIN
In most practical applications reverse voltage vr would be negligible compared to input
voltage vin and we can simplify the load system as Fig.2-40c, without vr so that the
above equation becomes,
vin
iin  ... 2.32b
RIN
The load is simply represented by a resistor, called the input resistance of the load
system, or the Load Resistance.
Remember, we could have represented both the source and the load using the Norton’s
equivalent circuit as well.
For general situations with frequency dependent source and load, we shall use
Impedance in place of Resistance for both the above cases. However, sometimes when
we deal with a single frequency for which the impedance has a definite fixed value, we
occasionally use the term resistance to simplify expressions, but you have to remember
that this is not strictly correct.
2.19 Maximum Current, Voltage and Power transfer
+ ZOUT vl
il
vout ZL
Source Load
Fig.2-41: Signal Transfer system
In many occasions we have to use the electrical output of a source system to drive a
load system as shown in Fig.2-41. Here we have modeled the output of the source
system using a Thevenin’s network, i.e., a voltage source, vout with a series impedance
ZOUT. We have represented the loading system by simply a load impedance ZL as
discussed before. Here we have used the general Impedance term instead of Resistance
used above. We have not shown any input voltage to the load here, rather we have
36
shown the load voltage vl which results because of the current il passing through ZL.
Here the load current is given by,
vout
il  ... 2.31
Z OUT  Z L
and the voltage available to the load is given by,
ZL
vl  il Z L  vout ... 2.32
Z OUT  Z L
Therefore the power available at the load system is given by,
2
vout ZL
PL  vl il  ... 2.33
Z OUT  ZL 
2
The above three equations give us the resultant values obtained though such a linkage
between two systems. Sometimes we are interested to find out the conditions of
maximum voltage, current and power transfer from a source to a load and the above
equations allow us to determine those conditions as given below.
Maximum current transfer:
From Eq.2.31, we can see that for a given ZOUT, the load current il will be maximum (=
vout / ZOUT) if ZL is zero. For practical purposes we require that for maximum current
transfer,
ZL << ZOUT ... 2.34
Maximum voltage transfer:

From Eq.2.32, we can see that for a given ZOUT, the load voltage vl will be maximum,
and equal to vout if ZL is infinity. Again for a given ZL the load voltage vl will be
maximum if ZOUT is zero. For practical purposes we require that for maximum voltage
transfer,
ZL >> ZOUT ... 2.35
Maximum power transfer:

From Eq.2.33 the condition for maximum power transfer is not so clear as the previous
two cases. Therefore we differentiate PL with respect to ZL and set it to zero to find the
maximum condition. Doing this exercise gives us,
dPL Z OUT  Z L
 =0
dZ L Z OUT  Z L 3
37
This leaves us with, ZOUT  ZL = 0,

i.e.,
ZOUT = ZL ... 2.36
as the required condition for maximum power transfer.
At maximum power transfer how much of the power is transferred? We can easily see
from Fig.2-41 that the power will be equally divided between the output impedance
and the load impedance as they are equal and are in series. Therefore the maximum
power transfer can only be 50% of the input power. If ZL is greater or lower than ZOUT,
the power transferred will be less.
This means then that a source circuit can transfer only 50% of its output signal power
at the most to the next circuit. Note that in case of maximum current and voltage
transfers, the power transfer will be much lower (analyse Eqs.2.31 and 2.32 and find
out yourself).
2.20 Two Port Network

Previously we dealt with source or load systems having one port only. Frequently we
encounter networks or circuits that have both an input port and an output port as shown
iin iout
+ Two-port +
Input Port vout Output Port
vin
network
Fig.2-42: A generalised two-port network
in Fig.2-42. An amplifier is a good example of such a two port network. An amplifier

has both an input and an output. A filter circuit, or, any signal processing circuit that
takes something as an input and gives out something as an output is a two port device.
Some devices may have more than two ports, i.e., they may have more than one input
and more than one output. However, we will restrict our analysis to two-port devices
here. The concept may easily be extended to such multi port devices.
How do we model such a complex device? Well, very simple, we separate out the input
and the output of the two port network and replace them using the single port
representations as discussed before. Since we have two types of equivalent circuits –
Thevenin’s and Norton’s, and we have two ports, so we can make four combinations of
these, making four types of equivalent circuits. We can also make an analytical
approach which is a very elegant one, and the combination will give us a deeper
understanding. Let us start with the analytical one.
38
2.19.1 Analytical presentation

In Fig.2.42 we can see that there are four measurable parameters – input and output
voltages, input and output currents. For brevity and ease of analysis we represent the
subscripts to the symbols using numbers as, v1, v2, i1 and i2 respectively. Taking any
two of these as the variables, we can form six pairs of equations (= 4C2) from which the
other two parameters can be determined. In each equation-pair, the two variables are
the chosen independent parameters while the other two are the dependent parameters.
We are showing three of these equation-pairs below that are of interest to us from a
practical viewpoint. These equation-pairs are,
v1 = Z11 i1 + Z12 i2 ... 2.37a
v2 = Z21 i1 + Z22 i2 ... 2.37b
i1= Y11 v1 + Y12 v2 ... 2.38a

i2 = Y21 v1 + Y22 v2 ... 2.38b
v1 = h11 ii + h12 v2 ... 2.39a

i2 = h21 ii + h22 v2 ... 2.39b
If we analyse the dimensions of all the terms in these equations, we will understand
why the letters representing the constant co-efficients have been chosen as shown. In
the equation-pair 2.37, all the co-efficients have the dimension of impedance (= v/i),
therefore we used the symbol Z. In the next pair Eq.2-38, all the co-efficients have the
dimension of admittance (= i/v, inverse of impedance), therefore we used the symbol Y
(=1/Z). In the next pair of equations, h11 is an impedance, h12 and h21 are plain numbers
without dimensions, and h22 is an admittance, i.e., the co-efficients have mixed or
‘hybrid’ dimensions, for which we used the first letter h.
Now, can we make up any circuit from the above equations? Definitely yes. Fig.2-43
gives a circuit implementation of both the equations 2.37a and 2.37b. How? First let us
look at Eq.2.37a and to the left hand part of Fig.2-43. Here, Z11 i1 is the potential across
Z11 because of the current i1. Next, Z12 i2 is the magnitude of the voltage source shown
i1 Z11 i1 Z21 i2 i2
+ +
Z11 Z21
v1 v2
Z12 i2 Z22 i2
Fig.2-43: Circuit Implementation of Eq.2.37
39
in series (check the dimensions to satisfy yourself). Therefore the input voltage v1
equals the sum of these two potential differences which satisfies Eq.2.37a. Similarly
the right hand part of Fig.2-43 is just the representation of Eq.2.37b. Now if we look at
Fig.2-43, we can see that each part is similar to a Thevenin’s equivalent circuit.
Therefore we can say that the equation-pair 2.37 gives a representation where both the
input and the output ports are implemented by a Thevenin’s equivalent circuit each.
Significance of the parameters
Let us copy Equations 2.37 a & b here for a closer look.
v1 = Z11 i1 + Z12 i2 ... 2.37a
v2 = Z21 i1 + Z22 i2 ... 2.37b
What is Z11 ? From Eq.2.37a, we can see that if i2 is made 0, then Z11 = v1 /i1 which is
the input impedance (= input voltage / input current). Now what condition does i2 = 0
represent? It means that there is no output current, which is only possible if the output
is an open circuit. From these two conditions we can say that
Z11 = Input Impedance with output open.
Similarly, Z12 = v1 /i2 for i1 = 0 from Eq.2.37a. Now what is the physical significance of
v1 /i2 ? It is the ratio of input voltage and output current, i.e., it involves the effect of an
output parameter to an input parameter. We name such effects as reverse transfer
effects. Since the ratio has the dimensions of impedance, and the input current is zero,
we would say that,
Z12 = Reverse Transfer Impedance with input open.
Without going into further explanation we shall put the names of the other two co-
efficients below. Try yourself to justify the names based on the above explanations.
Just remember that any effect on output due to an input is a forward transfer effect.
Z21 = Forward Transfer Impedance with output open.
Z22 = Output Impedance with input open.
Therefore we can now also say which of the components in Fig.2-43 means what and
how to measure them if need arises, and how the equations 2.37 a & b are represented
by Thevenin’s equivalent circuits.
Now, let us copy Equations 2.38 a & b here for a closer look.
i1= Y11 v1 + Y12 v2 ... 2.38a

i2 = Y21 v1 + Y22 v2 ... 2.38b
40
Here, Y11 = i1 /v1 with v2 = 0. Clearly i1 /v1 is the inverse of the input impedance, i.e., it
is the input admittance. What condition does v2 = 0 represent? A zero output voltage is
only possible if the output terminals are shorted together. Therefore we would say that,
Y11 = Input Admittance with output shorted.
Similarly we can name all the other three co-effcients as (justify yourself),
Y22 = Reverse Transfer Admittance with input shorted.
Y21 = Forward Transfer Admittance with output shorted.
Y22 = Output Admittance with input shorted.
i1 i2
+ Y11 v1 Y12 v2 Y21 v1 Y22 v2 +
v1 v2
Y11 Y22
We can see that Fig.2-44 is a good representation of equations 2.38 a & b and we can
now also say which of the components in Fig.2-44 means what and how to measure
them if need arises. We can also see that the circuit representations of equations 2.38a
& b are nothing but Norton’s equivalent circuits.
Now, let us copy Equations 2.39 a & b here for a closer look.
v1 = h11 ii + h12 v2 ... 2.39a

i2 = h21 ii + h22 v2 ... 2.39b
Following the guidance provided by the above explanations we can name these co-
efficients directly as,
h11 = Input Impedance with output shorted.
h12 = Reverse Voltage Gain with input open.
h21 = Forward Current Gain with output shorted.
h22 = Output Admittance with input open.
41
i2
i1 h11 i1
h21 i1 h22 v2 +
+
h11 v2
v1 h22
h12 v2
Note that v1 /v2 is a voltage gain term, without any dimensions, but is a reverse effect,
from output to input. Similarly, i2 /i1 is a dimensionless forward current gain term, from
input to output. These also formed the basis of the above nomenclatures.
We can see that Fig.2-45 is a good representation of equations 2.39 a & b and we can
now also say which of the components in Fig.2-45 means what and how to measure
them if need arises. We can also see that the circuit representation of Eq.2.39a is a
Thevenin’s equivalent circuit while that of Eq.2.39b is nothing but a Norton’s
equivalent circuit. This also shows the significance of the name ‘hybrid’, which means
‘mixture of various kinds’ as indicated before.
In our dealings with transistors and other devices later, we will use the two-port
networks and their simplified forms extensively for analysis. Therefore one needs to
have a grasp of the basics of the above representations well.
2.21 Signal and Noise

Frequently we talk of these two terms but the difference is very subtle and the terms
are purely subjective. At your examination time your roommate playing a song on a
cassette player may irritate you. Here the song is a signal for your roommate because
(s)he is interested in it. On the other hand the same song is a noise for you as you feel
disturbed by it. Therefore any pattern of electrical voltage that is of interest to a subject
is an electrical signal, while all unwanted electrical voltages will be termed as electrical
noise. It may happen that at a different situation, the same subject may become
interested in some of voltages considered as noise before (as you may get interested in
the same songs after the examination is over). The names would therefore
automatically change with the interest of the subject who is describing the event.
42
Chapter 3 DC Transients
Chapter 3
Capacitors, Inductors; dc transients
3.1 Capacitors and Capacitance
Any two conductors, placed in such a way that they do not touch each other, can store
electrical charge if they are suitably connected to a source of emf. This arrangement is
called a Capacitor, and this property of storing charges is described by the term
Capacitance. The amount of charge, Q, that can be stored depend on the geometry and
the nature of the arrangement, and also on the voltage, V, existing across the capacitor,
and is given by,
Q = CV ... 3.1
Here C is the term which is related to the geometry and the nature of the arrangement
of the conductors, and is called the Capacitance in the technical sense. The unit for
measurement of capacitance is a Farad, which equals a Coulomb per Volt, and is a
very large quantity. Practical devices have capacitances of the order of microfarads,
nanofarads, etc.
For a simple parallel plate capacitor, capacitance is given by,
 A
C  ... 3.2
d
where A is the overlapping area between the plates, d is the separation between them,
and  relates to an electrical property, called the permittivity, of the insulating material
(called a dielectric) in between the plates. The dielectric could be vacuum, air, paper,
mica, plastic sheet or any other good insulating material.
3.2 How does a capacitor work?

3.2.1 Charging of a capacitor
Suppose the capacitor shown in Fig.3-1 (a & b) has vacuum as the dielectric. When the
switch is just closed (Fig.3-1a), the battery (electron pump, or, source) pushes electrons
out of its negative terminal to plate J of the capacitor in the direction shown, as a result
of which we get an excess accumulation of negative charges there. These excess
electrons repel an equal number of electrons away from plate K (Coulomb effect)
which are conducted through the connecting wire and are subsequently taken in by the
battery at its positive terminal. (Inside the battery, the electrons are again pushed down
to its negative terminal through an chemical energy transfer process.) Thus due to a
lack of electrons, plate K is charged positively and a potential difference is created
across the capacitor plates. An electron flow is also initiated in the conducting parts of
the circuit which can be detected by a current sensor (shown as an ammeter, A) at this
moment. This is a bit awkward; the capacitor appears as a break in the circuit, there
should not have been a current flow at all! Well this will happen in the long run, but for
43
DC Transients Chapter 3
electron flow electron flow

A A
switch switch
K K
VIN V V
J J
a b
electron flow electron flow
Fig.3-1: Charging (a) and discharging (b) a vacuum capacitor.

Conventional current is taken to flow in the opposite direction
a brief period just after switching, we will experience a transient (short lasting) current
in the conducting parts of the circuit due to charging of the capacitor. The current will
be large at the moment of switching and will eventually die away to zero
exponentially. The charge on the capacitor plates and the potential across them will
also increase gradually in a corresponding manner (remember, q=CV). How the current
dies away is explained below.
For our thinking purposes, suppose we move electrons from the battery to plate J in
packets. Just after switching on, suppose we have moved a packet of electrons to plate
J. This will force a similar packet to move from plate K to the battery. Since plate J
now has an excess number of negatively charged electrons, these charges try to oppose
further incoming electron-packets from the negative terminal of the battery (Coulomb
repulsion again). However, if the emf of the battery is larger than the potential
difference across the capacitor plates, it will be able to overcome the opposition and
push more electron packets to plate J of the capacitor, but their flow rate will be
somewhat reduced than before because of the opposing forces. These new electron
packets accumulating on the plate J will in turn repel an equal number of electrons
away from plate K at the same rate thereby increasing the potential difference across
the capacitor. In this way the electron flow will continue for some time but its rate will
be progressively reduced. This happens in an exponentially decaying fashion until the
potential difference between the capacitor plates becomes exactly equal to the emf of
the source. At this point the source of emf can no longer overcome the opposing forces,
and the electron flow becomes zero. We say that the capacitor has become fully
charged. The amount of excess negative charge on plate J is exactly equal to the
amount of excess positive charge on plate K. During this charging transient and in
equilibrium, Eq.3.1 above is valid at each point in time. We just mentioned coulomb
repulsion as a cause for the decaying current. However, the resistance of the
conducting wires will also have a role in controlling the actual magnitude of the
current.
At this stable position, if we suddenly increase the emf of the source to a greater value,
some more electrons will make their way to plate J, a transient current will flow again,
and the amount of charge on the plates of the capacitor will increase to a value
44
determined by the new emf, increasing the potential difference between the plates as
well. Therefore we said earlier (Eq.3.1) that the quantity of charge stored on the
capacitor is proportional to the voltage across it.
In the above description we referred to an electron flow as this is the physical
mechanism that takes place. However, we have to remember that conventional current
has the opposite direction and so we can say that when the switch is flipped ‘on’, a
clockwise transient current flows in the circuit of Fig.3-1a, which dies away
exponentially.
3.2.2 Discharging of a capacitor
Now, if we suddenly remove the battery and replace it by a short as shown in Fig.3-1b,
the capacitor would not be able to hold the excess charge that it has. Therefore the
excess electrons from its plate J will flow through the conducting wires in a reverse
direction to that before in order to neutralise the lack of electrons on plate K of the
capacitor (shown by a reverse current in the ammeter). This current will also be large
in the beginning but will die away to zero exponentially when there will be no excess
charge left on the capacitor plates. We can say that the capacitor with the potential V
across it acts similar to a battery and pushes the excess electrons from its negative plate
J to the positive plate K for a while, but unlike a battery the potential decreases
exponentially, reducing the current too. Eq.3.1 is also valid at any point of time during
discharge.
Instead of replacing the battery by a short, if we reduce the battery emf suddenly, the
capacitor will discharge too since its potential becomes greater than the emf of the
source; the transient will last till the two voltages become equal.
In Fig.3-1b we get a current in the circuit even when there is no battery in the circuit.
Where does the energy come from? In fact the capacitance stores energy during
charging, which it releases while discharging. Therefore a capacitor is basically an
energy storing device and this quality has been used to obtain different desired circuit
functions in electronics about which we will study more in this book.
3.2.3 Gradual change in applied potential
We only talked about sudden changes above to make a phenomenological description
simple. In fact any change in the applied voltage to the capacitor, whether sudden or
gradual will cause charging or discharging of the capacitor as appropriate. In fact we
can define a current through a capacitor as,
dq dv
i  C ... 3.3
dt dt
where C is a constant for a particular capacitor. Note we have used small letters for the
symbols as these are changing.
45
3.3 What is Capacitance?

In the above description, the quantity of stored charge is also proportional to the
capacitance of the capacitor. The larger the area of the capacitor plates, more charge
can be stored. What is Capacitance then? By rearranging Eq.3.1 we can see that
C = Q/V
which says that the capacitance is the quantity of charge stored per unit potential
difference.
This can be compared with the water storage capacity of a bucket, though the analogy
may not be 100% compatible. For a cylindrical bucket the capacity can be stated as the
mass of water it can hold per unit height (say, 100 kg/m) similar to the charge per unit
potential difference (dimension: Coulombs/Volt) in an electrical capacitor. In the
bucket the mass stored will be proportional to the height of water, similarly in a
capacitor, the charge stored is proportional to the voltage. Again by increasing the
capacity of the bucket by increasing the area of cross section, we can increase the mass
stored for the same height. Similarly, in a capacitor, by increasing its capacitance by
changing , A or d appropriately, we can increase the quantity of charge stored for the
same voltage.
3.4 Effect of , A or d
Increasing area A allows more charge to be
stored at the same voltage resulting in an
increased capacitance, and is simple to
understand. The increase in capacitance
with a reduced separation d (in vacuum)
may be thought of as due to an increased
interaction of the excess charges on the two
plates. Increased Coulomb force will cause
more electrons to be repelled from the Fig.3-2: Polarisation within a
positive plate, and thus both the plates will dielectric in a capacitor
have a greater number of excess charge.
For any other insulating material except
vacuum as the dielectric, the electric field between the plates of the capacitor will
polarise the molecules of the dielectric through displacement of the centres of positive
and negative charges as shown in Fig.3.2. This causes the opposite charges between the
plates and the adjacent polarised molecules to come at close proximity to each other
and thereby interact more (similar to that for a reduced d). This in turn allows the
plates to hold a greater number of excess charges, resulting in an increased
capacitance. The higher the polarisability of the dielectric (which is given by the
permittivity ), higher is the number of polarised charges that come near the plates and
higher is the capacitance. Another way of looking at it is that the charges of the
dielectric molecules near the plates tend to neutralise the effect of some of the opposite
46
charges on the respective plates, which in turn tends to reduce the potential between
the plates. If the potential is held constant by a battery, more excess charges need to be
pushed into the plates, and the capacitance is increased.
There are two types of dielectric - polar and non-polar. In a polar dielectric, individual
molecules are normally polarised but are randomly oriented, so that there is no net
polarisation. In the presence of an electric field these become oriented as in Fig.3-2,
i.e., become polarised. On the other hand non-polar molecules are not normally
polarised, i.e., the centres of positive and negative charges coincide. However, when an
electric field is applied, they also become polarised, same as that for a polar dielectric
as shown in Fig.3-2.
3.5 Displacement current

We can see that while a transient current flows in the outside circuit, there is no
electron flow within the region between the plates. Only the electric field in this region
changes during the time that the capacitor is getting charged. If there is a dielectric
material inside, the amount of polarisation will change, thus changing the amount of
displaced charges both on the plates and inside the dielectric. However, we would like
to imagine a continuity of current in the whole circuit. We say that a displacement
current flows within the capacitor (due to displacement of charges), which equals the
conducting current elsewhere in the circuit.
3.6 How a capacitor affects a dc circuit, dc transients

The capacitor essentially looks like a break in a circuit. So there should not be any
stable current through a capacitor with a dc source as mentioned before. However, at
the moment of switching to a dc supply, transient currents flow as explained above.
Transient currents also flow after the dc supply is switched off. The natures of these
flow patterns when such step voltages are applied are of interest to us and are dealt
with analytically in the following sections.
3.6.1 Switching ON, charging of a capacitor
Let us consider the circuit of Fig.3-3 with the change-over switch initially at position 2.
1
R
input
vc
2
change-over
i output
VIN
switch C
0V
Fig.3-3: dc transients through a capacitor
47
The circuit is in a stable condition with the capacitor fully discharged, the voltage vC
across it being zero. As soon as the switch is flipped from 2 to 1 (say, at time t = 0), a
transient current i flows for a certain period as explained above, charging up capacitor
C. The conventional current direction is shown in the figure. The current gradually
decreases becoming zero at infinite time.
Analysis
To analyse the circuit we can use Kirchoff’s law for voltage around the loop to get,
VIN = i R + q/C ... 3.4a
where q is the instantaneous charge on the capacitor, and the corresponding voltage
across capacitor vC = q/C . We have used small letters for i and q as these are changing.
Note that we have shown a common or ground terminal which has the reference
voltage of 0V and all voltages are referred to this terminal.
Differentiating Eq.3.4 and replacing dq/dt by i we get,
di i
0R  ... 3.4b
dt C
1 di 1
Reorganising, we get, 
i dt RC
 1 di  1
Integrating with respect to time,   i dt  dt   RC
 
 dt
 1 di  1
Now, L.H.S. =   i dt  dt   i di  ln i
 
(ignoring constants)
t
Therefore, ln i   K
RC
where K is a constant. Taking exponentials, we get,
t
i  eK e RC
where we have to find the unknown constant K from known conditions. If the initial
current at time t = 0 is I0, then from the above equation, we get,
eK = I0
Therefore we can write,
48
i  I 0 e t /  C ... 3.5
where, C = RC ... 3.6
is called the time-constant of the RC circuit.

