LCR CIRCUITS

Circuits containing an inductor L, a capacitor C, and a resistor R, have special

characteristics useful in many applications. Their frequency characteristics
(impedance, voltage, or current vs. frequency) have a sharp maximum or minimum at
certain frequencies. These circuits can hence be used for selecting or rejecting specific
frequencies and are also called tuning circuits. These circuits are therefore very
important in the operation of television receivers, radio receivers, and transmitters. In
this section, we will present two types of LCR circuits, viz., series and parallel, and
also discuss the formulae applicable for typical resonant circuits.

A series LCR circuit includes a series combination of an inductor, resistor and

capacitor whereas; a parallel LCR circuit contains a parallel combination of inductor
and capacitor with the resistance placed in series with the inductor. Both series and
parallel resonant circuits may be found in radio receivers and transmitters.

The selectivity of a tuned circuit is its ability to select a signal at the resonant
frequency and reject other signals that are close to this frequency. A measure of the
selectivity is Q, or the quality factor.

The study of these circuits is basically an application of alternating current circuit

analysis. We make use of the complex number notation with sinusoidal varying
quantities like alternating voltage and current. In general, the impedance Z is a sum of
the real part called resistance R and the complex part called the reactance X,
i.e., Z = R + jX. The magnitude and phase of the impedance are given by R2 + X 2
⎛X⎞
and φ = tan −1 ⎜ ⎟ , respectively.
⎝R⎠

Since in an inductor, voltage leads the current by π/2, the reactance of L is jωL ,
while in case of a capacitor, voltage lags behind the current by π/2, the reactance of C
is 1 . If the current in the circuit is I, the relative voltage drops across the
jωC
inductor, capacitor and resistor can be represented in the phasor diagram as shown in
Figure 1.

We will study the property of resonance in context of series as well as parallel

configurations of LCR circuit. It is a very useful property of reactive a.c. circuits and
is employed in a variety of applications. One of the common applications of
resonance effect is in radio and television transmissions, e.g., tuning a radio to a
particular station by selecting a desired frequency (or band of frequencies). The series
resonant circuit can be used for voltage magnification. A parallel resonant circuit
provides current magnification and can be used in induction heating. Another
application of resonant circuit is screening certain frequencies out of a mix of
different frequencies with the help of circuits called filters.

Figure 1: Phasor diagram

Learning Outcomes

After performing this experiment you will be able to

1. explain why the series LCR circuit is called an acceptor circuit

2. study the response of LCR circuit by varying the resistance in the circuit
3. present graphically the variation of current with frequency in a series LCR
circuit
4. find the resonant frequency for a series LCR circuit and hence find the Quality
factor
5. explain why the parallel LCR circuit is called a rejector circuit.
6. present graphically the variation of current with frequency in a parallel LCR
circuit and hence find the anti-resonant frequency and Quality factor

1
 SECTION A

LCR Series circuit

Let us consider the LCR circuit, which consists of an inductor, L, a capacitor, C, and a
resistor, R, all connected in series with a source as shown in Figure 2. We will first
derive the condition of resonance and then explain the methods of determination of
the resonant frequency and hence the Quality factor.

Apparatus

• Function generator
• an inductance coil
• three capacitors
• a resistance box
• a.c. voltmeters / multimeter / Cathode Ray Oscilloscope (CRO)
• one a.c. milliammeter
• Connecting wires.