Checking the fundamental dimensions of R (= V/I) and C(= Q/V) you will find that the
dimension of the product RC reduces to that of time as shown below,
voltage ch arg e ch arg e
   time
current voltage ch arg e time
At time t = 0, there is no excess charge on the capacitor plates so the initial current sees
no obstruction or resistance in the capacitor, the capacitor appears as a short circuit.
The only resistance in the circuit is R that limits this current. So the initial current at
time t = 0 is given by,
I0 = VIN /R ... 3.7
The resulting temporal behaviour of the current is shown in Fig. 3-4 (white line, note
scale on the left).
To obtain the voltage across the capacitor, vC (= q/C), we rewrite Eq. 3.4 as,
vC = VIN  i R.
Now using Eq.3.5 and Eq.3.7, we get,
V IN
v C  V IN  R e t /  C
R
Io =
VIN /R VIN
vc
0.63 VIN
i
0.37 Io
i
vC
0 0
0 C time
Fig.3-4: Current and Voltage transients during charging of a capacitor
49
or, vC  VIN ( 1  e  t /  C ) ... 3.8
This shows that the capacitor voltage, vC, increases asymptotically from an initial value
of zero, reaching VIN at time t =  (infinity). The resulting temporal behaviour of the
capacitor voltage is shown in Fig. 3-4 (black line, note scale on the right).
3.6.2 Significance of time constant

What is special about the time constant? To find it let us determine the values of the
voltages and currents after a delay of one time constant.
From Eq.3.5 and Eq.3.8, we get, when t = C,
i = I0 / e
and vC = VIN (1 – 1/e).
This signifies that after a time equal to the time constant, the current becomes 1/e th of
the initial maximum value while the voltage becomes (1-1/e) th of the final maximum
value (remember, e  2.718, so that these values are about 37% and 63% respectively).
These points are also indicated in Fig.3-4. After a period of n time constants, you will
find that the current has become 1/en th and the voltage has become (1 – 1/en ) th of the
respective maximum values.
Since e5  148 and e6  403 which are far greater than 1, we can say that after a period
of about 5 or 6 time constants, both the current and the voltage may be considered to
have reached almost the final long term values for practical purposes, though ideally it
ought to take an infinite time.
Therefore the time constant gives us an idea about the time it takes for the capacitor to
charge and discharge to any specific percentage of the maximum value. Besides, time
constants allow us to compare the temporal behaviours of different circuits.
Example Question: Let VIN = 10V, R=1k and C=100F in the circuit of Fig.3-3.
Let the capacitor be in a fully discharged condition initially with switch at position
2. After switching to position 1, at approximately what time would the voltage
across the capacitor be 6.3V? What would be the current at that instant?
Answer: 6.3V is 63% of the maximum value (=10V), and this is attained after one
time constant, which equals, RC = 1k x 1F = 100mSec. The current at that instant
is about 37% of the maximum, which should be, i = 0.37 x 10V/1k = 3.7mA
Note: For any other value of voltage or time or current, use Eq.3.5 to Eq.3.7 as
appropriate, and solve.
50
3.6.3 Application: Timer

One useful application of such an RC circuit is in producing a time delay circuit.
Fig.3.5a shows the basic scheme of such a circuit. Here the capacitor voltage drives a
voltage sensitive (VS) circuit. Suppose the output of this VS circuit is at 0V if its input
is below a certain percentage of the input battery voltage (called a threshold level, VTh).
If the input voltage crosses the threshold level the output of the VS circuit becomes
high, say equal to the battery voltage. The basic working of the timer circuit is
described below with the help of Fig.3-5 b & c which shows the time variations of the
voltages at the input and output of the VS circuit respectively.
VTh
input VC
Voltage
VC Sensitive VOUT
b 0
R
(VS)
Circuit VIN
VIN
C
VOUT
a 0
0V c 0 T
time
Fig.3-5: Timer circuit basics (a) and the relevant waveforms (b & c)
Suppose at time t = 0 the RC circuit is switched to the dc source resulting in a step

voltage on the left side of R. The voltage of the capacitor will rise asymptotically
according to Eq.3.8 and as shown in Fig.3.5b. As long as the capacitor voltage is below
the threshold level VTh, the output of the VS circuit is low, at 0V, as shown in Fig.3.5c.
After a time T the capacitor voltage vC crosses VTh, and the output of the VS circuit
suddenly goes high. This output can be used to drive any alarm circuit or to switch any
other device according to requirement. Thus we have made a timer device which is
actuated after a certain time interval of switching it to a dc supply. The threshold level
may be set at any suitable level depending on the design of the VS circuit. The time
delay may be changed using either R or C, though changing R is practically more
convenient and cost effective. To use the circuit repetitively an arrangement to reset the
device by discharging the capacitor needs to be made. Such practical circuits will be
discussed later in the 2nd volume of the book where it will be shown that such
automatic switching can be performed using semiconductor devices like transistors and
integrated circuits. Timings from nanoseconds to tens of seconds can be achieved in
practice using appropriate choice of component values.
51
3.6.4 Energy storage

Note that during discharge in Fig.3-5, there is no battery in the circuit. What is the
source of emf needed to drive a current, and where does the energy come from? Well,
the previous charging process has left excess charges stored on the capacitor having a
potent energy that can be calculated as follows.
The rate of energy storage, or, the energy E stored per unit time (which is equal to power)
is given by (= voltage  current),
dE q dq
 ... 3.8a
dt C dt
Now the total energy stored till time T starting from 0 (during which an excess charge Q is
transferred starting from an initial excess charge of 0 ) is,
1 T dq 1 Q
E
C 
0
q
dt
dt 
C 
0
q dq
1 Q2 1 1
i.e., E  QV  CV 2
... 3.8b
2 C 2 2
This energy is stored in the electric field that is created by the excess charges on the
capacitor plates, which the capacitor can release on discharge.
3.6.5 Switching OFF, discharging the capacitor

Suppose initially the capacitor is in fully charged state with the switch at position 1.
Let us see what happens when the switch is flipped to position 2 suddenly as shown in
Fig.3-5. Here we can see that the electrons on the lower plate of the capacitor will flow
through the closed circuit through R and will gradually neutralise the positive charges
on the upper plate of the capacitor as mentioned before. This process is called
discharging of capacitor. It is also apparent that there will be an initial current in the
circuit, but it will be in the reverse direction to the charging current discussed
previously. The capacitor initially has a potential difference exactly equal to that of the
battery, i.e., VIN, with the polarity shown (upper plate at a higher potential than the lower
one). So the capacitor now acts as the new source of emf and produces an initial
current of the magnitude (= VIN /R, same as that obtained initially during charging) but in
the opposite direction. The current gradually dies away as the capacitor gets
discharged. Since we denoted the previous charging current as positive, we
have to call this discharging current negative.
52
Analysis
Kirchoff’s law for voltage around the loop gives us, initial voltage being zero,
0 = i R + q/C ... 3.9a
Differentiating Eq.3.8 and replacing i = dq/dt as before,
di i
0R  ... 3.9b
dt C
This is exactly the same as equation as Eq.3.4b. Therefore the same solution can be
applied except for the initial condition. In this case, the capacitor has an initial voltage
of  VIN (minus sign to show reverse direction compared to that of the battery in the original
loop.) as shown in Fig.3-5 and therefore the initial current will be – I0 ( =  VIN/R). The
current will also be opposite to that during charging. Therefore we can write,
 t
C
i   I0 e ... 3.10
where C is the time constant RC as before. To obtain the voltage across the capacitor,
vC (= q/C), we rewrite Eq. 3.9a as,
vC = – i R
which becomes, using Eq.3.10,
 t
C
v C  V IN e ... 3.11
The transients are shown in Fig.3-6 a & b.
Note that for current i the polarity is reversed ( ve) but its magnitude is decreasing
similar to that during charging from an initial magnitude of I0. Capacitor voltage vC has
the same polarity as before, except that it is decreasing from a maximum initial value
towards zero exponentially. (We did not draw these on the same graph as before to point out
that the current goes negative from an initial zero value)
3.6.6 Voltage across Resistor
How would be the behaviour of the voltage across the resistor R ? Since this voltage
equals the product i R where R is a constant in a particular circuit, its behaviour would
be exactly the same as that for the current i in both the above cases for charge and
discharge (Fig.3-4 & 3-6a). In these cases the initial values will be Io R and  Io R
respectively.
53
C time
0
0.37 Io
i
i
Io =
VIN /R
Fig.3-6a: Current transient during discharging of a capacitor
VIN
vC
0.37 VIN
vC
0
0 C time
Fig.3-6b: Voltage transient during discharging of a capacitor
3.6.7 Repetitive switching

If we continue to flip the switch between positions 1 and 2 in Fig.3-3, we will get
interesting patterns at the output, either across the capacitor or across the resistor. Such
switching can be done electronically (using a signal generator) when we call it a square
wave signal. This switching can be very fast (less than nanoseconds), or very slow. This
arrangement is shown in Fig.3-7 where an electronic square wave generator drives an
RC circuit and the output is taken once across the capacitor (a) and once across the
resistor (b). Several graphs of these two types of outputs are shown in Figs. 3-8 and 3-9
54
for varying relationships between the period T of the square wave and the RC time
constant of the circuit. Such waveforms can be the basis of many wave-shaping
circuits.
R C
input vo input vo
output output
C R
a b
0V 0V
Fig.3-7: Two forms of an RC circuit driven by a square wave generator
input
output
RC << T
output
RC ~ T
output
RC >> T
Fig.3-8: Output across capacitor Fig.3-9: Output across resistor
3.6.8 Capacitor behaviour

We have seen in the above discussions that whenever the voltage at the input goes
suddenly from zero to some nonzero value, the capacitor in parallel to the output takes
some time to reach that voltage; it does not change its voltage instantly. Similarly when
55
the voltage goes suddenly from a non-zero value to zero, the capacitor voltage does not
follow the change instantly, it takes a while. Therefore, we can say that a capacitor is
conservative, it tries to hold on to its previous value of voltage and does not allow it to
change suddenly. This quality of the capacitor is used in many applications to
introduce a delay in the circuit as we have seen in the timer example before, or to filter
out high frequency signals, or to smooth out sharp variations in voltage. Here the
capacitor usually appears in parallel to the output as in Fig.3-7a.
On the other hand for a step voltage change at the input the capacitor initially allows all
the current the circuit can pass, as if the capacitor was a short circuit. This quality may
be used to pass sudden changes in current but to block slowly varying, or dc currents in
a circuit. Here the capacitor usually appears in series to the output as in Fig.3.7b.
Both the above behaviours of a capacitor will have important bearings in the case of ac
voltages and currents. The working of a capacitor with ac is described in detail the next
chapter.
Box3.1: Practical Capacitor model

A practical capacitor may have leakage
resistance associated with it. Its model is
Fig.B3-1: The
shown in Fig. B.3-1 which is basically an equivalent
ideal capacitor in parallel with its leakage model of a
resistance. In most cases this leakage practical
resistance is very high and can be taken capacitor
to be an open circuit, and therefore,
ignored. One might also consider the
inductance of the lead wires, which might become significant only at very high
frequencies. These inductances may be modeled in series with the above assembly.
Box 3.2: Series and parallel capacitance, which one dominates?

We discussed series and parallel resistance combination in section 2.8. For a
capacitor it is the reverse, i.e., for a series combination of two capacitors C 1 and
C2 (Fig.B3.2.1) the equivalent capacitance Cser is,
1
 1 1  C1 C 2 ... B3.2.1
C ser     
 C1 C2  C1  C 2
while for a parallel combination (Fig.B3.2.2), the equivalent capacitance Cpar is

C par  C1  C 2 ... B3.2.2
If they have widely different values which one dominates? In series combination it
is the smaller one since the plates of all the capacitors should hold equal amount
56
+q
C1 V1 +q1 +q2
-q
V +q V -q1 C -q1 C2
C2 1
-q
V2
Fig.B3-1: Series combination Fig.B3-2: parallel combination

of capacitors of capacitors
of charge, and it is the smaller one which determines what is the maximum
amount of charge that can be held under a certain situation. This obviously
requires that the voltages across the two capacitors are unequal, being smaller for
the larger capacitance (since q = CV). On the other hand for the parallel
combination, the voltage across both the capacitors are equal, therefore the charge
on each would be unequal. Here it is the larger one that will dominate since the
total charge that can be held by both the capacitors determines the combined
capacitance which is the algebraic sum of the two charge amounts.
3.7 Mutual Inductance

Fig.3-10 shows two conducting wires ab and cd placed very close together. The left
wire is connected to a source ein of time varying emf while the right wire is left open
for the time being. Due to a varying current il through the left wire, a varying electric
field will be produced around it (shown by white lines with arrow). Now under the
influence of this varying electric field, an emf er will be induced in the right wire
(remember, from basic electromagnetic theory that if the current does not vary with time, the
magnetic flux will not vary and no emf will be induced). If a load is connected across the
right wire, it will be able to drive a current through the load because of the induced
emf.
a c
il il
er er
ein ein
b d
Fig.3-10: Mutual induction Fig.3-11: Mutual induction
between straight wires between coils of wires
57
Now, if we wind the straight wires into coils as shown in Fig.3-11, the induction effect
will increase manifold as each turn can affect all other turns of wire. If we have a
magnetic core passing through both the coils, the induced emf will increase many times
more. The magnitude of the induced emf in the right coil er will be proportional to the
rate of change of current (dil /dt) in the left coil. This we can define analytically as,
dil
er  
dt
or, introducing a proportionality constant M, we have,
dil
er   M ... 3.12
dt
Here a negative sign is conventionally introduced to indicate that the induced emf
opposes the changing current direction.
Again if we have a varying current driven through the right coil, an emf will be induced
on the left coil that can be described using a similar expression as Eq.3.12, except that
the subscripts for left and right will be interchanged. The constant M will remain the
same if nothing else is changed in the two-coil arrangement. Because each coil affects
the other this is a case of mutual induction.
Here the constant M depends on the physical parameters of both the coils, their
geometry and magnetic characteristics of materials in the neighbourhood or within the
coils, which determine how much of the electric field of the left coil will affect the
induced emf in the right coil, and vice-versa. Therefore this constant M is called the
Mutual Inductance of the two-coil arrangement. Its unit is called Henry. From Eq.3.12
it can be seen that Henry (or H in short) is equivalent to volt-sec per amp.
3.8 Self Inductance, Inductor

Suppose in Fig.3-10 we bring the right wire closer and closer to the left wire, till at the
extreme situation they become the same as shown in Fig.3-12. Now the wire is in a
magnetic field due to a current going through itself. Now if the driving current varies
an induced emf will be generated within the wire itself. In this case also if we wind the
straight wire into a coil as shown in Fig.3-13a, the induction effect will increase
manifold as each turn can affect all other turns of wire. If we have a magnetic core
passing through the coil, the induced emf will increase many times more. This induced
emf el is different from the source ein that supplies the driving current, but it will
appear in parallel with the input voltage as shown in the equivalent circuit in Fig.3-13b
and it will always try to oppose the change in the driving current. The components Z1
and Z2 represent the respective internal impedances of the source and the coil
respectively.
58
i i
i
eo eo Z1 Z2 eo
ein ein ein el

a b
Fig.3-12: Self induction Fig.3-13: Self induction in a coil of wire (a) and
in a straight wire its equivalent circuit (b)
We should realise that when current is increasing in the direction shown through the
coil in Fig.3-13, the polarity of the induced emf will be positive at the upper terminal of
the coil to oppose the increase. On the other hand when the current is decreasing, but
still flowing in the same direction, the inductor will pump in extra current in the same
direction as the input current in order to keep it from falling, so the polarity of the
induced emf will be reversed.
Where does the inductor get energy to pump in this extra current? In fact when the
current is increasing, the inductor, by opposing it, stores some energy in its magnetic
field. This stored energy is released later, during the fall of input current. Just as a
capacitor stores energy in its electric field, similarly an inductor stores energy in its
magnetic field.
The induced emf, el, in this case is proportional to the rate of change of current (di /dt)
that flows through the wire (or the coil) itself and is given by,
di
el  
dt
where the minus sign indicates the opposition discussed above.
Introducing a proportionality constant L, we have,
di
el   L ... 3.13
dt
Here the constant L depends on the physical parameters of the coil, its geometry, and
magnetic characteristics of materials in the neighbourhood or within itself, which will
determine the magnitude of the induced emf. Since this is a case of self induction, this
constant L is called the Self Inductance of the coil or of the straight wire, as the case
may be. From the above discussion, it is clear that even a single straight piece of wire
will have a self inductance, but obviously its magnitude is very small. Usually we use
coils where self inductance is needed, with or without a magnetic core depending on
requirements. In a coil, magnetic field produced by each turn is coupled not only to
59
itself, but to many other adjacent coils thus increasing the inductance many times.
Such a coil is known as an Inductor. The unit of self inductance is also Henry as for
mutual inductance.
From the above discussion it is also clear that when the input current is increasing, the
induced emf will have a polarity to oppose the input. For this reason the induced emf of
an inductor is sometimes called a back-emf. However, when the input current is
decreasing, the induced emf has the same polarity as the input emf. Therefore the term
back-emf is not always valid.
3.9 Lenz’s law and Conservation of energy

In the above discussion we have seen that the induced emf tries to oppose the change in
the input current. This is stated through ‘Lenz’s Law’ which states that, ‘The induced
current will appear in such a direction that it opposes the change that produced it’.
The essence of this law can also be applied to the case of the capacitor circuit described
before. When the initial electrons flow from the negative terminal of the battery to
become excess stored charges on the lower plate of the capacitor (Fig.3.1), these excess
electrons oppose further transfer of electrons from the battery, opposing the very cause
which produced them. Had it been the other way round, i.e., if the storage of excess
electrons on the lower capacitor plate aided further transfer, then the current would
continuously grow to infinity producing energy from nowhere, which is an
impossibility, and would violate conservation of energy principles. Thus we can
generalise Lenz’s law to all activities in nature. “A product of a change opposes the
very cause that produced it”.
3.10 LR circuit, dc transients

Fig.3-14 shows an LR circuit where the output voltage is taken across the inductor. Let
us consider the circuit with the switch initially at position 2. The circuit is in a stable
condition with no current in the circuit. As soon as the switch is flipped to 1 (say, at
time t = 0), the current does not become equal to the final value instantaneously, rather
it grows gradually over a certain period as explained above, because of the opposition
provided by the inductor, storing magnetic energy in the process.
1
R
input
vl
2
i
output
VIN
L
0V
Fig.3-14: dc transients through an inductor
60
Analysis
To analyse the circuit we can use Kirchoff’s law for voltage around the loop to get
(voltage across inductor = L di/dt, with the appropriate sign),
VIN = iR + L di/dt ... 3.14a
Reorganising, we can write,
R V
 VIN  iR   ( IN  i)
di 1
... 3.14b
dt L L R
We need a trick, called a change of variable, to integrate this equation. Let us define a
new variable,
VIN
z(  i) ... 3.15
R
dz di
then  , and Eq.3-14b becomes
dt dt
dz R 1 dz R
  z , or, 
dt L z dt L
Integrating with respect to time,

 1 dz  R
  z dt  dt   L  dt
 
1
Now, LHS =  z dz  ln z (ignoring constants),
Therefore we have,
R
ln z   t K , where K is a constant.
L
z  eK e L
tR
Taking exponentials, we get,
VIN tR
Replacing z in Eq.3.15, i  eK e L
R
Now, we will find the constants using known conditions. At time t = 0, the current i is
zero (as the inductor does not allow the current to change). Therefore,
VIN
eK 
R
61
Again, at t =  (infinity), there is no obstruction or resistance from the inductor so the

final current Io sees only the resistor R in the circuit as,
V IN
I0  ... 3.16
R
Therefore we can write,
i  I 0 (1  e  t /  L ) ... 3.17
where, L = L / R ... 3.18

is called the time-constant of the LR circuit.
VIN Io =
VIN /R
i
0.63 Io
vL
0.37 VIN
vL i
0 0
0 L time
Fig.3-15: Current and Voltage transients in an inductor while switching on
The resulting temporal behaviour of the inductor current is shown in Fig. 3-15 (white
line) which shows that the current increases asymptotically from zero to the maximum
value with a time constant L.
The voltage across the inductor, vL, is obtained from Eqs. 3.13 and 3.17 as,
di L I o t /  L
vL  L  e
dt L
Evaluating the constant term using Eq.3.16 and Eq.3.18,
vL  VIN e t /  L ... 3.19
62
This shows that the inductor voltage, vL, decreases exponentially from an initial value
of VIN, reaching zero at time t =  (infinity). The resulting temporal behaviour of the
inductor voltage is shown in Fig. 3-15(black line).
Let us now consider the circuit when the switch is flipped back to point 2 from position
1 long after the transients have subsided. A similar analysis will show (do it yourself!)
that
i  I 0 e t /  L ... 3.20
and
v L   VIN e t /  L ... 3.21
The time responses of these quantities are shown in Fig.3.16 a & b.
The above equations show that an exponentially decreasing current is maintained for
some time even though there is no battery in the circuit. Where does the energy come
from? It is the magnetic energy stored in the inductor that supplies this current. It can
also be seen that the direction of voltage across the inductor is now reversed as di/dt
has the opposite sign.
In all the above treatment we have considered an ideal Inductor having zero resistance.
In practice this is not possible since any coil of wire will have some resistance.
However, in most cases this resistance may be ignored compared to the series
resistances involved in the circuit. If it is not the case we can model the inductor as an
ideal inductor with the coil resistance in series. While evaluating the voltage across the
inductor, we have to add the contribution of the voltage dropped across its coil
resistance, which makes it somewhat complex, but it can be solved.
3.10.1 Voltage across resistor

The voltage across resistor in the circuit of Fig.3.14 is simply iR whose behaviour is the
same as that for i since R is a constant for a particular circuit.
3.10.2 Repetitive switching

If we carry on repetitive switching in between points 1 and 2 in Fig.3-14, we shall get
waveforms similar to those shown in Fig.3.8 and Fig.3.9 for the RC circuit, but for
appropriate situations and for appropriate points in this circuit. (We will leave it to you to
figure these out yourself.)
63
Io =
VIN /R
i
0.37 I0
0
0 L time
Fig.3-16a: Current transient during switching over of an inductor to ground
L time
0
0.37 VIN
vL
VIN
Fig.3-16b: Voltage transient during switching over of an inductor to ground
3.10.3 Energy stored by an Inductor

We have seen above that a current exists even after the battery is switched off. Where
does the energy come from? In a similar way to the capacitor, the Inductor also stores
energy, which it can release on demand. The energy stored per unit time, or, the power
is given by (= voltage  current),
dE di
 L i ... 3.22a
dt dt
and at any final current I, starting from an initial zero current, the total energy
transferred is given by,
64
1
E L I2 ... 3.22b
2
For the capacitor it was easier to visualise energy storage in terms of charges stored on
plates. In the case of an inductor it is a bit difficult to visualise energy storage. Here it
can be imagined that the energy is stored in the magnetic field created around the
inductor, similar to the electric field created between the plates of a capacitor. Just as a
dielectric increased the capacitance in the previous case, similarly the introduction of a
magnetic material within the inductor coil increases the inductance manifold. For a
capacitor we had polarisation of atoms and molecules in the dielectric, here for the
inductor we have magnetisation of atoms and molecules in the magnetic material, and
orientation of magnetic domains if the material is ferromagnetic.
3.10.4 Application: Voltage and Current smoothing in Power Supply units

It can be seen that the transient current and voltage in an LR circuit have the same
behaviour as the transient voltage and current respectively in an RC circuit (note the
sequencing of the terms voltage and current). In the RC circuit the capacitor voltage did
not want to change, while in the LR circuit, the inductor current does not want to
change. Therefore capacitors can be used to smooth out voltages in a circuit while
inductors can be used to smooth out currents.
Laboratory dc power supply units usually obtain their power from ac mains through
stepping down the voltage using a transformer first, and then, rectification. This gives a
varying dc voltage which needs smoothing circuitry. A combination of both inductor
and capacitor gives the best of both worlds and a typical power supply unit with such a
smoothing circuit is shown in Fig.3.17. Note that the two capacitors with the inductor
in the middle make a graphical form which looks like the Greek letter ‘’. Therefore
such a smoothing circuit is called a ‘-filter’. Such power supplies were used with
older vacuum diode operated power supplies extensively. Inductors operating at the
mains line frequency of 50Hz tend to be bulky and expensive, therefore, with the
rectifier
varying dc smooth dc
low low
dc
220V ac V V load
ac dc
Fig.3-17: A low voltage dc power supply employing LC smoothing circuit
65
advent of small and cheap semiconductor devices, an alternative method of electronic

voltage stabilisation became popular which gives a very smooth dc without inductors.
However, inductors have recently made a come back again because of the popularity of
highly efficient switch mode power supplies which operate at tens or hundreds of
kilohertz by generating square waves of such frequencies within the power supply unit.
Some of these supplies will be discussed in later volumes of this book.
3.11 Series LCR circuit, Switching to a dc supply

An LCR circuit connected to a dc voltage source is shown in Fig.3-18. When the
switch is flipped from point 2 to point 1 a step voltage vIN is applied to the LCR circuit
as shown in Fig.3-19a and consequently a transient current i is initiated. We may
remember that on the application of a step voltage a capacitor allows a sudden high
current which then decreases exponentially with time, but an inductor has an opposite
behaviour. It does not allow the current to change sharply. So depending on the relative
values of L and C, we expect to get a combination of the two effects which are shown
in the lower curves of Fig.3-19 and are discussed below.
3.11.1 Physical visualisation
To visualise the effects let us first imagine the inductor to have zero inductance. So the
circuit is essentially a CR circuit and the current would be as shown in Fig.3-19b,
rising suddenly at first, and then decreasing exponentially.
Now as we increase the value
of L it opposes the sudden rise L
in capacitor current due to 1 input
which we will see a gradual
rise in current initially as
vC
2 C
shown in Fig.3-19c. After a i
while, the inductor’s effect VIN vIN
R vR
will become negligible and the
current will be dominated by
the capacitor charging current
which is decreasing
exponentially in this phase as Fig.3-18: dc transients through a series LCR circuit
was indicated by Fig.3-19b.
Here, the inductor would again
oppose this fall in current modifying the exponentially falling pattern. Since the rate of
change of current is low in this phase, which is again falling with time, the opposition
of the induced emf will be low. Therefore, the capacitor behaviour will ultimately
dominate the decreasing current pattern and it will eventually reduce to zero when the
capacitor will be fully charged. The combined effect would result in an overall current
pattern similar to that shown in Fig.3-19c, a rounded pulse with an almost
exponentially trailing end.
66
If we increase the value of L further beyond a

threshold, the induced emf during the fall of the
VIN
current will no more be insignificant (which vIN
works in the same direction as the driving current a
0
now, trying not to let the current drop). This will time
contribute significantly to the charging of the i
Increasing L
capacitor, hastening the process, and the b
0
resulting current pattern will be almost that of a
half sinusoid as shown in Fig.3-19d between i
points p and q. When the current reaches zero at c
0
point q, the capacitor would be charged to a
maximum (top plate +ve), to a voltage VC1 i q
0 d
(Fig.3-19e) which is higher than VIN. Where p r
does the extra voltage come from? In the falling VC1
phase of the current the induced emf and VIN are e
VIN
both in the same direction, and therefore, they
vC
will add up to make the total voltage higher than VC2
0
VIN.
IN V
After the current becomes zero at q, the vL f
capacitor will start discharging in the opposite 0
direction because of the positive voltage
difference VC1 – VIN and a similar situation as
above will be created except that the current
now would be in the reverse direction (anti- Fig.3-19: dc transients in
clockwise in Fig.3-18). This will again result in a an LCR circuit
rounded half sinusoidal current pattern in the
reverse direction as shown between points q and r in Fig.3-19d. During this process
when vC – VIN becomes zero the current should have stopped, but the stored energy
from the inductor carries the current further discharging the capacitor to a voltage
value lower than VIN, being the lowest, VC2 at r (Fig.3-19d,e). The positive voltage
difference VIN –VC2 will start to charge the capacitor, creating a current in the
clockwise direction again, and this will carry on repeating. We will get a damped
sinusoidal alternating current (amplitude decreasing gradually, exponentially in this case)
resulting from the sequential reversible energy storage and release by the inductor and
the capacitor (also see Physics, Vol-II, by Halliday & Resnick). Note the relative phases of
the current and the capacitor voltage waveforms, the latter being delayed by 90o.
The damping occurs because of irreversible energy dissipated by the series resistor
whenever a current is flowing (= i2R, always positive irrespective of the direction of the
current) which progressively reduces the energy stored by the inductor and the
capacitor. Had there been no resistance in the circuit ( ideal case), there would not have
been any damping and the current would be purely sinusoidal in nature with a constant
amplitude up to infinite time.
67
It would be interesting to know what the voltage patterns are across each of the LCR
components in the circuit. Here we only discuss them for the case corresponding to that
for Fig.3-19d where we get damped sinusoidal oscillations (try to find out those
corresponding to the other situations yourself). The voltage vR (= iR) across the resistor will
have exactly the same pattern as for the current. The behaviour of the voltage vC across
the capacitor is shown in Fig.3-19e. Rising from zero this will eventually have a
damped sinusoidal pattern but it will have a bias of VIN and it will be delayed with
respect to the current by a phase angle of 900. The maximum voltage on the capacitor
will occur when the current becomes zero and vice versa. Eventually at infinite time
the capacitor will be charged to its stable value of VIN, its final destiny. The voltage vL
across the inductor is shown in Fig.3-19f. Initially this poses an infinite obstacle and
drops all of the input voltage VIN at t = 0. Therefore it follows the step input at this
point. Then it follows a pattern completely 1800 opposite in phase to that of the
capacitor voltage except for the dc bias, which
is zero in this case. After an infinite time no
voltage is dropped across the inductor. -t/
i e a
The above two oscillatory patterns are shown
again with the scales suitably changed in 0
Fig.3-20a and Fig.3-20b to visualise the t
patterns over a longer period. This behaviour
is called ringing because it is similar to hitting
a bell, where the bell produces an
exponentially decaying ringing sound at its
natural frequency of vibration. Therefore we b
can say that an LCR circuit has a natural vC
frequency of oscillation, and it can be set into VIN
ringing by driving with a step voltage. Note
that if we had an ideal situation with R = 0 in t
the circuit, there would be no power 0
dissipation and the oscillation would go on

indefinitely without any damping. However, Fig.3-20: Damped oscillatory
this is not possible in practice since there will behaviour of an LCR circuit:
be some resistance in the inductor and in the a) current and b) voltage across
wiring of the circuit. capacitor
3.11.2 Analysis
To analyse we have to apply Kirchoff’s law as before around the loop to get,
di q
V IN  L   iR ... 3.23
dt C
Differentiating, and taking current i =dq/dt , we get a 2nd order differential equation,
68
d 2i di 1
L 2 R  i0 ... 3.24
dt dt C
The solution to this equation is a bit complex since it depends on the relative values of
L, C and R. Therefore we follow an alternative method of trial solution based on some
mathematical pre-judgment and solve it only under certain conditions. Let a trial
solution be,
i  D e bt ... 3.25
where b is a constant. D may be a constant or a function of t.
di d 2i
From Eq.3.25,   D b e bt and 2
 D b 2 e bt
dt dt
Replacing these values in Eq.3.24 we get, b 2  R b  1  0
L LC
bt
(since, D and e cannot be zero at all values of t).
The above is a quadratic equation in b, and we have as its solution,
2
R  R  1 ... 3.26
b     
2L  2L  LC
Let the above equation be represented as, b = p  q where

2
p 
R and  R  1 ... 3.27
q    
2L  2 L  LC
The general solution for the current is then given by,
i  A e ( p q)t  B e  ( p  q)t ,
where A and B may be constants or functions of t. The solution can be rewritten as,
i  e p t A e  qt
Be qt
 ... 3.28
We will now try to solve it under different conditions.
Case I: Overdamped condition,

R 1
for  ... 3.29
2L LC
both p and q are positive in Eq.3.27 and the above solution (Eq.3-28) applies which has
both rising and falling functions of t giving rise to a rounded pulse with a long trailing
end similar to that shown in Fig.3.19c. The time taken for the rise and fall of the
69
current, both are very large in this case. This situation is called overdamped , meaning
the damping to the transients due to resistive losses (i2R) are very high because of
which the above timing behaviours are observed. The transient takes a long time to
stabilise in this overdamped condition.
Case II: Critically damped condition,

R 1
for  ... 3.30
2L LC
q in Eq.3.27 is zero and we are left with only one value of b in Eq.3.26 and only one
time dependent term in the solution in Eq.3.28 [i.e., i = (A + B) e pt ] which is not
mathematically acceptable for such a 2nd order differential equation. Therefore in such
cases one of the parameters is considered to be a linear function of t (see any advanced
mathematics book). The solution is then given by
i   A  B  t  e  p t ... 3.31
We can see that this has a linearly rising component (A + B t) and an exponentially
decaying component (e pt ) which compete with each other to give a rounded and
trailing pulse, somewhat similar to the one shown in Fig.3.19c. However, the important
distinction between this and the previous overdamped case is that, in the critically
damped case the current rises and then decays back to zero in the shortest possible
time, while for the overdamped case, the time needed is more.
Case III: Underdamped condition,

R 1
for  ... 3.32
2L LC
we have, p  0 and q is imaginary. The solution of Eq.3.28 becomes (with j = -1),
t t
j t
i  A e 
e  B e 
e  j t ... 3.33
2L
where,   ... 3.34
R
2
and,    1  R 
  ... 3.35
LC  2 L 
If A = B in Eq.3.33, the solution becomes,

t
i  ( 2 A e 
) Cos   t ... 3.36
This solution (Eq.3.36) can be divided into two parts, the one within the brackets, and
the Cost term. The latter term shows that there will be a sinusoidal oscillation with
70
angular frequency , but the amplitude, given by the term within the bracket, is not
constant, rather it decays exponentially with a time constant given by Eq.3.34. This
decaying pattern is shown in dotted lines in Fig.3-20, which forms the envelope of the
amplitude of oscillatory waveform given by the Cost term in Eq.3.36. Eventually the
oscillation dies away and we get zero current at infinite time (for practical purposes we
can take the current to be essentially zero after 5 or 6 time constants). Thus Eq.3.36
clearly describes the ringing pattern of Fig.3-19d and Fig.3-20a that we inferred earlier
using physical arguments. This situation where we get an oscillation is called an
underdamped case. The damping depends on the time constant, 2L/R, with larger R
making a shorter time constant, i.e., a quicker decay.
The frequency of oscillation is given by, using Eq.3.35,
2
1 1  R 
f    ... 3.37
2 LC  2 L 
which is dependent on all the three parameters.
Case IV: Undamped condition,

R 1
 ... 3.38
2L LC
(R = 0 in ideal case)
 pt
We have, p = 0 so that e = 1, and q is imaginary. The solution becomes,

i  Ae jt
Be jt
 ... 3.39
or, i = (A + B) Cos  t + j ( A B) Sin  t ... 3.40
1
where  ... 3.41
LC
Taking the real part in Eq.3.40 and replacing (A + B) by E, we get,
i = E Cos  t ... 3.42

which is a continuous sinusoidal function with constant amplitude and angular
frequence . This is a totally undamped case (ideal) and agrees with what we had
described earlier from conceptual arguments. The frequency of oscillation, from
Eq.3.41, will be,
1 1
f  ... 3.43
2 LC
which is independent of R, and decreases with increasing value of the product LC.
71
We can see that the frequency in the underdamped case (Eq.3.37) reduces to that of the
undamped case given in Eq.3.43 for the extreme condition R  1 . In practice,
2L LC
small values of R may be considered to contribute to a deviation from the ideal
frequency given by Eq.3.37.
3.11.3 Conditions in terms of time constants
We can square and rearrange the condition for critical damping, Eq.3.30, as,
L
RC  4 ... 3.44
R
We can see that the left hand side is the time constant of the circuit without the inductor
(RC circuit) while the right hand side is four times the time constant of the circuit
without the capacitor (LR circuit). If we denote these time constants as c and L
respectively, we can see that the above four cases of damping occur for:
Case I: Overdamped c > 4L
Case II: Critically damped c = 4L
Case III: Underdamped c < 4L ... 3.45
Case IV: Undamped c << L
These can help visualise the relative values of L, C and R in terms of the above time
constants.
3.11.3 Switching back to ground
We have to appreciate that after switching from 2 to 1 in Fig.3-18 when the current
becomes zero after a long time, the capacitor remains charged to a voltage VIN with the
top plate positive. This is also shown in the first half of Fig.3-21c. Now if the switch is
flipped from position 1 to 2 in Fig.3-18 (i.e., switched to ground), only the VIN term in
Eq.3.23 would be zero, and the differentiated form would be the same as Eq.3.24.
Therefore the behaviour of the current as shown in Fig.3-19 b-d and Fig.3-20a would
remain the same for appropriate values of the circuit components, and all of the above
considerations would apply, except for the direction of the initial current, which would
be reversed (negative first). This is shown by the second pattern in Fig.3-21b on
downward excursion of the input voltage. The capacitor voltage will go through a
baseline shift as well, as shown in Fig.3.21c, from VIN to zero. After a long interval the
current becomes zero again, and the capacitor now is fully discharged (vc = 0).
Therefore, after a long interval,in either of the switching positions, the current is zero
and the capacitor is either fully charged or fully discharged depending on the switching
position, and the inductor has no stored energy. For one switch position (2 to 1), energy
initially comes from the battery, while for the other (1 to 2), the charged capacitor
supplies the initial energy.
72
3.11.4 Repetitive switching &

Resonance
If the switching between point 1 and 2 is
repeated periodically at large enough 2 to 1 1 to 2
intervals, we will see the ringing patterns VIN a
shown in Fig.3-21 repeating. If the
switching period is reduced gradually (you t
have to use an electronic switch based on 0
transistors, manual switching will not do),
we will see changing complex patterns
i b
which will depend on the point in time
with respect to the damped oscillation
when the ‘switch’ is made. A particular 0
sample is shown in Fig.3-22 a&b. t
Eventually when the switching period is
made exactly equal to the period of
oscillation, we will see a continuous
sinusoidal oscillation having a maximum vC
amplitude as shown in Fig.3-22 c&d. This c
is known as Resonance, a very important VIN
and interesting natural phenomenon about

which you must have studied before in 0
mechanics. Any object with a natural t
frequency of oscillation will demonstrate
the phenomenon of resonance when a
periodic external force is applied having
the same frequency. If the switching
Fig.3-21: Damped oscillatory
period is reduced further, there will be behaviour of an LCR circuit on
incomplete storing of charge in either the switching on and off;
inductor or the capacitor. The waveform a) input, b) current and c) voltage
will be still be sinusoidal but will follow across capacitor
the period of the switching, and the
amplitude will gradually decrease.
We can see that even though we have square waveforms at the input, the current, and
hence the output voltage taken across the resistor (= iR) is always sinusoidal at
resonance. In this way we can convert the energy in a square waveform into a
sinusoidal one and this has important applications in high frequency circuits,
particularly in Radio transmitters. The resonance is also observed if the impressed
(driving) waveform is a sinusoidal ac, and this we will study in the next chapter.
73
VIN a VIN c
t
0 0
t
i b i
d
t
0 0
t
Fig.3-22: Variation of current waveform of an LCR circuit on repetitive switching

frequency. Resonance occurs when switching period equals natural oscillation period (c&d).
74
Chapter 4 AC circuits
Chapter 4: AC circuits
In this chapter we shall discuss some important ac circuits that are frequently needed in
the analysis of electronic circuits. First let us recapitulate some ac fundamentals.
AC FUNDAMENTALS
4.1 Sine waveforms and phase angles
Mathematically, a sinusoidal alternating voltage ( which we will call ac voltage from now
on) with time period T and frequency f (= no. of full cycles per unit time = 1/T) can be
expressed as
v = V Sin  t ... 4.1
where V is the amplitude, and  is the angular frequency (= angle covered per unit time =
2 /T = 2f ). A sinusoidal function can be generated from the linear projection of a
radius vector rotating in a circle at a constant angular velocity as shown in Fig.4-1. A
radius vector covers a full cycle covering an angle 2 in a time period T. This gives the
above relationship between  and T. In general, if the radius vector covers angle  in
time t, then  = / t. Note that  can also be termed as the angular velocity having the
same unit. The unit is given in radians/sec and has the mathematical dimension of sec-1
since the angle is a dimensionless number. Note that frequency f has the same
mathematical dimension of sec-1 and is measured in Hz (previously in cycles/sec).
Eq.4.1 is plotted in Fig.4-1a as a function of angle  ( =  t) where a full cycle repeats
at an angular interval of 2. For this waveform, v = 0 at  = 0, which corresponds to
time t = 0. The corresponding generating circle for this sinusoidal waveform is shown
on the right hand side of the figure where the projection of the radius vector A0 on the
vertical axis gives the value of v (here, vertical projection = 0 at  = 0). The radius vector
can also be called a phasor and is taken to rotate counterclockwise for a positive
angular displacement. At any other point in time, the phasor may have a non-zero
projection on the vertical axis giving an instantaneous voltage value v; the angle
subtended with the original starting position ( = 0) is called the phase angle of the
projected voltage value.
Since  is constant for a sinusoidal waveform, the nature of the waveform would
remain the same if we plot it as a function of time t ( = / ) as shown in Fig.4-1b. This
is more advantageous as it allows us to visualise the progression of the waveform in
time. Note that the angle of full cycle 2 in Fig.4-1a corresponds to the time period T in
Fig.4-1b.
Now let us consider the waveform given by
v = V Cos  t ... 4.2
which we can also write as
v = V Sin ( t +/2). ... 4.3
75
AC circuits Chapter 4
T
+ V0
v 0  O A0
= t
 V0
=0 a
Fig.4-1: Sine
T waves as a
+ V0 function of angle
and time,
0 t A0
O relationship to
generating
 V0
b circles, and
t=0
development of
the concept of
V0 Sin (t+/2) V0 Sin t A1 phasors
=
t /2
T/4
t=0 c
V0 Sin (t ) V0 Sin t
=
t
A2
T/2
t=0 d
V0 Sin (t /2)
0 t =
T/4  /2
t=0
A3 e
V0 Sin (t+)
A4


 = t
=0 f
The wave represented by Eq.4.3 is the same as that given by Eq.4.1 except that its
phase is leading (i.e., it started before) by an angle of /2 which is equivalent to a time of
76
T/4. The graphical form and the corresponding generating circle is shown in Fig.4-1c
where v = V (maximum +ve value) at t = 0 and the phasor A1 is at a phase angle of /2
with respect to  = 0.
It easy to conceive that phasor A1 is at an advanced position, i.e., it is leading A0 at time
t = 0. However, looking at the time graph how do we know that it is leading? Fig.4-1b
started with v = 0 at t = 0. Therefore we have to look at the timing of the new
waveform to find when v = 0 occurs, nearest to t = 0. In Fig.4-1c, by extending the
graph to the left we can see that v = 0 occurs at time t = – T/4, i.e., before that in Fig.4-
1b, which answers our question. The waveform given by Eq.4.1 is also plotted in Fig.4-
1c in dotted lines to show the comparison. Try to appreciate that time increases towards
the right in this diagram and the waveform that leads is positioned on the left side in
this time graph.
Now let us consider the expression
v =  V Sin  t ... 4.4
which can be rewritten as v = V Sin ( t + )
representing an waveform which is leading that of Eq.4-1 by a phase angle of  and is

shown in Fig.4-1d together with the phasor A2 at t = 0. However, this can also be
rewritten as
v = V Sin ( t )
representing an waveform which is lagging behind (i.e., starts later) that of Eq.4-1 by a
phase angle of . This is special since the phasor is at equal angles from both directions
with respect to the starting point.
Note that v = 0 at t = 0 for this function also, but it does not have the same phase as
that of Fig.4-1a which is clear from the position of the phasor A2. In the time graph we
can see that although v is the same as that for Fig.4-1b, the incremental behaviour is not
the same. At time t = 0, v is increasing in Fig.4-1b while v is decreasing in Fig.4-1d.
Next let us consider the expression
v = V Sin ( t  /2) ... 4.5
which represents an waveform that is lagging behind that of Eq.4-1 by a phase angle of
/2 (given by the – ve sign) and is shown in Fig.4-1e together with the phasor A3 at
t=0. In the time graph we can see that this waveform assumes the value of zero at time
T/4 later than that in Fig.4-1b.
When we refer to a general sinusoidal waveform, it is usual to include an arbitrary
phase angle  as represented graphically in Fig.4-1f and mathematically as
v = V Sin ( t +  ). ... 4.6
77
We usually refer to the phase angle as positive meaning that the waveform is leading
the reference waveform of Fig.4-1b. The advancement through an angle  is shown in
the corresponding generating circle and in a graph against angle  ( =  t) in Fig.4-1f.
If the waveform lagged behind instead of leading, then the phase angle  would be
negative.
Note that if we are free to choose the starting time of a sinusoidal function, we like to
keep it simple and choose the phase angle as zero. However, if we have a prior
decision about the time reference then we have to use the general expression given in
Eq.4.6. Again, if we are dealing with a number of waveforms of the same frequency
but having constant phase differences between them, then we can choose zero phase for
only one of these. Once we have done it, the phase angles for the rest are automatically
determined.
4.2 Combining ac voltages, Phasor representation