Theory

Let an alternating voltage V 0sin ωt or V 0 e jωt be applied to an inductor L , a resistor

R and a capacitor C all in series as shown in Figure 2. If I is the instantaneous
current flowing through the circuit, the applied voltage in phasor form is given by
I
V = VR + VL + VC = RI + jωLI +
jω C

⎡ 1 ⎤
= ⎢R + jω L +
jωC ⎥⎦
I
⎣
⎡ ⎛ 1 ⎞⎤
= ⎢R + j ⎜ ωL − ⎟ I
⎣ ⎝ ωC ⎠⎥⎦

The impedance
V ⎛ 1 ⎞
Z= = R + j ⎜ ωL − ⎟
I ⎝ ωC ⎠

2
 1

iφ
⎡ 2 ⎛ 1 ⎞ ⎤
2 2

If we write Z = Ze = Z cos φ + jZ sin φ , then Z = ⎢ R + ⎜ ωL − ⎟ ⎥ and

⎣⎢ ⎝ ωC ⎠ ⎦⎥
⎛ 1 ⎞
⎜ ωL − ⎟
⎝ ωC ⎠
tan φ = .
R
V0 e jωt V0 j (ωt −φ )
Therefore, current. I = = e
Ze jφ Z

Figure 2: Series LCR circuit

Three cases thus arise:

1
1. ωL > , tan φ is positive and applied voltage leads current by phase angle φ .
ωC
1
2. ωL < , tan φ is negative and applied voltage lags behind current by φ .
ωC
1
3. ωL = , tan φ is zero and applied voltage and current are in phase. This
ωC
condition is known as resonance and frequency as resonant frequency ( ω 0 ).
1 1
ωL = ⇒ ω2 =
ωC LC
or

3
 1
ω = ω0 =
LC
or
ω0 1
f0 = = (1)
2π 2π LC

1
ωL − = 0 and V L = VC
ωC

If L, R and υ (frequency of function generator) are fixed and the capacitance is

I
varied, then for lower values of C, > ωLI or VC > VL . As the capacitance is
ωC
increased in the circuit, the situation called resonance is achieved when VC = V L . If C
is increased further, VC will decrease and we have VC < VL . The point of intersection
of VC and V L versus 1 curves will give resonance condition. This is depicted in
C
Figure 3. At resonance V R is a maximum while VLC is minimum as shown in Figure
4. Corresponding to maximum value of V R , C is obtained. Similarly, for minimum
value of VLC , C is obtained. This value of C makes the given circuit resonant at the
supply frequency with constant values of L and R.

Figure 3: Variation of VL and VC with 1

C

4
 Figure 4: Variation of VLC and VR with 1
C

Theoretically at resonance VLC should be zero. This should be so if the inductor is of

negligible resistance and there are no other losses. The minimum value of VLC is a
measure of the effective resistance of inductor coil which is equal to the d.c.
resistance plus a.c. resistance corresponding to iron and hysteresis losses.

At resonant frequency f 0 , the impedance of circuit is minimum. Hence frequencies

near f 0 are passed more readily than the other frequencies by the circuit. Due to this
reason LCR-series circuit is called acceptor circuit. The band of frequencies which is
allowed to pass readily is called pass-band. The band is arbitrarily chosen to be the
I
range of frequencies between which the current is equal to or greater than 0 . Let
2
f1 and f 2 be these limiting values of frequency. Then the width of the band is (refer
to Figure 5)
BW = f 2 − f 1 . (2)
The Quality factor is defined in the same way as for a mechanical oscillator and is
given by
resonant frequency f0
Q= = . (3)
bandwidth f 2 − f1

Q-factor is also defined in terms of reactance and resistance of the circuit at

resonance, i.e.,

5
 X L ω0 L
Q= = . (4)
R R

I0

0.7 I0

f1 f2
f BW

Figure 5: Bandwidth for a series LCR resonant circuit

Figure 6: Variation of current with frequency for different R values

Also,

6
 XC 1
Q= = . (5)
R ω 0 CR

The resonance condition is also evident from the resonance curves or the graphs
V
between I R = R and f for different values of R shown in Figure 6. The
R
bandwidth as well as Q-factor can be calculated.