We have seen above that a radius
vector, or, a phasor in the generating
circle show the phase angle of a V2
sinusoidal waveform clearly, while the VT
length of the phasor represent the
/2
amplitude (maximum vertical projection).
If we want to compare and analyse two  V1
or more sinusoidal waveforms of the
same frequency differing in amplitude Fig.4-2: Phasor method of
combining ac voltages.
and phase only, but which maintain a
constant phase relationship with each
other, the phasor diagram makes a very
useful analytical tool. Note the two conditions mentioned above in italics, you cannot
compare and analyse phasors representing waveforms having different frequencies
easily (as they will vary with time differently), nor those whose phase differences change
with time.
Using phasor diagrams it is possible to add two waveforms to get the resultant phasor.
However, remember that you can add or subtract the same physical quantities only –
you cannot add voltages with currents or with other parameters. Furthermore, you can
add phasors representing different waveforms at a particular point in time only.
Usually we do it at t = 0.
So for simplified analysis of multiple waveforms using phasor representation, the
waveforms should
i) have the same frequency,
ii) maintain a constant phase relationship with each other,
iii) have the same parameters for addition,
iv) this addition is to be done at a particular time, say, at t = 0.
78
The following two waveforms,

v1 = V1 Sin  t ... 4.6
and v2 = V2 Sin ( t + /2) ... 4.7
can be represented in a phasor diagram as in Fig.4-2 where the individual phasors
represent the respective amplitudes V1 and V2 in both magnitude and phase at t = 0.
Now the voltage sum or the total,
(v1+ v2) = VT Sin ( t +  ) ... 4.8
is represented simply by the diagonal of the rectangle formed by V1 and V2, both in
amplitude (VT ) and phase (). Thus we can easily determine these resulting parameters,
VT  V1  V2
2 2
... 4.9
V2
and   tan 1 ... 4.10
V1
as the complete solution. Compare the above technique with the other possibilities – a
graphical one where you have to add the two waveforms point to point in time and plot
the resultant waveform – or a mathematical solution which, you can imagine, would
not be simple. Therefore the above technique of adding phasors provides a simple
method of adding sinusoidal waveforms.
If the phase angle between the two voltage waveforms is different from /2 we would
get a parallelogram instead of a rectangle, but still can use the same technique, i.e., the
diagonal will represent the resultant. The above procedures are exactly the same as that
for vectors that you have done in Mechanics.
Remember that there is no absolute value for phase, it all depends on the choice of the
starting time. When we compare two or more waveforms, we usually choose any
suitable one as the reference and refer the phase difference of the other waveforms with
respect to that single reference.
4.3 Capacitors and Inductors

vr
4.3.1 Capacitor on ac, Capacitive
reactance R
Fig.4-3 shows a circuit comprising of an vin ic vc

ac source vin, a resistor R and a capacitor C
C in series. The loop current ic, and
voltages vr and vc across the resistor and
the capacitor respectively are also shown. Fig.4-3: Capacitor in an ac circuit
The current ic is related to voltage vc as,
79
dq dv
ic   C c ... 4.11
dt dt
where q is the instantaneous charge on the capacitor. Integrating the above, ignoring
constants of integration, we get,
1
C 
vc  ic dt ... 4.11a
Now if we choose ic = IC Sin  t ... 4.12a

(This is our choice, for convenience. The reason will be apparent later.)
1
then vc =  IC Cos t = VC Cos t ... 4.12b
C
where VC is the peak capacitor voltage and related to the peak current IC as,
VC
IC  ... 4.13
1
C
Eq.4.13 has the form of Ohm’s law if the denominator 1/ C on the right hand side is
considered as a quantity equivalent to a resistance. This is the opposition to a current
posed by the capacitor. We can also see that
due to the presence of , this opposition is
frequency dependent. An ideal resistor
offers a Resistance to a current that is IC
independent of frequency. To distinguish  /2
a
between these two, the frequency dependent
opposition is called Reactance and is VC
usually denoted by the symbol X. The
reactance offered by a capacitor, or the
capacitive reactance may be denoted by the
VR
symbol XC. Thus

1
XC  ...4.14a b
C
VC
V VIN
and IC  C ... 4.14b
XC
Clearly, XC decreases with increasing Fig.4-4: Phasor representation of
currents and voltages in a capacitor-
frequency. This also says that an ac current resistor circuit
can pass through a capacitor and that the
current increases with increasing frequency
(remember dc current cannot pass through a
80
capacitor in the stable state).

We can rewrite Eq.4.12b as,
vc =  VC Cos t = VC [ Sin(/2  t)]= VC Sin( t - /2) ... 4.15a
This indicates that the capacitor voltage lags behind the capacitor current by a phase
angle of /2 which is shown in the phasor diagram Fig.4-4a by drawing the current
amplitude IC along the + ve X-axis and the voltage amplitude VC along the – ve Y-axis.
This is a very significant result. It effectively says that the voltage across a capacitor
goes slow compared to the current through it. Remember, for a dc transient we found
that the voltage across the capacitor changes slowly while the current at the instant of
switching changes sharply (see Chapter 3). There is similarity between these two
behaviours.
With dc (Chapter 3, Fig.3-3), at switching on, there is no charge on the capacitor, so

there is no opposition to incoming electrons. As it gets charged, the electrons
already accumulated on the negative plate oppose new incoming charges. The more
the capacitor is charged, the more opposition it offers to current, and an infinite
opposition occurs when the capacitor is fully charged. We can extend this concept
to ac. At high frequency, the capacitor gets little time to get charged, therefore, it
offers little opposition. At lower frequency the capacitor gets more time to get
more charged, therefore it offers more opposition.
In Fig.4-4a we have shown two different quantities (current and voltage) in the same
diagram to indicate their phase differences only, but they cannot be added. However, if
we consider the voltage across the resistor vr (= ic R) and draw the phasor diagrams of
the two voltage-amplitudes as in Fig.4-4b, then we can add the two to get the sum-total
amplitude VIN, which should represent the input voltage vin here. Note that ic and vr have
the same phase since R is a constant in the product ic R. Since we have considered vr to
have a phase angle of zero, we plot it along the X-axis. The voltage across the capacitor
vc is plotted along the –ve Y axis and the input voltage vin is the sum of these two and is
given by the sum-total or the resultant phasor. The phase angle  of the input voltage
has been shown with respect to the reference vr.
Here lies the reason for choosing the phase of ic as zero in Eq.4.12a above. This
choice has allowed us to take the voltage across the resistance vr to have a zero
phase also, and to consider it as a reference. This is a choice we usually go for.
Remember, resistance is a frequency independent parameter, therefore, there is
some advantage in choosing the phase of the voltage across this as the reference.
Voltage across a series capacitor would be delayed by /2 while that across a series
inductor will be advanced by /2, as we will find out soon.
From Fig.4-4b we can see that vin is delayed by a phase angle  with respect to vr. So
the expression for the input voltage should include this phase angle as,
81
vin = VIN Sin ( t + ) ... 4.15b

where the phase angle  is inherently negative in this case, as is evident from the figure.
From the phasor diagram of Fig.4-4b we can see that the peak amplitude of the input
voltage is given, in terms of the respective peak amplitudes of the other voltages, by,
VIN  VR2  VC2 ... 4.16
and the phase angle by,

 VC V
  tan 1   tan 1 C ... 4.17
VR VR
The negative sign appears since VC is along the  ve Y- axis (phase =  /2). This
essentially says that vin is lagging behind vr in phase.
We can focus on some important results from the above discussion. If a capacitor and
a resistor are in a single ac current loop (no other currents are involved) then the
voltage across the capacitor will be lagging behind the voltage across the resistor by
/2. This is the same as saying that the voltage across the resistor leads the voltage
across the capacitor by /2. The sum of these two voltages will have a magnitude
given by Eq.4.16 and will have a phase lying in between those of the two voltages,
depending on their magnitudes. Eq.4.17 gives the phase difference between the input
voltage and the voltage across the resistor taking the latter as the reference.
4.3.2 Inductor on ac and Inductive reactance

Fig.4-5 shows a circuit comprising of an
ac source, vin, a resistor and an inductor in vr
series. The loop current il, and voltages vr
and vl across the resistor and the inductor R
respectively are also shown. The voltage vin il vl
vl is related to current il as, L
dil
vl  L ... 4.18
dt Fig.4-5: Inductor in an ac circuit
Now if we choose
il = IL Sin t ... 4.19a
(this is again our choice, for convenience, to have zero phase for v r)
then vl =  L IL Cos t = VL Sin( t + /2) ... 4.19b
where the peak voltage VL can be related to peak current IL as,
82
VL
IL  ... 4.20
L VL
Similar to the treatment with the capacitor a
above, Eq.4.20 has the form of Ohm’s law if /2
the denominator  L on the right hand side is IL
considered as a quantity equivalent to a
resistance. This is the opposition to a current
posed by the inductor, and is called the
Inductive Reactance, denoted by the symbol VIN
VL
XL. Thus
b
X L  L ... 4.21a

V
and IL  L ... 4.21b VR
XL
Clearly, XL increases with frequency and Fig.4-6: Phasor representation of
current decreases with frequency. Eq.4.19 currents and voltages in an
above also indicates that the inductor voltage inductor -resistor circuit
leads the inductor current by a phase angle of
/2 which is shown in Fig.4-6a. As before,
here we have chosen the phase of il to be zero and drawn the phasor along the X-axis.
Considering the voltage across the resistor vr (= il R) and drawing the phasors of the
two voltages as in Fig.4-6b, we can add them up which should equal the input voltage,
vin. Note that il and vr have the same phase since R is a constant in the product il R.
From the phasor diagram we can see that the peak amplitude of the combined voltage,
which is the input voltage vin here, is given, in terms of the respective peak amplitudes
of the other voltages, by,
VIN  VR2  VL2 ... 4.22

VL
  tan 1 ... 4.23
VR
which is inherently positive. Here the phase angle  is basically the phase difference
between vin and vr with the latter as the reference. Note the essential differences with
the capacitor circuit above. For the capacitor, the current leads the voltage, while for
the inductor, the current lags behind the voltage. Here the current grows slowly which
also supports the dc transient behaviour discussed in the previous chapter.
83
Similar to the capacitor circuit before, we can focus on some important results from
the above discussion. If an inductor and a resistor are in a single ac current loop (no
other currents are involved) then the voltage across the inductor will be leading the
voltage across the resistor by /2. This is the same as saying that the voltage across
the resistor lags behind the voltage across the inductor by /2. The sum of these two
voltages will have a magnitude given by Eq.4.22 and will have a phase lying in
between those of the two voltages, depending on their magnitudes. Eq.4.23 gives the
phase difference between the voltages across the inductor and the resistor
respectively taking the latter as the reference.
4.3.3 Resistor, Inductor and Capacitor behaviour on ac

The frequency responses of resistance R,
capacitive and inductive reactances XC and
XL are represented graphically in Fig. 4-7. XL= L
Note the shapes, which directly follow the
definitions of the respective parameters. R R
is a straight line parallel to the frequency
axis, meaning that its value is the same at
all frequencies. Inductive reactance (XL = XC = 1 /C
L) is a straight line going through the
frequency, f
origin whose value increases with
frequency (L = 2 f L  f ). Capacitive
reactance (XC = 1/ C  1/f ) is a
Fig.4-7: Behaviours of resistance,
rectangular hyperbola. Sometime when a inductance and capacitance with
complex circuit behaves in a certain way frequency.
with frequency, we try to relate to one of
these above behaviours.
Let us summarise the important features of an ideal capacitor:

i) An ac current can pass through a capacitor.
ii) With increasing frequency, ac current through a capacitor increases.
iii) The Capacitive Reactance decreases with increasing frequency (Fig.4-7).
iv) At infinite frequency the Capacitive Reactance becomes zero, i.e., it essentially
forms a short circuit.
v) At zero frequency (i.e., at dc) the Capacitive Reactance becomes infinity, i.e., it
essentially becomes an open circuit.
Let us summarise the important features of an ideal inductor:
i) With increasing frequency, ac current through an inductor decreases.
84
ii) The Inductive Reactance increases with increasing frequency.

iii) At infinite frequency the Inductive Reactance becomes infinity, i.e., it
essentially becomes an open circuit.
iv) At zero frequency (i.e., at dc) the Inductive Reactance becomes zero, i.e., it
essentially forms a short circuit.
Let us summarise the important features of an ideal resistor:
i) With changing frequency, ac current through a resistor remains unchanged.
ii) A resistor has the same Resistance value at zero frequency (dc), or at infinite
frequency, or at any other frequency.
We consider dc to have zero frequency, and XC becomes infinity there. This relates
to the previous finding that when the dc transients are over, the capacitor
effectively works as a break (open) in the circuit allowing no current.
At the other extreme, i.e., at infinite frequency, the capacitor acts as a short. The
above observations can also be related to the dc transient behaviour. At the moment
of switching to a dc source, a sudden step rise in voltage can be said to contain a
very high frequency content (Fourier theorem) and a capacitor allows all the
current that can flow in a circuit.
A similar consideration applies for the inductor as well. At dc or zero frequency, an
ideal inductor offers no opposition (XL = 0) as di/dt is zero, while the opposition is
infinitely high (XL =) at infinite frequency since di/dt is infinity.
4.3.4 Both Inductor and Capacitor in series, phase considerations

Fig.4-8 shows a circuit comprising of an ac source, vin, a resistor, an inductor and a
capacitor in series. The loop current i, and voltages vr, vl and vc across the resistor the
inductor and the capacitor respectively are also shown.
From the above treatments on a
capacitor and an inductor individually
in series with a resistor, we may vl
deduce that vl would lead the current i
by /2 while vc would lag behind i by L
vc
/2. This combined phase relationship C
is shown in Fig.4-9a while Fig.4-9b i
shows the phasors for vr, vL and vc. We vin vr
R
can see the advantage of choosing the
phase of i (or of vr) as zero in this
example, as it is intermediate to both
the other voltages. We can add the Fig.4-8: Series LCR circuit on ac
three voltages in Fig.4-9b in terms of
the respective peak voltage values as,
85
V IN  V R2  V L  VC 
2
... 4.24
VL
and the phase angle by, (with reference to that
of vr ) a
/2
VL  VC
  tan 1 ... 4.25
0 I
VR  /2
VC
From above, we can see that the magnitude
of the peak voltage would be real and
positive irrespective of the relative
magnitudes of VL and VC (since they are VL b
squared) but, the sign of phase angle, , will VIN
VL - VC
very much depend on their relative
magnitudes. When VL > VC,  is positive, 0 
while  is negative for VL < VC. When VL > VR
VC, we say that the inductor dominates and VC
the circuit has an overall inductive
behaviour. On the other hand when VL < VC,
we say that the capacitor dominates and the Fig.4-9: Phasor representation of
currents and voltages in a
circuit has an overall capacitive behaviour. series LCR circuit
From the above equations a special case
looks interesting when VL = VC (magnitudes
of the respective voltages vL and vc are equal but they are opposite in phase). Then we have,
VIN = VR and  = 0. This means that the reactive components cancel each other and the
circuit behaves as a purely resistive one. When does this happen? From Eq.4.14 and
Eq.4.21 above we can see that this will happen when XC = XL since the current through
all of the three devices are the same (current in a loop has to be the same everywhere). This
will have important implications to be described later.
We will deal with all the above circuits more thoroughly after we introduce a powerful
mathematical technique use of Complex numbers.
4.4 Use of Complex-number functions

[We assume you know complex number mathematics. In electricity we choose the letter j to
represent the imaginary operator 1 since i is used to represent current.]
Seeking to use an exponential function
We know that differentiation or integration of a sine function gives a cosine function
and vice versa. On the other hand if we subject an exponential function to the same
treatments, the basic function remains unchanged. This is advantageous in performing
mathematical analyses and therefore, we would like to use suitable exponential
86
functions instead of the sinusoidal functions described above for representing electrical
voltages or currents.
With the above objective let us examine the Complex exponential function
e jt = Cos  t + j Sin  t ... 4.26
How can we use this to represent the sinusoidal voltages discussed before? We can see
that both the real and imaginary parts of Eq.4.26 have terms that can be used to
represent sinusoidal voltages or currents. So what we do is that, we choose either the
real part or the imaginary part of the above exponential function, but not both at the
same time, to represent our real world functions. We do all the complicated
mathematical analyses involving complex functions, and finally when we arrive at a
mathematical solution we simply single out our originally chosen part (real or
imaginary, as appropriate) to get the real world solution. The procedure is
schematically represented below.
Complex world
Real world function --- Real part
represented by Real part mathematical represents Real
of complex function analyses and world solution
complex solution
OR
Complex world
Real world function --- Imaginary part
represented by imaginary mathematical represents Real
part of complex function analyses and world solution
complex solution
Obviously we have to choose either one of the above two, not both in the same work.
The workings will be clear when we analyse circuits of interest in the later sections.
When we use a complex representation for a voltage, current, impedance or reactance,
we usually use a bold faced capital (e.g. V, I, Z, X) in a book. However, for
handwriting, we cannot do that, so we may use a bar above the symbols with normal
face (e.g., V , I , Z , X ). Resistance is always real as it does not have a frequency
dependent term, so it is represented by a normal R symbol always. All magnitudes are
represented by non-bold capital characters (without bars in handwriting). Remember
that the magnitude of a complex number is given by the square root of its product with
its complex conjugate.
87
As an example of representing a sinusoidal function by a complex number, we see that

Eq.4.19a (il = IL Sin  t) can be represented by the imaginary part of Eq.4.26. That gives
us, the complex representation with an exponential function as,
IL = IL Cos  t + j IL Sin  t = IL (Cos  t + j Sin  t) = IL e jt ... 4.27
remembering that it is only the imaginary term that represents our interests.
Now, from Eq.4.18 and Eq.4.12, the complex Inductor voltage,
VL = L dIL/dt = jL IL e jt ... 4.28
Suppose this is the result we want. Then what is the real world mathematical
expression for the result? Expanding the above we get,
VL = jL IL(Cos  t + j Sin  t) =  L IL Sin  t+ jL ILCos  t ... 4.29
Since we started with the imaginary part, we have to stick to it. Therefore, taking the
imaginary part from the above expression, we get, for our real world solution,
vl = L ILCos  t ... 4.30
which is the same as Eq.4.19b obtained before. The advantage may not be apparent in
such a simple analysis. However, when you perform more complex analysis you will
appreciate the power of the Complex-number technique.
In a similar way if we want to represent a cosine function as in Eq.4.2 using a complex
number, we could use the real part of Eq.4.26. After all analyses the result will have to
be separated into its real and imaginary parts, and the real part here would represent our
world solution. However, as mentioned above, we cannot mix the two representations,
we use either the real part and stick to it, or we use the imaginary part and stick to it.
4.5 Representation of complex number in diagrams, Real and Imaginary axes

There is a standard form for representing complex numbers in a diagram, which is
usually called an ‘Argand Diagram’. Here the real part of a number is represented
along the X-axis and the imaginary part is
represented along the Y-axis. Suppose a
imaginary
complex number is given by axis
P = a + jb ... 4.31a jb
a+jb
Then a is plotted along the X-axis and jb
along the Y-axis as shown in Fig.4-10a, and
the complex number itself is represented by 
the diagonal. We can see here that b is also a real axis a
real number. Only when it is multiplied by
the imaginary operator j it is plotted along Fig.4-10a: Complex
the Y-axis. So, we can say that when the number representation
imaginary operator j operates on any real
number it rotates the direction by 900.
88
This can be extended further as shown in

Fig.4-10b. The Real axis is along the X-axis, j
multiplying a real number by j rotates it by
900 to Y-axis, which we have just discussed.
Multiplying again by j rotates it by a further 90o 90o
j2 =  1
900 to negative X-axis (since j 2= 1, this is
also real but negative). Finally, another 90o 90o
real
multiplication by j rotates the number by a
further 900 to  ve Y-axis (since j 3=  j, this is
negative of the imaginary axis). Another j3 =  j
multiplication by j will result in j 4= 1 which
is the original real axis again. We can also Fig.4-10b: Operation by j
see from Fig.4-10, corresponds to a rotation by 900
Magnitude of a +jb = (a2 +b2) ... 4.31b

and the angle that the complex number makes with respect to the real axis is,
 = tan-1 (b / a) ... 4.31c
4.6 Keeping the form of Ohm’s law intact for ac, complex impedance
Suppose in a circuit with both resistive and reactive elements (i.e., having R, and either
or both of L and C) we have
i = I Sin  t ... 4.32
and vin = VIN Sin( t + ) = I Z Sin( t + ) ... 4.33
where we have taken VIN = I Z for the magnitudes following Ohm’s law.
According to the complex representation discussed above, we can represent the above
mentioned ac current and voltage by the corresponding imaginary parts of the
following complex numbers,
I = I e j t ... 4.34
j( t + ) j( t + )
and VIN = VIN e = IZe ... 4.35
Now Eq.4.35 can be expanded and rearranged as,
VIN = I Z e j t e j  = (I e j t ) (Z e j ) ... 4.35a
Here the first part of the right hand expression is simply the complex current I. We can
make Eq.4.35a to have the form of Ohm’s Law if we represent the second part as the
complex impedance Z. Then we have, dropping the subscripts for a general expression,
Z = Z e j ... 4.36
and V = IZ ... 4.37
which is the complex form of Ohm’s law for ac.
89
Here we can see that the complex current

retains the sinusoidal frequency information XL = j XL
while the phase information of the voltage
has been transferred to the complex
impedance.
We remember from Fig.4-9 that the phase 0 R
angle of the voltages across the inductor and
the capacitor are 90 and – 90 respectively
0 0
with respect to the voltage across the resistor, XC =  j XC

which we took to have a phase angle of ‘0’.
Following the above mentioned complex Fig.4-11: Phasor representation of
representation, we want to transfer these resistance and reactance in a
phase information to the respective series LCR circuit
reactances. We have seen before (complex
Argand diagram) that multiplying by j rotates
a quantity anticlockwise by 900 while multiplying by – j rotates a quantity clockwise by
900 (i.e., – 900), so that the respective complex reactances can be represented as,
XL = + jXL ... 4.38
XC = – jXC ... 4.39
where XL and XC are real numbers, and the subscripts indicate whether the reactance is
inductive or capacitive. These are shown in Fig.4-11 where R, the real part of the
impedance is shown along the X-axis (reference 00).
We can represent the general form of reactance as,
X = ± jX ... 4.40
where a + ve sign is appropriate for an inductive reactance and a – ve sign is
appropriate for a capacitive reactance.
Then we can express complex Z, following the form of Eq.4.31, as,
Z = R ± jX = R+X ... 4.41
Here, R has been shown in normal font since it is always a real number.
APPLICATION TO SOME CIRCUITS OF INTEREST

We apply the above knowledge to analyse some circuits of interest – particularly RC,
RL and LRC circuits, and later, transformers.
4.7 RC high pass filter circuit
Fig.4-12 shows an RC high pass filter circuit (shaded) which has an input side and an
output side. It also shows an input voltage source, which we shall consider to be pure
90
R
VIN
XC

VOUT

R
XC =  j XC Z
Fig.4-13: Impedance phasor

Fig.4-12: RC high pass filter
diagram for the RC high pass filter
sinusoidal. Let us represent all the parameters in the circuit using relevant Complex-
numbers where applicable, viz., VIN and XC. Note that R is real always.
We can see that this circuit is basically a voltage divider, VIN being divided between the
capacitor and the resistor in series. The total impedance here is
Z = R + XC ... 4.42
We can use the complex phasor diagram of Fig.4-13 to represent R, XC and the total
impedance Z at an angle  (which is inherently  ve) with respect to R. Here, XC =  jXC
and Z = Z e j
Using complex form Ohm’s law, current is given by,
V IN V IN
I  ... 4.43
Z R  XC
However, we are interested only in the voltage across the resistor here and we name
this as the output VOUT (= I R) with respect to the ground. Usually we would like to see
what fraction of VIN is available at the output, which we call the voltage gain, Av. The
word gain actually comes from an amplifier where the output is greater than input, and
gain means how many multiples of input is available at the output. We also extend the
same usage of the word gain to situations even where the output is less than the input,
as in this case. Thus the Complex gain,
VOUT I R R R R
AV      ... 4.44
V IN I Z Z R  X C R  jX C
whose magnitude is given by (square root of the product with its complex conjugate),
R 1 ... 4.45
AV  
R 2
X C2 X C2
1
R2
91
Now replacing XC using Eq.4.14 (XC = 1/ C) we get,

1 1 ... 4.46
AV  
1
1 2 2 2  2
1 0
 C R  2
1
where we have chosen 0  ... 4.47
CR
1
Taking  0  2 f 0 , we have, f0  ... 4.48
2 CR
and Equation 4.46 can be rewritten as,
1
AV  ... 4.49
f 02
1 2
f
Eq. 4.46 and Eq.4.49 gives two forms of the desired solution for the magnitude of the
voltage gain and Eq. 4.47 and Eq. 4.48 gives the value of the constants 0 and f0 that
we have chosen to give us the nice simple forms for the solution. We can see that 0
has to have the dimension of an angular frequency (it has to cancel ), and is usually
called the characteristic angular frequency of the circuit as it depends on the circuit
parameters R and C (remember, RC is called the time constant of this circuit, which is
appropriate when a dc step voltage is applied). For circuits with different values of R and C,
0 will be different and the individual values of 0 will allow us to compare the
behaviours or charcteristics of these different circuits. Therefore we add the adjective,
‘characteristic’ in the above naming. The corresponding characteristic frequency is
given by f0. The significance of 0 or f0 will be made clear soon.
4.7.1 Visualisation of Frequency Response
To have a preliminary idea about the frequency response, we look at the voltage gain
obtained from Eq.4.49 at two extreme frequency values as follows,
when f =  (infinity), AV = 1
and when f = 0 (dc), AV = 0
The above results indicate that at very high frequencies AV has a value close to 1 (unity),
ie, the circuit allows the input to pass through to output without much attenuation,
while at low frequencies the gain decreases, becoming almost zero at very low
frequencies. If we plot AV obtained from Eq. 4.49 as a function of f, the plot would have
92
voltage gain a voltage gain b

1.00 1
0.707 0.707
Av Av
0 0
0 fo 2fo 3fo 4fo 0.01 fo 0.1 fo fo 10 fo 100 fo
frequency, f, linear scale frequency, f, log scale
Fig.4-14: Gain Frequency response of an RC high pass filter,

linear-linear scale (a) and linear-log scale (b).
a behaviour as shown in Fig.4-14a. This is called the frequency response of voltage

gain. This figure shows that the circuit allows only high frequencies to pass, but not
low frequencies. Therefore it is called a High-Pass Filter. Note that in Fig. 4-14a both
the axes are in linear scale. Fig. 4-14b shows the gain in linear scale, but with the
frequency axis plotted in log scale. A log scale accommodates a very large range of
frequencies by compressing them. Note the difference in the frequency range and the
essential change of shape in the two graphs. From the second graph, we can see that
for practical purposes, the gain may be considered unity above 10fo, i.e., ten times the
cut-off frequency, and negligible below 0.1fo, one tenth of the cut-off frequency.
Eq.4.49 also tells that the maximum voltage gain of 1 is achieved only at infinity,
meaning that nowhere within the finite range the gain is strictly unity, it is always less
than unity.
Why is it called a filter? You know a filter paper (or, a sieve) allows liquids and
very small particles to pass through but not larger particles. So a filter paper or a
sieve works as a particle size selective device. Similarly the above circuit acts as an
electrical frequency selective device in that it allows electrical signals of high
frequencies to pass, and does not allow signals of low frequencies. Therefore it is
also called a filter (more strictly, a frequency filter), but obviously it is a filter for
electrical signals.
In case of the sieve, or a particle filter if you collect the smaller particles from
below, and leave out the larger ones, you can call it a ‘small pass filter’. On the
other hand if you choose to collect larger particles from the top of the filter leaving
the smaller ones out, you can call it a ‘large pass filter’. Similarly in case of the
electrical filters if it allows only high frequencies to pass as in the above case, then
we call it a ‘high pass filter’. If we modify the above circuit (to be described shortly)
to allow low frequencies to pass only, we call it a ‘low pass filter’.
93
4.8 Significance of 0 or f0
To see the significance of 0 (or, of f0), let us see what happens when the angular
frequency  becomes the same as 0 (or, when f equals f0),
From Eq. 4.43 and Eq.4.46 we can see that,
1
when  = 0 or, f = f0 , AV   0.707 ... 4.50
2
We indicate this point on the plot in Fig.4-14 corresponding to f0 where the gain is
approximately 0.707 (you now understand how this magic number has come about). Its value
gives us an idea that the frequencies above it are allowed, or, passed on well, while
those below are gradually attenuated (reduced). This Characteristic frequency is also
called the lower cut-off frequency of this high-pass filter circuit. Different high pass
filter circuits will have different lower cut-off frequencies (depending on the values of R
and C) and to compare their behaviours we just quote this figure. Such circuits are
almost invariably used in all amplifier circuits in order to allow a chosen range of
frequencies, and remove unwanted ones.
1
From Eq.4.47 we can write, R ... 4.51
0C
Here the Right Hand Side is simply the Reactance of the capacitor at f0. Therefore we
may say that,
at cut-off frequency, Reactance = Resistance
Example: Suppose for a circuit, R = 100 k and C = 0.1F, then f0  16Hz.

For another circuit, let R=10 k and C = 0.1F, then f0  160Hz.
Thus the first circuit having a cut-off frequency of about 16Hz will allow frequencies above
16 Hz to pass through which is very good for a High-Fidelity (Hi-Fi) audio amplifier used
for high quality music (remember, our audio range is 20Hz to 20 kHz). Since there is
nothing of interest below 20Hz, we tend to cut-off these frequencies. Otherwise noise in
these frequencies will cause undue power consumption, and might saturate the amplifier
unnecessarily. On the other hand if there are noise signals overlapping the low frequency
signals we tend to push the cut-off frequency higher to reduce noise, even at the cost of
losing some signals. Noise originating from mains electricity at 50Hz poses a big problem.
Pushing the cut-off to about 160 Hz simply by changing the resistor in the above example
reduces the 50 Hz noise significantly. Looking at Eq.4.49 and Fig. 4-14 we can see that AV
can never be made zero ideally, but can be made very low, to get an acceptable sound
quality. Later we will see how we can reduce such noise further using higher order active
filters having sharper cut-off.
In choosing such higher cut-off (~ 200Hz) in audio amplifiers, we lose some quality of the
resulting sound, but this is better than having a continuous noise in the background. In fact
94
it has been found that we understand speech better if signals with frequency below 200Hz
are cut out. Therefore you will find that most public address amplifiers (i.e., those that are
used for speech or ‘address’) have cut-off frequencies of this order. However, amplifiers for
music would not do this. They would try to reproduce down to 20Hz as much as possible.
Small radio and cassette recorders have cut-off frequencies at a hundred Hz or more as the
loud speakers they use are small and cannot reproduce sound of frequencies below 200 Hz
well. Therefore there is no point in taking all the trouble of making an amplifier working
down to 20Hz!
The significance of f0 would be more appreciated if we plot Equation 4.49 in a log-log

scale instead of the linear-linear or linear-log scales shown in Fig.4-14. In a graph for a
filter we often want to get information over a wide range of frequencies and voltage
gains (called dynamic ranges), say, over 104 times each (sometimes we look for dynamic
ranges of the order of 1012!). This whole range cannot be satisfactorily represented in a
linear scale graph. On the other hand logarithm compresses such vast ranges into
smaller numerical ranges and a log scale graph can give a better representation of such
quantities. A 10 times increase in a number correspond to only an increase by unity in
log10 scale, for example: log10 100 = 2, log10 10 = 1, log10 1 = 0, log10 0.1 = 1, and so
on (remember, log10 0 =  ). We have already seen its effect on the frequency range in
Fig.4-14b. However, it would be useful to know about a special log scale for the
voltage gain, called the ‘decibel’ or dB scale for voltages, which is used widely in
electronics and the basic concepts are given below.
4.9 Decibel scale

This scale was originally introduced to express signal
power ratios over a large range by compressing them
using a logarithmic scale. v1
If two signal powers are denoted by P1 and P2, then a R

Bel scale is defined in the following way. We say that Circuit 1
P2 is greater than P1 by,
P2
log10 Bel units. ... 4.52
P1 v2
Now this unit appeared to be very large (the numbers
smaller) for power ratios encountered practically in
Circuit 2 R
signals. For example for a power difference of 104,
we would get only 4 Bels. Besides, to express smaller
intervals, people seem to prefer integers, not numbers
with decimal points. Therefore, people preferred to
Fig.4-15: Basics of
use deci-Bel unit, or the dB unit (remember, Greek deci
definition for decibel.
means 1/10, so that 4 Bel would become 40 dB ). We
would now say that signal 2 is greater than signal 1 in
95
power by,
P2
10 log 10 dB ... 4.53
P1
This is the basis of the dB scale.
Now suppose we would like to compare two electrical signals having voltages v1 and v2
respectively, each terminating into equal resistances R as shown in Fig. 4-15. So the
corresponding powers are,
v12 v 22
P1  and P2  ... 4.54
R R
P2 v 22 v2
then, 10 log 10  10 log 10  20 log 10 ... 4.55
P1 v12 v1
where the R term cancels out on division. Therefore we can also say that signal 2 is
greater than signal 1 in power by
v2
20 log 10 dB ... 4.56
v1
This is only a different expression in terms of voltages rather than powers as given by
expression 4.53, but refers to the same quantity.
4.9.1 Voltage dB scale
However, people have a tendency to carry things further on, so that some people used
the above expression for dB scale using voltage ratios even when the terminating
resistances in Fig.4-15 are not equal. Strictly speaking, we cannot do this, as the R
terms then do not cancel in the above deductions. However, people became very fond
of this expression and wanted to use it in all sorts of comparisons. They argued that let
us define a new scale to express signal voltage ratios using the above expression ( Exp.
4.56) knowing fully well that this does not necessarily represent a power ratio. So they
called it a Voltage dB scale. Obviously this equals a power ratio only if both the
terminating resistances are equal, otherwise not. This scale is widely used.
To make yourselves familiar with this scale a table for linear voltage ratios and the
corresponding dB values are given below. Try to put the numbers into your brain. Note,
for ratios less than one, negative dB numbers are expected.
Voltage ratio dB difference Voltage ratio dB difference

0.1 - 20 100 40
1 0 1000 60
10 20 10000 80
96
You can see that for each ten times increase in voltage gain, the dB value increases by
20. That is, multiples are replaced by addition (this is expected, since log AB = log A + log
B). This gives us an advantage. If we have two amplifiers connected sequentially, and
each with a gain of 100, then the total gain is 100 x 100 =10000, which is given by a
product of the individual gains. On the other hand in the dB scale we have to simply
add them up algebraically. For the above example, the total gain in dB scale is 40 + 40
= 80 dB, which is just equivalent to 10000 as we can see from the above table. In the
above example we have used easy numbers for voltage ratios with all 0’s after 1. With
not so simple numbers, which is easier – multiplication or addition?
4.10 Log-Log plot using dB scale for gain, Cut-off frequency

A log-log graph of the frequency response of voltage gain of a high pass filter, using
dB scale for the voltage gain, is shown in Fig.4-16a (note: dB scale itself is a log scale).
0
-3
-10
-20
-30
-40
0.01 fo 0.1 fo fo 10 fo
frequency, f (log scale)
Fig.4-16a: Frequency response of Gain of RC high pass filter, log–log plot (gain in dB scale)
According to the table given above, the maximum linear voltage gain of 1 becomes 0 in
the dB scale. Since the other ratios at lower frequencies are less than 1, they appear as
negative dB values. What is the value of gain in dB at cut-off frequency? Since the gain
is 1/2 at cut-off,
1 1 1
20 log 10  20 log 10   10 log 10 2   10  0.303   3
2 2 2
That is, the cut-off frequency f0 occurs at – 3dB gain, which is worth remembering.
This also tells us that if the high frequency gain is anything other than 0 dB, the value
at cut-off would be simply 3 dB less than that value.
97
There is an interesting aspect to this plot. We can see in Fig.4-16a that the curve has
two approximate linear segments, one going down at low frequencies, and the other is
the horizontal section (= 0 dB) at high frequencies. If we extend these straight lines they
intersect at f0 which is really significant.
4.11 Bode plot, Rolling-off slope

Some people prefer to approximate the filter using the above mentioned two straight-
line segments only, forgetting the real curved plot totally. This simplified plot in the
log-log scale (Fig.4-16b) is called a ‘Bode plot’ and here f0 assumes a significant role.
In the Bode plot, all frequencies above f0 are assumed to have a constant gain (here, 0
dB) while frequencies below f0 are attenuated with a constant slope, called the Rolling-
off slope.
-10
-20
-30
-40
0.01 fo 0.1 fo fo 10 fo
frequency, f (log scale)
Fig.4-16b: Bode plot for an RC high pass filter
We can find the slope of the rolling-off segment of the curve using Eq.4.49. Let us
choose frequencies 0.1 f0, 0.01 f0, etc. each 10 times less than the previous one and
calculate the corresponding Av, and see the pattern.
At f = 0.1 f0, f0 = 10 f, so that, AV = 1/101  1 / 10 = 0.1
At f = 0.01 f0, f0 = 100 f, so that, AV = 1/10001  1 / 100 = 0.01
These two points are also shown in the figure. The pattern will follow down to any
lower gain. We can see that the gain is reduced by 10 times for each 10 times reduction
in frequency. A ten times range of frequency is called a decade of frequency and from
the above table we can see that a 10 times gain change is equivalent to a 20 dB change
in the dB scale (which is additive or subtractive). Therefore we say that the gain reduces
98
by 20dB per decade of frequency, which is the Rolling off slope we are looking for.
Since this slope is constant and known, we can calculate the gain at any frequency for
such a filter if we know f0, or if we know the gain at any frequency lower than f0.
There is an alternative description of the rolling-off slope. In music if the frequency is
doubled or halved, this range is called an Octave. The middle C note has a frequency of
256 Hz, while 512 Hz is the frequency for the C note an octave higher. Thus the range
between f0 and o.5f0 is an Octave. From Eq.4.49 we can calculate in a similar way that
the Rolling-off slope is 6 dB per Octave of frequencies (find out yourself!).
So memorising the above two figures for slopes help in quick mental estimation of
gains in any practical design situation.
Ex.1 Let f0 =200 Hz for a high pass filter as above. What is the gain at i) 2Hz and
at ii) 25Hz?
Ans. i) 2 Hz is 2 decades (steps: 20, 2) lower than f0, therefore the gain at 2Hz will
be – 40dB (20 + 20 below 0).
ii) 25Hz is 3 octaves below 200Hz (steps: 100, 50, 25), therefore the gain at 25Hz
would be –18dB (36 below 0).
4.12 Order of filter, ideal filter, Passive and Active filter

The above rolling off slope of 20dB per Decade is obtained through the simple circuit
shown in Fig. 4-12, and any filter with this slope is called a First Order Filter. If two of
such filters are arranged in tandem (two in series) as shown in Fig.4-17, the slope would
be doubled as the gain at each frequency is squared. Here we have to add an extra unity
gain buffer circuitry in between to stop the impedance of one affecting the other. The
doubling of slope is due to addition of logarithms of the two individual gains (see for
yourself by analysing the total gain by squaring Eq.4.49 ).
Unity
gain
Input Output
buffer
circuit
Fig.4-17: 2nd order RC high pass filter
Such a filter is called a Second Order Filter and has a slope of 40 dB per Decade, or,
12 dB per Octave. We can similarly conceive of higher order filters with greater rolling
off slopes, giving sharper and sharper cut-off.
99
What is an ideal filter? From the

above, if we imagine the rolling
off slope to go on increasing we Av
would reach an ideal filter as
shown in Fig. 4-18 where nothing
is passed below f0 while 100% is
passed above f0. This is an ideal
characteristics which we would fo f
like to have but can never attain in
practice. Fig.4-18: Ideal high-pass filter
As mentioned above, cascading

(placing in series) simple filter
circuits directly is not practical as
the output impedance of the first
would be affected by the input Amplifier
Input circuit Output
impedance of the next and so on,
and the gain would keep on
decreasing too as it is never ‘1’ at
any finite frequency. Therefore for
practical realisation we usually
incorporate amplifier circuits Fig.4-19: Active 1st order RC high pass filter
employing transistors after each
filter circuit when the whole is
called an Active Filter circuit. These can be easily cascaded and the gain can also be
adjusted to compensate for any reduction. In fact the gain is usually more than unity.
Fig. 4-19 shows the scheme of an active 1st order High pass filter circuit. We shall
study more of it later.
Circuits as in Fig.4-19 are called Active Filter Circuits as these take power from a
source (usually a dc battery) to operate. We define an active circuit as the one that
takes power from an external source while a passive circuit takes none. Therefore
the circuit shown in Fig. 4-12 is a 1st order passive filter since it does not take
power from any external source. Active filters are versatile in that they can be
easily cascaded as mentioned above. However, unexpected behaviours creep in as
one does such cascading with the intention of increasing the order of the filter, and
therefore, active filter design has become a special sub-branch of study.
4.13 Phase response

Fig. 4-20a shows a voltage phasor diagram for the RC filter circuit of Fig.4-12. Here
the voltage amplitude VR across resistor is plotted along the X-axis and the voltage
amplitude VC across capacitor is plotted along the negative Y-axis since VC lags behind
VR by 90. The vector sum of the voltages amplitudes, across both the resistor and the
100
capacitor together, is basically VIN here. The

phase angle between VR and VIN is  with VR (VOUT)
VIN lagging behind VR as shown.

The corresponding impedance phasor 
diagram for the RC filter circuit was shown a
in Fig. 4.13 and is reproduced in Fig.4-20b.
The resultant impedance, Z, is along the VC VIN
direction of the total voltage VIN. Thus the
phase of VIN with reference to that of VR is
given by, with the help of the impedance R
phasor diagram (Fig.4-20b), as, 
XC  b
   tan 1 ... 4.57
R
where a – ve sign appears as XC lies along XC Z
the – ve Y-axis.
Fig.4-20: Voltage (a) and Impedance (b)
Using XC = 1/C (Eq. 4.14), we get, phasor diagrams for RC high pass filter
1
   tan 1 ... 4.58a
CR
The above relation gives the phase angle of vin with respect to that of vr (or vout).
However, in a filter circuit, it is usual to talk about the phase of the output voltage with
respect to that of the input voltage as opposed to the above choice. Therefore we will
obtain the phase angle using Eq.4.58a, but will say that the output voltage vout leads the
input voltage vin by a phase angle of . Since this description makes the phase angle
positive, let us name this positive phase angle as  so that we have,
1
   tan 1 ... 4.58b
CR
Plotting Eq. 4.58b as a function of frequency gives us a phase response curve as shown
in Fig.4.21. We have plotted the phase response against frequency plotted in both
linear scale (Fig.4-21a) and log scale (Fig.4-21b). Note the differences in the features of
these two plots.
From the above equation we find that (remember,  = 2 f and 0 = 2 f0),
  0 as f  , and   90 as f  0
1
Besides, when  CR =1, i.e., when,    0 ,
CR
i.e., when f = f0 , we get,  = 45o
101
A small point is worth noting here. At high frequencies where the voltage gain is nearly
1, i.e., the input is almost fully allowed to pass, the phase difference is almost 0 o, while
at low frequencies where voltage gain is nearly zero, the phase difference is about 90.
Besides, at cut-off frequency the phase difference is 45 which indicates that although
the gain is very near to unity around the cut-off frequency, there is considerable phase
difference and this distorts compound waveforms which contain many frequency
components. The components at higher frequencies may suffer a negligible phase
difference while those near the cut-off will suffer about 45o. After filtration the
resulting waveform will be distorted, having a different shape than the original one.
Therefore to avoid such distortion, we usually set the lower cut-off frequency at 5 to
ten times below the lowest frequency content in a signal.
phase, in deg. a phase, in deg. b

90 90
60 60
45 45
30 30
0 0
0 fo 2 fo 3 fo 0.01 fo 0.1 fo fo 10 fo 100 fo
frequency, f, linear scale frequency, f, log scale
Fig.4-21: Frequency response of phase difference between input and output voltages
with frequency in linear scale (a), and in log scale (b).
4.14 R-C Low pass filter

A simple rearrangement of the high pass filter circuit in Fig.4-12 will give us an RC
Low pass filter shown in Fig.4-22 (dark shaded). As before, it has an input ac sinusoidal
voltage source vin, and an output vout. However, here the output is taken across the
capacitor instead of the resistor. Therefore we have rearranged the circuit such that one
side of the capacitor is at ground potential, common to both input and output. The
corresponding voltage phasor diagram is shown in Fig.4-23a where the output
amplitude VOUT is shown along the –ve Y-axis since it is essentially VC in this case,
different from that for the RC high pass filter shown in Figs. 4-12 and 4-20 earlier. The
corresponding impedance phasor diagram is shown in Fig.4-23b. Here phasor XC has
the same direction as VOUT and phasor Z has the same direction as VIN. The input vin is
the voltage dropped across the whole impedance Z, and the output vout is the voltage
dropped across reactance XC. As before, we would like to see what fraction of vin is
102
available at the output, which we call the

voltage gain, AV, as a function of
VIN frequency. Besides, we would also like to
R VOUT see the phase difference  between vout and
vin as a function of frequency.
XC
4.14.1 Voltage gain response
To analyse, we can use the appropriate ac
form of Eq. 2.13 for this voltage divider.
Fig.4-22: RC low pass filter Thus if the reactance (complex form) of
the capacitor be XC, then the Complex
gain,
VOUT I XC XC
AV    ... 4.59
V IN IZ R  XC
Compare this with Eq.4-43 for a high-pass filter. The denominator is the same in both.
However, in the previous case R was there on the numerator, while we have XC in the
present case, which relates to the circuit element across which the output voltage is
measured.
We can write eq.4.59 as, (using XC =  j /  C)
j
VR
C 1 ... 4.60a
AV   
R
j 1  j CR
C

a
where we have used the relation, 1/ j = + j. The
magnitude of gain, AV, is given by, using the VC (VOUT) VIN
definition of o given earlier (=1/CR),
1 1
AV   R
1 C R2 2 2
2
1 2 
0
 b
... 4.60b
We can then rewrite Equation 4.60b in terms of the XC Z

frequencies as,
Fig.4-23: Voltage (a) and
1 ... 4.60c Impedance (b) phasor diagrams
AV  for RC low pass filter
f2
1
f 02
103
Note the difference from Eq.4.49. Here we have f / f0 while it was f0 / f in the previous
case. Plotting Eq.4.60c gives us Fig.4-24a which shows that it allows only low
frequencies below f0 to pass but increasingly blocks those above f0. Therefore it is
called a Low-pass filter circuit. Again, the voltage gain is 0.707 at f0, the upper cut-off
frequency of this low pass filter. The corresponding log-log plot with the voltage gain
expressed in dB scale is shown in Fig.4-24b where the gain is –3dB at f0. The
corresponding simplified Bode-plot is also indicated in the figure by the dotted lines.
The rolling off slope is the same as that before, i.e., 20dB per decade, or 6dB per
Octave.
voltage gain, Bode plot
voltage gain dB scale
1 0
-3
-10
0.707
-20
-30
Av
-40
0
0.01 fo 0.1 fo fo 10 fo 100 fo 0.01 fo 0.1 fo fo 10 fo 100 fo
frequency, f, log scale frequency, f (log scale)
Fig.4-24a: Frequency response of voltage Fig.4-24b: Frequency response of voltage gain

gain for an RC low pass filter, linear gain for an RC low pass filter, gain in dB scale
scale
4.14.2 Phase response

The complex phasor diagram of impedance is shown in Fig.4-23b, and here the phasors
of interest are XC and Z with a phase angle  between them. We can see that the phase
angle would be given by, using Eq.4-14 (XC = 1/ C)
R
   tan 1   tan 1 CR ... 4.61
XC
where –ve sign appears again since XC is along the –ve Y-axis.
In relation to Fig.4-23a, we can see that this is the same angle as between vc, which is
the output voltage vout in this case, and the input voltage vin. We can also see that vout is
lagging behind vin. Therefore, according to our usual way of expressing output with
reference to input, this angle  would be inherently negative, so we can use Eq.4.61
directly for the desired phase angle of vout with respect to that of vin.
This is plotted in Fig.4-25. Here  = 0 o at f = 0 (dc),  90 o at f = (infinity), and  45o
at f = f0 . Comparing with Fig.4-21 for the high-pass filter we can see that it is just the
104
phase, in deg.
0
Fig.4-25: Frequency
response of phase
difference between - 30
input and output
voltages for an RC - 45
low-pass filter
- 60
- 90
0.01 fo 0.1 fo fo 10 fo 100 fo
frequency, f, log scale
reverse. However, we can note a similarity between voltage gain and the phase
difference, and can say that,
at low frequencies where the voltage gain is nearly 1, i.e., the input is almost fully
allowed to pass, the phase difference is almost 0 o, while at high frequencies where
voltage gain is nearly zero, the phase difference is about 90 .
4.15 Combination of high and low pass filters

Bandpass, narrowband and notch filters
We can get different types of composite frequency responses when we combine a high
pass and a low pass filter with different cut-off frequencies in cascade (with appropriate
buffers in between). Some of these responses are shown in Fig.4-26. If the cut-off
frequency for the low pass filter is much greater than that for the high pass filter, we
get a wide bandpass filter as in Fig.4-26a. Here we rename the cut-off frequencies as
upper cut-off fu and lower cut-off fl as indicated in the figure. Therefore for a wide
bandpass filter, fu >> fl. A new term, the bandwidth (BW) is defined as,
BW = fu  fl ... 4.62
which signifies the range of frequencies allowed by a bandpass filter. Such filters are
inherently built into typical ac amplifiers, or are intentionally introduced to achieve a
particular characteristics. So the bandwidth gives an idea of the quality of an amplifier,
what range of frequencies it can amplify. A good High Fidelity (Hi-Fi) audio amplifier
should have a bandwidth of about 20kHz (20kHz – 20Hz  20kHz). In low cost audio
amplifiers (as those used in radios and cassette recorders), the bandwidth may be less
than this. In such low cost audio equipment a Tone Control is usually provided. This
basically shifts the upper cut-off frequency fu up and down. Normally we keep fu at a
high value. If there is a hissing noise (which has a high frequency content) we simply
decrease fu to eliminate the hissing noise. We lose some signal too, but a noise free
105
voltage gain
1
Fig.4-26:
Frequency response
0.707 of voltage gain:
a) band pass
b) narrow band pass
c) band-reject or
band-stop
0
filter
fl fu
through variation of
a cut-off frequencies
frequency, f, log scale
voltage gain voltage gain
1 1
0.707 0.707
0 0
fl fu fu fl
b c
frequency, f, log scale frequency, f, log scale
signal of slightly lower quality is better than a noisy signal. This control is achieved by
manipulating a variable resistor which forms the resistance element of an RC low pass
filter, Some amplifiers have separate BASS and TREBLE tone controls. BASS refers to
low frequency sound signals and one adjusts fl of a high pass filter for BASS control,
while TREBLE refers to high frequency sound signals and one adjusts fu for TREBLE
control. Bandwidth is an important parameter for electronic amplifiers. For television,
the video amplifiers need a bandwidth of about 6MHz, much larger than that of an
audio amplifier.
If we decrease the bandwidth, we can achieve a narrow band pass filter as shown in
Fig.4-26b. This amplifies a narrow band of frequencies only and rejects all others.
However, to make this bandwidth very narrow, when we call it a tuned filter, we
usually go for a resonant LCR circuit to be described later in this chapter. Again if we
move the cut-off frequencies such that fu falls below fl as shown in Fig.4-26c, it is
called a band-reject or band stop filter. If the rejection is very sharp then we call it a
notch filter. Such filters are necessary to reject noise of specific frequencies that fall
within a signal range. A typical example is the 50Hz noise from the mains electricity
which causes severe interference in medical signals like ECG of the heart, EMG of
muscles, and EEG of the brain where the signal frequency contents spread to both sides
of 50Hz. Such notch filters are often used to get rid of the interfering 50Hz.
106
Chapter 4 AC Circuits
4.16 Series LCR circuit

Let us consider the LCR circuit shown in
vl
Fig.4-27. It is called a series LCR circuit as all
the elements are in a series loop with an input L
voltage source vin having the same current i vin vc
passing through them. C
i
The total reactance in the circuit is given by, vr = vout
R
X = XL + XC = j(XL – XC) ... 4.63
where the –ve sign for XC appears as it is 1800
opposite to XL in phase, as discussed before. Fig.4-27: A series LCR circuit
Therefore the total impedance in this circuit is,
Z = R + X = R + XL + XC a
VL
= R + j(XL – XC) ... 4.64a VIN
VL - VC
Note that the imaginary term can be either +ve
or –ve, depending on the relative magnitudes 
0
of XL and XC. The magnitude of impedance is, VR
VC
Z  R 2  ( X L  X C )2 or,
3fo b
2
 1 
Z  R 2   L   ... 4.64b X
Z
 C 
0

We can use the voltage phasor diagram of
Fig.4-28a and the complex impedance phasor R
XC
diagram of Fig.4-28b to represent the LCR
circuit. From Fig.4-28b, the total impedance,
Z can be determined in terms of R, XL and XC Fig.4-28: Voltage (a) and
Impedance (b) Phasor diagrams of
which is the same as that obtained from a series LCR circuit
Eq.4.64 a & b above. Let us draw the net
reactance phasor X (Eq.4.63) on the vertical
axis. For a general treatment, to keep the
expressions outwardly positive, let us assume XL > XC and draw the phasors
accordingly. The total impedance Z (= Z e j ) will be given, both in magnitude and
phase, by the diagonal of the rectangle formed by the phasors R and X. If XL < XC, then
–ve signs will appear at appropriate places during analysis and the phasor of the total
reactance will point downwards in Fig.4-28b. The phase angles of the corresponding
voltages are shown in Fig.4-28a.
107
AC Circuits Chapter 4
Applying Ohm’s law for complex numbers, we get,

VIN V IN
I  ... 4.65
Z R X
However, as before we are interested in the voltage across the resistor and name this as
the output (VOUT = I R) with respect to the ground. Therefore, the voltage gain, AV is
given by,
VOUT IR R
AV    ... 4.66
VIN I (R  X ) R  j( X L  X C )
Using XL = j L and XC =  j /  C, we can write Eq.4.66 as,
R ... 4.67
AV 
1
R  j (L  )
C
The magnitude of gain AV is given by,
R ... 4.68
AV 
2
 1 
R 2   L  
 C 
1
(L  )
  tan 1 C ... 4.69
R
4.16.1 Frequency Response, Resonance

Looking at Eqs.4-64, 4.68 and 4.69, we can see that if  L > 1/C the inductor
dominates the impedance, and the phase  is positive. On the other hand if  L < 1/C
the capacitor dominates the impedance, and the phase  is negative. An interesting case
occurs for the frequency at which  L = 1/C. Let us call this angular frequency as o
and the corresponding frequency as fo. Here the value of impedance Z is minimum and
is simply R, while the gain AV is maximum at unity (since the term within bracket in the
denominator is zero), and the phase angle  is zero. For any other frequency, the
denominator of Eq.4.68 will be greater, reducing the voltage gain. The LCR circuit is
said to go through a ‘Resonance’ at this special frequency. The meaning of resonance
will be elaborated later. From the above discussion we can see that this resonance
occurs when,
108
1
0 L  ,
0C
i.e., at an angular frequency, Impedance
a
1
0  ... 4.70
LC
The corresponding Resonance
frequency being,
1
f0  ... 4.71
2 LC 0 fo 2fo 3fo
If we plot Eqs.4.64, 4.68 and

4.69 against frequency, giving Current / Voltage gain
the abcissa values as 1
b
multiples of the resonance
frequency fo, we shall get the 0.707
respective frequency
responses as shown in Figs.4-
29 a, b &c respectively .
The above mentioned features
can be clearly seen in these 0
diagrams. We can see in 0 fo 2fo 3fo
Fig.4-29a that below the
resonant frequency the
impedance decreases almost
90 Phase
exponentially with increasing
frequency – a capacitive c
45
behaviour – that we saw in
Fig.4-7 before. On the other
0
hand, above the resonant
frequency, the impedance
-45
increases almost linearly
with increasing frequency –
-90
an inductive behaviour. The
0 fo 2fo 2fo
impedance is a minimum at
resonance. From Eq.4.64 it
can be seen that the Fig.4-29: Frequency response of series LCR circuit
impedance is purely resistive parameters. a) Total impedance, b) Current or Voltage
gain for output taken across resistor, c) Phase difference
(equal to R) at resonance.
between output and input voltages.
What happens is that the
voltages across the
109
capacitance and the inductance are exactly equal in magnitude but are in opposite
phase, therefore they cancel each other completely. This can also be appreciated from
the impedance phasor diagram Fig.4-28b where XL – XC is zero.
Therefore we get the maximum current, and consequently the maximum voltage across
the series resistor at resonance which is also evident in Fig.4-29b. The gain falls steeply
away from fo on both sides. This is a typical resonance pattern. Note that the gain curve
is not symmetric around fo. This is because of the different behaviour of the capacitive
and inductive reactances which dominate the two sides as discussed above (on one side
e f behaviour, while 1/f behaviour on the other).
The phase response shown in Fig.4-29c is also interesting. The phase is positive for f >
fo, an inductive behaviour, while the phase is negative for f < fo, a capacitive behaviour,
and at resonance, the phase is zero. The circuit behaviour is simply resistive at
resonance, as also observed before. At the two extremes and at resonance, we have,
at f=+ (infinity),  = + 900 (totally inductive)
at f=f0, =0 (totally Resistive)
at f=  (infinity),  =  90 0
(totally capacitive)
4.16.2 What is Resonance?

What is Resonance? Resonance involves two objects one of which attempts to transfer
a periodically oscillating energy to the other. Here, these two objects are the signal
generator, and the LCR circuit respectively. The signal generator applies a periodic
oscillatory potential on the LCR circuit. The LCR circuit has its own natural frequency
of oscillation given by Eq.4.71 which was also obtained in the previous chapter while
discussing dc transients. When the frequency of the periodic driving potential exactly
equals the natural frequency of the LCR circuit, there is resonance, and we get a
maximum voltage gain.
(see the previous chapter on dc transients and basic books on Physics, e.g., by Halliday and
Resnick).
4.16.3 Cut-off frequencies, Bandwidth
(To keep the expressions simple, in the following treatment we will often refer to angular
frequency as simply frequency, and bandwidth will refer to this angular frequency as well.
Simple frequency and angular frequency terms will be used interchangeably and you have to
understand the expression as relevant.)
To get the upper and lower cut-off frequencies of the resonance curve shown in Fig.4-
29b, we use Eq.4.68. Following previous arguments, we can see that
1 = 0.707  1  =R
AV  when  L   ... 4.72
2  C 
110
i.e., the voltage gain will become 0.707 times the maximum gain when the total
reactance equals total resistance in the circuit. So the cut-off frequencies will occur at
frequencies given by the solutions of Eq.4.72 and as shown by fu and fl in Fig.4-29b.
We have to note that  L > (1/C) for the upper cut-off frequency which is above the
resonance frequency. So we have to use the + ve sign in Eq.4.72. Thus for the upper
cut-off angular frequency u, we get,
u 2 LC  u CR  1  0 ... 4.73
CR  C 2 R 2  4 LC
wherefrom, u  ... 4.74a
2 LC
Since the square root term on the numerator is always greater than CR, using the –ve
sign will result in a negative frequency which is not physically valid. Therefore we use
the + ve sign only in Eq.4.74a and the upper cut-off frequency is given by,
CR  C 2 R 2  4 LC
u  ... 4.74b
2 LC
The lower cut-off frequency is below the resonance frequency, therefore,  L < (1/C)
and we have to use the  ve sign in Eq.4.72. Thus for the lower cut-off frequencyl, we
get,
l 2 LC  l CR  1  0 ... 4.75
 CR  C 2 R 2  4 LC
wherefrom, l  ... 4.76a
2 LC
Since the square root term on the numerator is always greater than CR, using the –ve
sign will result in a negative frequency which is not physically valid. Therefore we use
the + ve sign only in Eq.4.76a and the lower cut-off frequency is given by,
 CR  C 2 R 2  4 LC
l  ... 4.76b
2 LC
Now the bandwidth (BW) is given by the subtraction of Eq.4.76b from Eq.4.74b as,
BW = (u  l) = CR = 02CR ... 4.77a

LC
where Eq.4.70 has been used to get the last form of the expression. The above is in
terms of the angular frequency. In terms of simple frequency,
BW = 02CR /2 ... 4.77b
111
4.16.3 Q-factor
The Quality factor, or Q-factor of a
resonance curve describes how
steep the curve is at resonance and
is defined as the ratio of its 1
resonance frequency to bandwidth,
0 0.7
Q ... 4.78a
u  l
3
Taking the common factor 2 out 2
of the above, the Q factor is also 1
expressed as, 0
0 fo 2fo 3fo
fo
Q ... 4.78b
fu  fl Fig.4-30: Resonance curves (current) of varying
Q-factor for a series LCR circuit. Q1 > Q2 > Q3
Looking at Fig.4-30, note that,

steeper the curve, smaller is the bandwidth. This means that Q is large if the bandwidth
is small and vice versa. In Fig.4-30, Q1 > Q2 > Q3, and obviously curve 1 is the
steepest. We use a resonant circuit mostly to select an individual frequency and to
eliminate others. Therefore we look for as large a Q-factor as possible. Practically, Q
>10 gives a reasonably acceptable value but in special applications much higher Q-
values are required.
For the series resonant LCR circuit, we can express the Q-factor in one of the several
ways given below, which use Eqs.4.70, 4.77 and 4.78,
1
1 0C 0 L
Q   ... 4.79
 0 CR R R
This basically says that the
Re ac tan ce of either L or C at Re sonance
Q  factor 
Re sis tan ce
which is a good thing to remember.
4.17 Series-Parallel LCR circuit

Let us consider the series-parallel LCR circuit shown in Fig.4-31. In this arrangement
the L and C are in parallel and R is in series. R could be the internal resistance of the
input source. The input voltage source vin, the main loop current i, and the voltages vx
across the parallel LC section and vr across the resistor R are shown. The potential and
the complex impedance phasor diagrams are shown in Fig.4-32 a&b.
112
The reactance of the parallel LC section is given by,

1 1 1
 1 1   1 1   1 
X          j  C 
 X L XC   jX L jX C   L 
L
or, X = j ... 4.80
1   2 LC
We can see that when, 1  2 LC = 0, the reactance becomes infinity. This condition
occurs at a frequency given by,
1
0  ... 4.81a vr
LC
or, R
1 vin
f0  ... 4.81b vx
2  LC i
C L
We can also see that the reactance can be either
+ ve or – ve depending on the frequency. From
4.80 we can specifically see that the reactance
will be +ve and inductive in nature for  < o Fig.4-31: A series- parallel
LCR circuit
(when 2LC < 1). The reactance will be –ve and
capacitive in nature for  > o (when 2LC > 1),
and zero for =o (when 2LC=1). These are
just the reverse of the qualitative conditions of
the series LCR circuit discussed before. The
reactance phasor X is shown in Fig.4-32b. VX VIN
a
The total impedance is,
L 
Z=R+X= R j ... 4.82 0
1   2 LC VR
The complex loop current will be given by,
X Z
V V IN ( 1   2 LC ) b
I  IN  ... 4.83
Z R ( 1   2 LC )  jL
0 
If we take the voltage vx across the parallel LC
section, the voltage gain would be, R
X jL
AV   ... 4.84 Fig.4-32: Voltage (a) and
Z R ( 1   LC )  jL
2
Impedance (b) Phasor diagrams
for a series LCR circuit
and if we take the voltage vr across the resistor R,
the voltage gain would be,
113
R R( 1   2 LC )
AV  
Z R ( 1   2 LC )  jL
a) Total
... 4.85 Impedance
The phase angle  between vr and vin is

given by,
X L
  tan 1  tan 1
R( 1   2 LC )
0 fo 2fo 3fo
R
... 4.86
1 b) Volt Gain
From the above equations we can across LC
determine the respective magnitudes of 0.7
the impedance and the two voltage gains
as,
 2 L2
Z  R2  ... 4.87 0
0 fo 2fo 3fo
( 1   2 LC ) 2
L
AV 
R ( 1   LC ) 2   2 L2
2 2 1
(across LC) ... 4.88 0.7

c) Current /
Volt Gain
R ( 1   2 LC ) 2 across R
AV 
R 2 ( 1   2 LC ) 2   2 L2 0
(across R) ... 4.89 0 fo 2fo 3fo
Plots of the above equations will

90
demonstrate the essential features of d) Phase
these solutions as given in Fig.4-33 a, b 45
& c.
0
We can see from Eqs.4.81 and 4.87 that
the magnitude of the impedance would be -45
infinity at o. This behaviour is shown in
Fig.4-33a where the top of the curve -90
0 fo 2fo 3fo
closing in from the two sides is left open
as it tends to infinity at fo corresponding Fig.4-33: Series-Parallel LCR circuit:
to o. At frequencies away from fo, the a) Total impedance, b) Voltage gain across LC,
impedance magnitude will be finite and c) Current / Voltage gain across R, d) Phase
decreasing bothways. diff. between output across R and input.
Looking at the voltage gain curve with
114
output taken across the LC section (Av, Fig.4-33b) we can see that the voltage gain is a
maximum of unity at this frequency and decreases on both sides of this frequency. This
is evident from Eq.4-88 where the term (1- 2LC) in the denominator becomes zero at
fo and the resulting value becomes unity. Physically, at fo the impedance of the LC
section is infinity, so all the voltage of the input source is dropped across this LC
section, and the gain therefore, is unity. So here we have a phenomenon of Resonance
as well with f0 as the resonance frequency.
If we look at the voltage dropped across the resistor R instead of the LC section we will
see a completely reversed picture. This voltage gain Av given by Eq.4.89 and
demonstrated in Fig.4-33c is zero at resonance fo and it increases away from fo on both
sides. We can appreciate that this voltage should have the same behaviour as the main
loop current. Since the impedance of the LC section is infinity at fo , the current is zero
and the gain Av is zero too. Because of this inverse behaviour, when the output is taken
across the resistor, it is sometimes called an Anti-resonant circuit.
The phase  between the voltage vr dropped across the resistor and the input vin and is
plotted in Fig.4-33d. The phase angle is positive below fo and rises from zero gradually
to +90o. It then goes through an abrupt change from +90o to –90o at resonance. Beyond
fo the phase angle again rises gradually to zero.
The cut-off frequency, bandwidth and the Q-factor can be obtained following methods
carried out before for the series LCR circuit. However, as these will be somewhat more
complex we do not attempt this here, but you should give it a try.
4.17.1 What happens at resonance?
What happens at resonance is that once the
inductance and the capacitance get the
necessary tick (pulsed energy) to get going,
they sequentially store and release the total i=0
energy between themselves periodically in a
sinusoidal manner. Ideally no extra energy is
vin
needed from outside to continue this activity.
Therefore to the outside world (i.e., to source i 0
vin) the impedance of this parallel LC section
is infinity and no current flows in the main
loop (i = 0). Because of the sequential storage
and release of energy between L and C, there
will be a sinusoidal current within the closed Fig.4-34: A series-parallel LCR
loop formed by these two elements (i in Fig. circuit at resonance
4-34), but there will be no current in the outer
circuit. In practice, the inductor and the
capacitance both will have some internal resistance which will dissipate energy, and
therefore, there will be a finite but very high value of impedance. Correspondingly, the
main loop current will be somewhat greater than zero at resonance.
115
4.17.2 Application in radio station tuning

The parallel LC circuit is used widely in frequency selective networks, tuned amplifiers
and oscillators, particularly at high frequencies (radio frequencies). Fig.4-35 shows the
basic scheme of a simple radio receiver employing a parallel LC circuit as its Tuning
circuit. The capacitor of the LC tuning circuit is variable and can be manipulated by the
user to vary its
resonance frequency. In
parallel to the tuning Antenna
circuit is connected a
radio receiver circuit
which has the Tuning
Circuit Radio
necessary capability to Receiver
extract desired audio Circuit
signals from the radio
waves and to generate Loud
Speaker
sound using a Ground
loudspeaker.
A radio wave creates a
potential difference Fig.4-35: Use of a parallel LC circuit as a tuner in radio receivers
between the antenna
and the ground due to
which an alternating current tries to flow between the antenna and the ground. If the
resonance frequency of the LC circuit is not the same as the incoming radio waves it
allows the radio signal to go directly to the ground as its impedance is low to such
frequencies. On the other hand if the resonance frequency of the LC circuit is exactly
the same as the incoming radio signal then it blocks the signal from going directly to
the ground because the LC circuit has almost infinite impedance at this frequency.
Rather it diverts the radio signal through the parallel radio receiver circuit where the
desired audio signal is extracted and we hear the audio signal. Here the radio receiver
circuit offers lower impedance than the LC tuning circuit, and therefore, the radio
signal goes from the antenna to the ground through the radio receiver circuit.
At any time we have radio signals from many stations producing emf’s of different
frequencies in the antenna-ground combination. To choose a particular radio station
having a particular broadcasting frequency, the capacitor is adjusted so that the LC
circuit resonates at the desired frequency. Signals of other frequencies from other radio
stations are allowed to flow down to earth directly since the LC circuit offers negligible
resistance to these signals. On the other hand the LC circuit because of its high
impedance at the chosen frequency blocks this signal, and the signal is made to pass
through the parallel radio receiver circuitry. In this way we isolate a single radio signal
from many others. Just by changing the capacitance we can change the resonant
frequency of the tuning circuit and choose another radio station.
116
4.18 Transformer, transferring ac power

The phenomenon of mutual inductance
involving two coils discussed before is Source Transformer Load
utilised in a popular device called a
transformer whose symbol, together with ep es
a source of an alternating emf ep and a is ZL
ip
load ZL are shown in Fig.4-36. Here the
two coils P and S are intimately linked P S
through their magnetic flux. The ac

source ep applies power to the P side, Fig.4-36: A transformer connected
which is transferred to a load impedance to a source and a load
ZL on the S side simply through the
intermediary of the magnetic flux
linkage between the coils. There is no direct electrical connection between the source
of emf and the load. The coils may be magnetically coupled just by their physical
proximity, and there may or may not be a core of magnetic material linking them. The
symbol shown is for a transformer with a magnetic core, indicated by the two thick
bars. An air core transformer, as shown in Fig.4.37
has no bars in the symbol.
Following Eq.3.12 in the previous chapter, the
induced emf es in coil S would depend on the rate of
change of current in coil P. Therefore, if an emf source
with a varying voltage drives the coil P, an induced P S
emf will be generated in coil S which can drive a
current through a load ZL in turn. It is evident from the
Fig.4-37: Symbol of an
above discussion that unless the current through the air-core transformer
coil P changes with time there cannot be any emf in
the coil S. Therefore the driving voltage cannot be a
smooth dc. It should be a varying dc, or ac.
4.18.1 Primary and secondary coils
Though the two transformer coils can easily be reversed in function, it is usual to drive
a specified coil from a source, and to drive the load using the other coil. This has given
rise to the names, Primary and Secondary coils, primary being the one driven by the
source, while the one driving the load is the secondary. According to this scheme, the
P and S coils in Figs.4-36 and 4-37 stand for the Primary and the Secondary coils
respectively.
4.18.2 Analysis, ideal transformer
Here we analyse an ideal transformer. This assumes that the coils have no resistance,
self inductance or capacitance; they only have mutual inductance, and the primary coil
can take in any amount of current as demanded by a combination of source emf, the
transformer and the load. That is, the transformer can supply any amount of power to
117
the load as demanded. All the magnetic flux produced by the primary are linked to the
secondary, meaning that there is no leakage flux from the primary that does not link
the secondary coil. The core material, if any, also does not consume any power and is
never saturated. The driving emf is an ac signal.
For analysis let us choose the following symbols where the subscripts p and s
correspond to the respective sides:
Np, Ns : number of turns in respective coil
ep , es : emf, driven or induced
p,  s : magnetic flux in the two coils, should be equal for a transformer
ip, is : current in the respective circuits
Pp, Ps : power in the respective circuits
Now, from Faraday’s laws of electromagnetism,
d p d p ep
ep  N p , or, 
dt dt Np
and
d s d s e
es  N s , or,  s
dt dt Ns
Since the two coils are intimately connected through their magnetic flux (assuming no
outside leakage), therefore,
d p d s ep es
 , wherefrom,  .
dt dt Np Ns
This gives us the famous relationship between the voltages and the number of turns,
ep Np
 ... 4.90
es Ns
Again, an ideal transformer does not consume any power, nor it provides any extra
power. Therefore power delivered to the primary coil is equal to the power in the
secondary circuit (power conservation law). This gives,
epip = esis ... 4.91
from which we get,
ep is
 ... 4.92
es ip
Again by combining the above two equations, we get,
118
Np is
 ... 4.93
Ns ip
The above equations (Eqs.4.90 to 4.93) describe an ideal transformer function

adequately. From Eq.4.90 we can see that the voltages at the two sides depend on their
number of turns. By making Ns greater or less than Np we can respectively increase or
decrease an ac voltage. If Ns > Np we call it a step-up transformer as the voltage is
increased in the secondary. Similarly if Ns < Np we call it a step-down transformer.
Again, Eqs.4.91 and 4.92 indicate that for a fixed input power, if the voltage at the
secondary is increased, the secondary current will decrease in the same proportion. The
reverse is also true, i.e., a higher current in secondary is possible by decreasing the
voltage.
4.18.3 Who determines the current?
From the above discussions there is a tendency to think that whatever ip is applied is
transformed according to Eq.4.92 to the secondary for a given transformer. However,
this is not the right approach to think. For a given transformer and a given ep we cannot
control the current from the primary side. It is es and ZL which determine is (= es /ZL)
first. Then ip is determined using Eq.4.92. Therefore, for a given ep, ip depends on is,
not the reverse. On the other hand, for a given transformer if we have a freedom to
choose ep, then we can increase or decrease is for a given ZL, subject to the maximum
power that the transformer can handle (a practical transformer has such a power
limitation, which is not there in the ideal case)
4.18.4 Reflected impedance
From the induced emf es in the secondary, the load impedance ZL takes a current is such
that,
is = es /ZL, or, ZL = es /is ... 4.94
Looking from the point of view of the applied emf ep at the primary in Fig.4-36, the
combination of the transformer and the load impedance ZL at the secondary produce an
effective impedance Zp, which we call the reflected impedance of ZL to the primary
side. This is determined by the current ip that is demanded from ep. Thus Zp, seen by
the source ep is given by, using Eqs.4.90 and 4.93,
2 2
ep  Np   Np 1   Np  es  N p 
Z p    e s   
 
 
 i  N
 ZL
 ... 4.95
ip  N s   N s is   N s  s  s 
2
 ep 
which can also be expressed as, Z p    Z L ... 4.96
 es 
119
The above equations show that the load impedance at the secondary is multiplied by
the square of the ratio of the number of turns in the coils, or of the voltages, as shown
to become the reflected impedance at the primary side. This reflected impedance can
be used to determine the current in t he primary due to a given source emf.
Viewed from the secondary side, impedances in the primary side will also be reflected
in a similar way.
4.18.5 Practical transformers
An ideal transformer does not consume any power itself; it just conveys the input
power to the load. That means it has a 100% efficiency and can handle any amount of
current and power. In practice, it is not so because of a host of reasons and some of the
important ones are described below. The power consumed by the transformer itself
heats it up and this limits the power that it can practically handle. This maximum
depends on the materials and sizes of the magnetic core, materials and sizes of the wire
making the coils, and the frequency of the ac being transferred. The maximum current
that any side can handle also depends on the area of cross section of the wires making
the respective coils.
The resistance of each of the coils will cause some voltage drop across it when a
current flows, and the product of this voltage and current will heat the coil up.
The core material is usually made up of iron which is an electrical conductor.
Therefore it can also act as a secondary coil of the transformer which form closed
current loops within the core itself, called eddy currents. These also consume power
and heat up the core. To reduce such eddy currents transformers never use solid blocks
of iron, rather they use thin sheets of iron each insulated from the next using thin
insulating varnish coatings, and arranged suitably with respect to the magnetic flux
directions. Such arrangement improves the transformer performance significantly. The
iron core has another magnetic property called hysteresis which results in consuming
some power while the direction of the current is alternating. To reduce such hysteresis
loss, special magnetic materials are used for the cores in transformers. Silicon steel is
such a magnetic material which is used extensively in power line transformers.
There will be some leakage flux from the primary which complete their loops outside
the magnetic core and do not link the secondary coil. There will be similar leakage
fluxes in the secondary too. These will be of no use in the power transfer.
Therefore the output power is expected to be a little less than the input power. In terms
of efficiency (output power/input power, described in percentage ), an ideal transformer will
have an efficiency of 100% while a practical one will have an efficiency less than that.
Typical values are around 90%.
Again the transformer core can have various designs. Two popular ones are shown in
Fig.4-38. In the top design, the two coils are wound on opposite arms of a rectangular
shaped core. Such cores are used in isolating transformers where we want to reduce
electrical shock hazards to a minimum. This is achieved because of the physical
120
separation between the two coils; chances of one coil

touching the other, even if there is a leak in the
insulation, are minimum.
On the other hand this transformer is not very
efficient. This is because some magnetic fluxes of the
primary form closed loops outside the magnetic core
and these do not link the secondary. Therefore there is
efficiency loss due to leakage flux.
Leakage flux is minimised in the second design. Here
the core has three arms as shown and both the coils
are wound on the central arm, with the secondary over
the primary. The secondary coil links to most of the
magnetic fluxes created by the primary in this design
and so it has greater efficiency.
4.18.6 Advantages in power distribution Fig.4-38: Practical
transformer designs
Transformers are extensively used with the ac main
line systems to increase or decrease the voltage at will,
which has many advantages. One of the main advantages is that the power can be
transmitted and distributed over long distances with little energy loss if the voltage is
kept high. This is because for the same power, current is low, therefore i2R loss in wire
is low. Typical RMS voltage standards for transmission over long distances are:
230,000V and 132,000V, and for distribution over shorter distances within cities and
towns are: 33,000V and 11,000V. At the terminal user point, typically 220V RMS for
single phase connection is derived from 380V phase to phase voltage in a 3-phase
system (see any book on electrical engineering for details of a 3-phase power distribution
system). Some countries choose 110V RMS instead of 220V at the user end. The choice
is based on a compromise between current carrying capacity of wires of practicable
dimensions and human safety considerations (higher the voltage, thinner the wire, and
higher the hazard). The frequency chosen is 50Hz in some countries while it is 60Hz in
some others. If the frequency were higher, losses due to inter-wire capacitance and
electromagnetic radiation would increase. On the other hand at lower frequencies, the
size of transformers would increase. However, the small difference between 50Hz and
60 Hz is purely historical; human ego and political differences between different
countries developing new technologies often result in such variations in standards.
That an ac allows voltage levels to be changed easily using transformers which makes
longer transmission distances possible with little heating losses in wires is the primary
reason that dc main line systems became outdated long time back.
4.18.7 Transformer cores at different frequencies
At low frequencies a ferromagnetic core (e.g., Silicon steel, in the form of sheets) is used
universally to increase the mutual inductance of a transformer. At high frequencies ( >
few tens of kHz) the magnetic domains of iron cannot rotate so fast, therefore, special
121
composite ferrite materials are used. At still higher frequencies(> few MHz) ferrites also
cannot follow the changes so no extra core material is used, and these are called air-
core transformers. You will see that a Medium wave radio having a frequency range of
around 1MHz uses a ferrite rod within its coils (which is essentially a transformer
converting the voltage generated by an antenna) while in a Short wave radio, nothing is
there within the coils meaning that it is an air-core transformer.
4.18.8 Stray capacitances and inductances
Any two conductors placed close together will have a capacitance, providing a path for
ac. The windings of a coil will have interwinding capacitance between each pair of its
turns, and such capacitance is present in both the primary and the secondary. Since
these appear in parallel to the emf sources, some current will be lost through these
capacitances. There will also be some current directly linking the primary and
secondary through the inter-coil capacitance (between the two coils). The leakage flux of
the two coils that do not link the other contribute to self inductances of both the coils
which will also offer resistance to current (expressed in terms of their reactance) and the
combination of L and C may give rise to oscillations if the right conditions exist. The
resistance of the material of the wire used to make the coils also provides an opposition
to current as mentioned before.
4.18.9 Transformer Equivalent circuit
An equivalent model of a practical transformer is necessary to include the effects
discussed above which will help in analysing circuits involving transformers. This is
important particularly at high frequencies when stray capacitances and inductances
become important. Such an equivalent circuit is shown in Fig.4-39 where the
transformer symbol shown at the middle represents an ideal transformer. All the non-
ideal elements have been represented by their effective equivalents outside the
transformer so that these can be considered easily in an analysis. Here Rp and Rs in
series to the respective coils represent the dc resistances of the windings. Lp and Ls
represent the respective lumped (taken together) inductances because of leakage fluxes.
CC
RP LP LS RS
RCp RCS
CP CS
P S
Ideal transformer
Fig.4-39: Equivalent circuit (model) of a practical transformer
122
Cp and Cs represent the respective lumped parallel interwinding capacitances while Cc

represent the stray coupling capacitance between the two coils. Rc represents the core
losses (due to hysteresis and eddy currents) which has been shown as providing an
alternative path to input current. There may be some more elements contributing to
non-ideal behaviour, however, the above is enough for the scope of this book.
a:1
RP LP LS RS RP a2RS LP a2LS
eP eP
RL a2RL
P S
Ideal transformer
Fig.4-40: Simple Equivalent circuit of a Fig.4-41: Equivalent circuit with all

practical transformer at low frequency values reflected to the primary side
To analyse currents on any side of the transformer, the elements on the other side can
be brought up through reflection as suggested in Eqs.4.95 and 4.96. For simplicity let
us assume CP, CS and CC to be very low (which is reasonable at low frequencies), and RCP
and RCS to be very high (for a good core material this is also reasonable) so that they may
be ignored (assumed open circuit). Then we are
left with only the equivalent circuit shown in RT LT
Fig.4-40, where we have added a source of emf
at the primary and a load RL at the secondary. If
eP
we replace the ratio NP /Ns by a:1, then the
equivalent circuit may be represented as in a2RL
Fig.4-41 by reflecting LS and RS to the primary
side following Eqs.4.95 and 4.96. Here the
reflected values are a2RS, a2LS and a2RL
respectively. We can now combine the two Fig.4-42: Final equivalent circuit
2
resistances RP and a RS as RT, and the two
inductances LP and a2LS as LT to get the final form as shown in Fig.4-42. This circuit
can be used to calculate the current through the load for a given source potential, and to
calculate the voltage dropped across RL following techniques developed for an LR
circuit earlier.
4.18.10 Other applications

Impedance matching and Electrical isolation
Transferring ac power at a different voltage is the most extensive use of a transformer
which is also used extensively in providing low voltage dc in electronic circuits from
the ac power mains. However, a transformer also provides electrical isolation between
123
two or more circuits, which may be of the major interest in certain applications.
Besides impedance-matching of two electronic circuits is also an important application
of transformers in electronics which is described first below.
Impedance matching of two circuits.
In the previous chapter (section 2.17) we have seen that when two devices are
connected together, a maximum power transfer occurs if the output impedance of the
source equals the load impedance. If this condition is not met in a system, we can
interpose an appropriately designed transformer to bring about the desired situation,
and this procedure is called impedance matching. To see how it works, let us consider
Eq.4.96 above which show how the load impedance is reflected to the primary side.
This means that for a step down transformer the reflected load impedance at the
primary is many times higher, and for a step-up transformer, it is many times lower.
This property may be used through suitable design of the transformer. This is further
illustrated in the example below.
a b c
RL << RS a:1 a2RL = RS
RS
RS RS
eS
RL
RL a 2RL
eS P S eS
Fig.4-43: a) mismatched source and load impedance, b) Impedance matching using a

transformer, and c) equivalent circuit at primary side showing impedance matching
Example 4.1: Suppose we have a source having a high output impedance (Fig.4-43b)
RS = 10,000, which has to transfer power to a load with a much smaller impedance,
RL = 100. We know from section 2.17 that this will not provide a good power
transfer. To achieve a good power transfer we have to match the impedances by
interposing a suitably designed transformer as shown in Fig.4-43b. This will give rise
to the equivalent circuit in Fig.4-43c from which we can see that for maximum power
transfer from the source to the load, the reflected load impedance at the primary, a2RL
needs to be equal to RS (=10,000). This requires the turn ratio to be
10 ,000
a =10
100
which represents a step down transformer with a turn ratio of 10:1. Thus with the
transformer, the effective load resistance is equal to the source resistance and we have
maximum power transfer.
124
We can see the whole thing from a slightly different viewpoint. Considering the
transformer itself as a two-port network, its input impedance (primary side) is high
while the output impedance is low since it is a step-down transformer. So there is a
good power transfer from the source to the transformer. Again at the output there is
good power transfer from the low impedance of the transformer to the low load
resistance.
4.18.11 Electrical isolation between two or more circuits

In a transformer electrical power is transferred through the intermediary of magnetic
flux. There is no direct electrical contact between the primary and the secondary coils
of a transformer. Therefore it provides an electrical isolation between the two circuits
which is necessary in many situations.
In some electronic circuits we may have two or more separate parts which should not
have any common electrical connections for various reasons. A transformer may
provide the necessary electrical isolation.
We can obtain a low voltage dc from 220V ac without using a transformer, but that
will expose us to life threatening hazards. One of the main uses of a transformer is in
saving us from the hazards of getting an electrical shock from the mains 220V line
when we touch the low voltage sides of an electronic appliance by isolating the
exposed side electrically from the high voltage side. Therefore transformer coils should
be adequately insulated from the core and from each other. In normal transformers this
is achieved firstly through the use of a chemically insulated wire ( called enamelled wire)
for the coils, by winding the coil on a plastic bobbin which isolates the coil from the
core, and through the use of varnished paper or plastic sheets between the primary and
the secondary coils if they are wound one above the other. Finally, the whole assembly
is dipped in liquid varnish and dried to produce a safe transformer. Normal plastic
covered wires are not used in transformers as the insulations are thick and will allow
only a few turns to be made in a particular volume. Instead enamelled copper wire is
used to wind the coils in a transformer. Enamel is a very thin insulating coating applied
on the wire chemically. This allows more turns to be wound. However, one has to be
careful while winding the coils since any sharp bends in the wire will tend to break the
insulation.
Even with all the precautions, there will be a capacitance between the primary and the
secondary coils, and between the coils and the core. Since a capacitor allows ac to pass
there will be some ac passing directly from the primary to the core. Since the core is
usually in contact with the metallic cabinet of an appliance, one might feel a slight
electric shock when touching exposed metallic parts of the equipment with a bare hand
if the metallic body of an appliance is not connected to the Earth terminal of our
household electrical outlets. (see any engineering book for a description of the mains power
line arrangements and the necessity of the Earth line in providing safety)
125
In medical equipment, particularly the ones used in Cardiac (related to heart) clinics and
hospitals, even the isolation provided by the normal transformers described above is
not adequate. Therefore equipment built with ordinary transformers are not allowed in
hospital equipment. For such equipment the transformers are specially designed to
reduce the resistive and capacitive leakage current between the primary and the
secondary so that no more than 10A at the line frequency (50 or 60Hz) can pass
through the body of the patient in the worst case of the primary touching the mains live
wire by accident. This arose from the requirement that in such clinics, a direct
electrical connection to the heart muscles may be brought out in some patients, and
only 50A through these links direct to the heart may kill a patient. In normal domestic
appliances a higher leakage current (~100A, as provided by normal transformers) may be
allowed since current entering through a limb gets dispersed throughout the body so
that very little of it actually passes through the heart.
4.18.12 Transformers in Switch Mode Power Supply

In electronic appliances, dc power is needed to drive the electronic devices, and that
mostly at low voltages below 30V. Transformers are extensively used within each
appliance to decrease the ac voltage first, and then to convert it to smooth dc
electronically. To cater for ups and downs in line voltages, such power supplies are
designed with larger voltages than needed and then the additional voltage dropped
using series pass elements (usually transistors). This gives rise to lots of wasted power
and low efficiency contributing to heating up of the appliances. Besides, at 50 or 60Hz
the size of the transformer is large and heavy. Nowadays these are being replaced by
much more efficient devices called switch mode power supplies that have high
efficiencies (more than 90%), and the sizes of transformers are also considerably
reduced. Such power supplies convert the mains line ac directly to high voltage dc
first. This dc is then used to generate a high frequency (>100KHz) square waves which
are then converted to low voltage using transformers. Regulation to cater for ups and
downs in line voltages is carried out by modulating the width of the square wave
pulses and this results in very high efficiencies. Again transformers at such frequencies
can have very reduced sizes for the same power delivery. This we can guess from the
reactance L of an inductor. Because of large , a very small inductor will have a high
reactance and a small number of turns are required to make a transformer. The core
size is also low at such frequencies.
Such novel techniques and many others depend on the wonders of electronic devices
like diodes, transistors, Integrated Circuits, etc., and all these will be our subject of
study in the next volumes.
126
Appendices
APPENDICES
Appendix-1
Effective and RMS value of an ac, Power Factor
We can easily describe the magnitude of a smooth
dc potential by its voltage directly. On the other
hand an ac potential is continuously changing in R Pac
e
magnitude and in direction. How do we describe
such a changing potential? This is done using an
effective equivalent dc value that produces the a
same amount of average power as the ac in a
resistance, as explained below. Fig.A1-1a shows an
ac source with potential e driving a certain average
R Pdc
power PAC into a resistor R. Now we replace the ac VEFF
source by a variable smooth dc source which is
allowed to drive power into the same resistor R.
b
We vary the dc voltage till the power PDC
dissipated by the resistor equals the average power
PAC dissipated when the ac source was there. The Fig.A1-1: Basis for calculation of
the Effective value of an ac
dc voltage that produced this power has the same
power producing effect as the ac voltage source.
Therefore we term this dc voltage value as the effective voltage value VEFF of the ac.
Then VEFF can be used to describe the corresponding ac potential e.
Now let us derive a value for VEFF analytically for a sinusoidal ac.
Let the ac potential be given by,
e = Vo Sin  t ... A1.1
where Vo is the amplitude or the peak voltage and  is the angular frequency. Then the
instantaneous power pac delivered into the resistor R is,
e 2 Vo2 Sin 2  t
p ac   ... A1.2
R R
The average power PAC can be obtained by integrating pac over a full cycle and dividing
by the period T as follows.
1 T Vo2 Sin2  t
PAC 
T  o R
dt ... A1.3
Evaluating the above we get,
Vo2 T Sin2  t V2 T (1  Cos2 t ) V2 T V2

PAC 
T  o R
dt  o
T  o 2R
dt  o
T 2R
 o
2R
127
Appendices
Vo2
i.e., PAC  2 ... A1.4
R
which is the average power of the ac potential driving the resistor R. Note, in the above
integration, the integral of the Cosine term is zero.
Now the power PDC delivered to the resistor R by the dc voltage VEFF is given by,
2
V EFF
PDC  ... A1.5
R
which should equal the average ac power given by Eq.A1.4. Doing this we get,
Vo2 Vo
2
V EFF  , or, VEFF  ... A1.6
2 2
which gives the value of the effective dc voltage in terms of the peak ac voltage Vo.
Evaluating 2 we get, VEFF = 0.707 Vo ... A.1.6a
Looking at Eq.A1.3 and Eq.A1.5 above we can say that
1 T
VEFF 
T  o
Vo2 Sin2 t dt ... A1.7
Now, how can we describe the term on the right hand side in Eq.A1.7? It is the square
root of the average (or mean) of the square of the original ac voltage. Therefore we can
call it the Root Mean Squared ac voltage which abbreviates to the well known term
RMS. Therefore, RMS voltage of an ac is also its Effective Voltage, and the former
name has become more popular than the latter. It would have been more meaningful if
it were the other way round.
We can also appreciate from the above that the RMS voltage is the effective voltage for
any ac or any varying voltage. However, the value Vo /2 is only applicable to a
sinusoidal ac. It would not hold for other waveforms.
From the above we can also deduce that the effective value of an ac current would also
be given by its RMS value. So we have, for a sinusoidal ac,
Io
I EFF  ... A1.8
2
We again appreciate that Eq.A1.8 holds only for a sinusoidal ac. Evaluating2, we get,
IEFF = 0.707 Vo ... A.1.8a
128
Appendices
In an ac circuit, the voltage and current may have a phase difference . Corresponding
to the sinusoidal voltage of Eq.A1.1 if the current is given by,
i = Io Sin ( t + ) ... A1.9
then we can calculate the instantaneous power as,
pac = e i =Vo Io (Sin  t) [Sin ( t + )]= Vo Io (Sin  t) (Sin  t Cos  + Cos  t Sin )
or, pac = Vo Io (Sin2  t Cos  + Sin  t Cos  t Sin )
= Vo Io [(1 – Cos 2 t) Cos  + Sin 2 t Sin ] / 2
= Vo Io [Cos  – Cos 2 t Cos  + Sin 2 t Sin ] / 2
If we calculate the average power by integrating the above equation over a complete
period and then divide by T, the terms having Sin 2 t and Cos 2 t will give zero
values and we will be left with (do it yourself),
Vo I o V I
PAC  Cos  o o Cos  VEFF I EFF Cos ... A1.10
2 2 2
This is a very important result which says that the average power is not simply the
product of effective voltage and current, there is another factor Cos  which depends
on the phase difference between the current and the voltage. The Cos  term is called
the power factor. Understandably, its maximum value is unity when  = 0. This
happens only when the load is fully resistive such as for a filament lamp or a heater.
For any load which has a inductive or capacitive component, the power factor is less
than unity. For loads like electric fan, refrigerator where a motor is the main load, it is
a mixture of inductive and resistive load and the power factor may be of the order of
0.6. What is the implication of such low values of power factor?
Suppose for a motor operating on an RMS voltage of 220V the current is 5A. This
gives a product of 1100 Volt-Amp (VA, note: we have not used Watt). If the power factor
is 0.6 then the motor will consume a power of 1100x0.6 watts (W), or, 660W. You can
possibly appreciate now why we did not use Watt before. Now a 660W heater with a
power factor of unity will take only 3A (=660W/220V) while a motor with the same
power consumption takes 5A, much more than that consumed by the heater. This puts
a greater demand on the current produced by a generator. Therefore power generation
authorities usually require that consumers use power factor correcting devices to
increase the power factor to close to unity. Since most of typical loads are inductive,
power factor improvement is usually done by adding capacitors in parallel, which
basically helps in decreasing the phase difference between the voltage and current.
Another point worth noting is that ac sources or generators are usually rated in VA, not
in Watts as hinted above. This is because a generator has no way of knowing
beforehand how much power a load will take as the power factor will vary from load to
129
Appendices
load. So it can only say about the maximum current that it can deliver at the rated
voltage. Since the voltage is fixed, the VA value rather than the current is quoted
because that will be closer to load power in watts with which the users are more
familiar. Of course, maximum current rating is also given typically. Therefore any
source like Voltage Stabilisers, UPS, or transformers which delivers or transfers ac
power are rated in VA value.
On the other hand an ac load knows what should be its power factor. So loads are
usually rated in watts; the power factor being quoted as well.
Appendix-2
Average ac voltage, Form Factor
What is the average of a sinusoidal ac
T/2
voltage? Looking at Fig.A2.1 we can see
that this will very well depend on the time + V0
range that is considered for this average. 0 t
The average will vary with time. If we
take average over a full cycle, clearly it  V0
will be zero as the +ve half cycle will t=0
cancel the –ve half cycle. If we take the
average over one of these half cycles Fig.A2.1: Averaging over half a cycle
(shown shaded) we will get a non-zero
average value. This is usually the average
value quoted for a sinusoidal ac voltage (which is not very useful for ac, but is useful for its
rectified form; see next appendix). Let us deduce a value for this average.
We have, e = Vo Sin  t ... A2.1
Therefore average over the positive half wave is given by,
1 T 2 Vo  Cos  t  T 2
Vo 0 2Vo
VAV 
T 2  o
Vo Sin  t dt  
T 2   

0


Cos  t
T 2


2Vo
i.e., V AV  ... A2.2

Evaluating , we get VAV = 0.637 Vo ... A2.3

which is the commonly accepted average of an ac sinusoidal voltage.
The average current will be similarly described.
130
Appendices
The effective or RMS voltage (given by Eq.A1.6a) and the Average voltage both are
important parameters for an ac.
The ratio of these two parameters is also an important parameter called the Form
Factor. Therefore, we have,
FORM FACTOR = VRMS /VAV = 1.11
The above result of 1.11 holds only for a sinusoidal waveform. For any other waveform
the form factor will have a different value.
Appendix-3
AC volt meters – average and RMS measurement
A galvanometer is basically a dc current measuring device. It has a certain internal
resistance. Therefore at a certain applied voltage a specified current will pass through
it. Therefore the galvanometer can also be calibrated in terms of a dc voltage. By
adding a suitable resistance in series its dc voltage measuring capability can be
increased while the ac current capability can be increased by connecting a low
resistance in parallel (a shunt). Now, how to measure an ac voltage using this
galvanometer which is always changing? Usually the ac voltage is firstly rectified
using semiconductor diodes and the rectified dc voltage is applied to the galvanometer.
The rectification can be half wave or full wave as shown in Fig. A3.1. These are
varying voltage as well. So how would a
galvanometer needle respond to such a
changing voltage?
time->
Well, at very low frequency (say, 1Hz) the a
needle will follow the voltage change which
is very slow. As one increases the
frequency, the needle is pulled back before
it can reach the peak deflection. It will still time-> b
vary but will not be able to deflect to the
peak amplitude. At the line frequency of
50Hz, it is almost impossible for the needle
to follow the changes, and it usually time->
deflects to a fixed value. This fixed value is c
the average voltage of the rectified dc
waveform. (You can appreciate that such a
Fig.A3.1: Voltage waveforms:
needle galvanometer will show zero if a 50 Hz
a) sinusoidal ac, b) full wave rectified
ac is applied to it directly, since the average of and c) half wave rectified
the ac over a complete cycle is zero. Taking the
average over a long period of time will also be
almost zero)
131
Appendices
The average value of a full wave rectified waveform as shown in Fig.A3.1b will be the
same as calculated in Eq.A2.2 for an ac since the full wave rectified waveform is just
the repetition of a half wave (Fig.A2.1) which was considered for calculating the
average. Therefore if the ac voltmeter uses full wave rectification, it will deflect to
show the average value which is 0.637Vo. Now the thing is, we usually like to describe
an ac voltage in terms of its RMS value, not its average. Therefore the marking on the
galvanometer dial is made to indicate the corresponding RMS voltage. For example, if
the peak amplitude Vo is 10V, average of the full wave rectified voltage would be
6.37V. If we rectify this ac ourselves and feed the output to a dc voltmeter, we would
get this reading. However, to read the ac directly off the meter we calibrate the dial
such that at this position the needle would show 7.07V, 1.11 times the actual dc
voltage reading. In this way we can read the RMS value of a sinusoidal ac voltage
directly from such a meter. Even most hand held digital multimeters are also of the
average reading type internally, but in the display they show the corresponding RMS
value.
Semiconductor devices used to rectify an ac waveform usually drop some voltage
themselves, of the order of a fraction of a volt, therefore, voltage readings will have some
errors due to this, which will be more significant at low voltages. Therefore you will see
that the actual voltage markings in a needle type ac voltmeter are non linear, particularly at
low voltages. However, in digital voltmeters, these errors are eliminated through the use of
clever electronic circuit design.
What happens if the ac waveform is not sinusoidal? The needle would still point to the
average of the full wave rectified value, but since the form factor is no more 1.11, the
RMS value indicated by the dial will no longer be valid. Remember this fact while
measuring a non-sinusoidal waveform using an ordinary digital meter too.
Nowadays many ac power circuits are controlled by a semiconductor device called
TRIAC which control the output power by cutting off part of the sinusoidal ac. The
resulting waveform is no longer a sinusoidal one and therefore any ac meter employing
an average reading galvanometer would give a wrong indication for RMS value. Again
at different setting for power, the waveform will be different, so the meter calibration
would change too. Therefore if you use such meters, take note of the waveform. Of
course there are special meters which use sophisticated techniques to obtain the RMS
value, both in needle galvanometer type and in digital type. These are called RMS
measuring ac meters. One would be better off using one of these meters, but as can be
expected, these are a bit expensive and are not available in ordinary shops.
Some meters may use a half wave rectifier, the waveform is shown in Fig.A3.1c.
During the negative half cycle, the output voltage is zero, the negative half is not
passed at all. Here the average voltage will clearly be half of the value given by
Eq.A2.3 for a full wave rectified waveform. Therefore the average voltage of a half
wave rectified sinusoidal ac would be 0.318Vo (= 0.637Vo /2) and the dial calibration
will be made accordingly.
The above considerations would also apply to AC current meters.
132
Index
Index
Constant voltage source, 19,20,21
ac
characteristic curve, 19
average voltage, 128
Conventional current, 44
current, 13
Current divider, 25
form factor, 129
Current node, 23
voltage, 13,73
Current smoothing, 62
voltmeter, 129
Current source, 20,21
voltmeter, average & rms, 130
Cut-off frequency, 90,92,95
effective voltage, 125
RMS voltage, 125
Damping-vs-time const, 70
source symbol, 20
dc bias, 14
ac/dc symbols, 15
Decibel scale, 93
Admittance, 39
dB-voltage scale, 94
Alternating current, 13
Displacement current, 46
Angular frequency, 14,73
Audio tone control, 103
Earth in circuits, 11
Average voltage, ac, 128
Eddy current, 118
Effective voltage of ac, 125
Band pass filter, 104
Electricity vs, Electronics, 3
Band reject filter, 104
Electromotive Force, 9,10,11,16,19
Band stop filter, 104
Bandwidth 103,108
Farad, 43
Battery cell, 9,10,19
Filter, 91
Battery cell: ideal, 19
Bandpass, 104
symbol, 12
band stop, band reject,104
Bode plot, 96
ideal, 98
high pass, 88
Capacitance & Capacitor, 43,45
low pass,100
behaviour, 5
narrow bandpass, 104
charge, 43,47,49
notch , 104
discharge, 45,52
tuned, 104
energy, 51
Form factor, 129
model, 55
Forward transfer impedance, 40,41,42
on ac, 77
Fourier's theorem, 14,83
phase, 80
Freq response of phase, 98,100
reactance, 78
Frequency, 14,73
transient current, 46
ideal, 82
Generating circle, 74
repetitive switch, 54
Gravitational motive force, 9
stored charge, 43
Ground in circuits, 11,23
Characteristic frequency, 90,92,95
Combined high & low pass, 103
Henry, 57
Complex number diagram, 84
Hysteresis, 118
Complex number in ac, 84
Conductance, conductor, 16
Ideal filter, 98
Conductor, non-ohmic, 16
Imaginary axis, 86
Conductor, ohmic, 16
Imaginary operator, 87
Constant current source, 20,21
Impedance, 36,87
characteristics curve, 21
Impedance phasor, 88,89,99,101
133
Index
Inductor, 58,61 Max. voltage transfer, 36,37

energy, 63 Modelling, 1,2
on ac, 80 Mutual inductance, 56
reactance, 81
ideal, 82 Narrow bandpass, 104
Input impedance, 40,41,42 Node, 23
Input admittance, 40,41,42 Noise, 42
Input port, 35,38 Norton's eq. circuit, 29
Insulator, 3 Notch filter, 104
Internal resistance, 10,19,20,21
I-V curve, 16,17 Ohm's law, 1.16.17.18
Ohm's law, complex, 87
Kirchoff's current law, 23 Order of filter, 97
Kirchoff's voltage law, 22 Output impedance, 40,41,42
Output admittance, 40,41,42
LC circuit in radio tuning, 114 Output port, 35
LCR series ckt, dc transient, 64,70 Passive & active filter, 98
critically damped, 68 Permittivity, 43,46
damped oscillation, 65 Phase angle, 73,74
dc analysis, 67 Phase-lead/lag, 81
natural frequency, 66 Phasor addition, 76,99
on step dc, 64 Phasor, 74,76,81,84,99, 101,105,111
overdamped, 68 Phasor, impedance, 89,99,101,105,111
repetitive switch, 71 Phasor, reactance, 88,89,99,101,105,111
ringing, 66 Phasor, voltage, 76,81,84,99, 101,105,111
undamped, 69 -filter, 63
underdamped, 68 Polarisation, 46
LCR series circuit on ac, 105 Potential difference, 9,10,11,16
bandwidth, 108,109 Potential drop, 9,10,12
frequency response, 106 Power supply, 63
impedance, 105 Primary coil, 115
phase, 106 Public address amplifier, 2
phasor, 105
Q factor, 110 Q factor, 110
resonance, 71, 106, 108
voltage gain, 106 Radio tuning circuit, 114
LCR series-parallel circuit, 110 RC filter freq response, 90
frequency response, 112 RC high pass filter, 88
phasor, 111 Bode plot, 96
resonance, 113 current, 89
cut-off frequency, 92
Leakage magnetic flux, 118 frequency response, 90
Lee-de-Forest, 8 linear-linear plot, 91
Lenz's law, 58 linear-log plot, 91
Load system, 35 log-log plot, 95
LR circuit, 58 phasor, 89
LR-dc transient, 58 phase expression, 99
phase response,100
Magnetic flux, 56,115 phase linear-linear plot, 100
Magnetisation, 64 phase, linear-log plot, 100
Magnetic domain, 64 rolling-off slope, 96
Max. current transfer, 36,37 second order filter, 97
Max. power transfer, 36,37 voltage gain, 90
134
Index
RC low pass filter, 100 Thevenin's eq. ckt, 26

Bode plot, 102 determination, known ckt, 27,28
cut-off frequency, 101 determination, unknown ckt, 26
frequency response, 102 Time constant, 48,49
linear-log plot, 102 LR, 60
log-log plot, 102 RC, 48
phasor, 101 significance, 49
phase expression, 102 Timer, 50
phase response,103 Transformer, 115
phase, linear-log plot, 103 core with freq.,119
rolling-off slope, 102 efficiency, 118
voltage gain, 101 electrical isolation, 123
Reactance, complex, 88 impedance matching, 121
Real axis, 86 load, 117
Reflected impedance, 117 reflected imp, 117
Repetitive switching, LCR, 71 eddy current, 118
Repetitive switching, LR, 63 equivalent ckt.,120
Repetitive switching, RC, 54 ideal, 115
Resistance & reactance, 82,88 inductance, 120
Resistance, incremental, 18 leakage flux, 118
Resistance, resistor, 16,17,18 power distribution, 119
Resistor, ideal, 83 practical, 118
Reverse transfer impedance, 40,41,42 stray capacitance, 120
RL circuit, 58 Transistor, 2,3,4
RLC-series ckt, 64,70 Two port network, 38
RMS value of ac, 125 analysis, 39
Rolling off slope, 96,102 equivalent ckt, 39
Secondary coil, 115 Vacuum diode, 6

Self inductance, 57,58 triode, 4,7,8
Semiconductor, 4,8 tube, 3,4,5,8
Serial/parallel resistors, 18 Varying dc, 14
Signal & noise, 42 Voltage dB scale, 94
Single port network, 34 Voltage divider, 24
Sinusoidal ac, 14 Voltage gain, 24
Smooth dc, 14,63 Voltage sensitive ckt, 50
Source resistance measurement, 21 Voltage smoothing, 62
Source system, 35 Voltage source, 19,20,21
Square wave, 54 Voltage stabilisation, 63
Superposition principle, 31 Voltmeter resistance, 11
Switch mode power supply, 63,124
135

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1.1 Why and how of Electronics 1

Chapter 3: CAPACITORS & INDUCTORS: DC TRANSIENTS

Pre- Signal Power

Fig.1-1: A public address amplifier system

1.2 Electricity versus Electronics

1.3 Brief History of Electronics

1.4 Vacuum diode

device. In a practical diode the filament is usually arranged in a vertical configuration

Fig.1-3: Rectification using a vacuum diode. Note direction of

1.5 Vacuum Triode and Amplifier

Fig.1-4: Amplification using a vacuum Triode.

2.1 EMF and Potential drop

If no current flows (I = 0) through a resistor no potential drop appears across it. In

B VB= 1.5V C B VB=0V C

Fig.2-7: Choice of Ground Fig.2-8: Voltage at break

As mentioned above, choosing the ground is entirely a matter of convenience. We

It needs to be mentioned that though it is logical to show the symbol of a single

Box 2.2 Convention for ac and dc variables

2.6 Ohm’s Law

Fig.2-11: Ohm‟s law Fig.2-12: I-V curve of an

curve). We can see that the graph is a straight

Temperature not constant Different Const Temp

Fig.B-2-1: I-V curve of a Fig.B-2-2: Ohmic conductor at

2.7 Incremental resistance from I – V curve

2.8 Series and parallel combination of resistors, which one dominates?

Fig.2-15: Ideal Constant Fig.2-16: Practical Constant

Fig.2-19: Constant Current Source, Fig.2-20: Practical Constant

Figs. 2.21. With reference to Eq.2.6 we can see

2.12 Kirchoff’s laws

us choose V1 as positive as we go from a lower potential at a to a higher potential at b.

2.12.2 Kirchoff’s current law for nodes

2.13 Voltage Divider Network

Therefore, voltage V1 across R1 and V2 across I D

You can substitute the value of current I from

2.14 Current Divider Network

2.15 Thevenin’s equivalent circuit

Unknown Unknown Fig.2-30:

Thus we have, VTh = VOC ... 2.16

Known Simple Circuit

Fig.2-31: Voltage Divider and its output resistance

points shown as p and q.

To determine RTh, we short the internal voltage source e in Fig.2.31a following

Fig.2-32: A complex circuit and its sequential simplification

Fig.2-33: Determining current through a resistor

2.16 Norton’s equivalent circuit

Fig.2-36: Step – i: Solution for e1

replaced by a short and I is replaced by an open circuit.

Fig.2-37: Step –ii: Solution for e2

100 100  100

Fig.2-38: Step –iii: Solution for I

Alternative approach for I4-iii

2.18 Modeling devices with Single port

output port +vout

iin RIN iin

Loud Speaker common

2.19 Maximum Current, Voltage and Power transfer

Fig.2-41: Signal Transfer system