Pre-lab Assessment

Choose the correct answer

(1) Which of the following are applications of resonant circuits?

a) radio and television transmission
b) voltage magnification and current magnification
c) induction heating
d) all of the above.
(2) The real part of impedance is called
a) resistance
b) inductive reactance
c) capacitive reactance
d) none of the above.
(3) The imaginary part of impedance is called
a) resistance
b) inductive reactance
c) capacitive reactance
d) reactance.
(4) Capacitors and inductors oppose an alternating current. This is known as
a) resistance
b) resonance
c) reactance
d) impedance
(5) In the case of an inductor
a) voltage leads the current by π/2
b) voltage lags behind the current by π/2
c) current leads the voltage by π/2
d) voltage leads the current by π.
(6) In the case of a capacitor
a) voltage leads the current by π/2
b) voltage lags behind the current by π/2
c) current leads the voltage by π/2
d) voltage lags behind the current by π.
(7) The reactance of a capacitor increases as the:
a) frequency increases
b) frequency decreases
c) applied voltage increases
d) applied voltage decreases

7
(8) The reactance of an inductor increases as the:
a) frequency increases
b) frequency decreases
c) applied voltage increases
d) applied voltage decreases
(9) The minimum value of VLC is a measure of the effective resistance of inductor
coil. (True/False)

Answer the following question

(10) Why is a series LCR resonant circuit called an acceptor circuit?

Procedure

1. Connect the circuit as shown in Figure 2.

2. Switch on the a.c. source and set its output voltage Vi to a value (say, 3V rms)
and frequency to a known value.
3. Record the voltages across the known resistor, capacitor, inductor and the series
combination of the inductor and capacitor in Table 1.
4. Repeat step 3 for different values of C.
5. Increase the frequency gradually in steps and record the voltage across resistor in
Table2.
6. Repeat step 5 for two different R values.

Observations

Table 1: Variation of various voltages with 1

C

f = ……Hz, R = …… Ω, L = …… mH

S. No. 1 VC VR VL VLC
C (volts) (volts) (volts) (volts)
(μF)-1/2
1
2
3
4
5
6

Table 2: Variation of voltage across resistor with frequency for different R

values

L = …… mH, C = …… μF

8
 S. Frequency V R1 VR2 VR3 V R1 V R2 V R3
No. f I1 = I2 = I3 =
(Hz) (volts) (volts) (volts) R1 R2 R3
(mA) (mA) (mA)
1
2
3
4
5
6

Precautions

• The connecting wires should be straight and short.

• If the amplitude of the output voltage of the oscillator changes with frequency, it
must be adjusted.
• The values of inductance and capacitance are so selected that the natural
frequency of the circuit lies almost in the middle of the available frequency
range.

Calculations

Plot the following graphs:

1. Graph no.1: VL and VC on y-axis and 1 on x-axis
C
2. Graph no. 2: VR and VLC on y-axis and 1 on x-axis
C
3. Graph no. 3: Current I on y-axis and frequency f on x-axis for different sets
corresponding to different values of R

• The point of intersection of VC and V L versus 1 curves in graph no. 1

C
gives C = …… μF.
• The point where V R is a maximum in graph no. 2 gives C = …… μF.
• The point where VLC is minimum in graph no. 2 gives C = …… μF.
• Mean value of C = …… μF.
• The minima of the curves in graph no. 3 give f0 = …… Hz.
• Theoretical value of f0 (using Equation (1)) =............. Hz.

• Bandwidth for R1 (using Equation (2)), f2 - f1 = …… Hz.

• Quality factor for R1 (using Equation (3)), Q = …….
• Theoretical value of Q for R1 (using Equation (4) or (5)) = …….

• Bandwidth for R2, f2 - f1 = …… Hz.

• Quality factor for R2, Q = ……. .

9
• Theoretical value of Q for R2 = …….

• Bandwidth for R3, f2 - f1 = …… Hz.

• Quality factor for R3, Q = ……. .
• Theoretical value of Q for R3 = …….

Result

The value of C which makes the given circuit resonant at the supply frequency with
given values of L and R is C = …… μF.

The resonant frequency f0 with L = …… mH and C = …… μF is …… Hz

Theoretical value of f0 = …… Hz
% Error = …….

A comparison of the experimental and theoretical Quality factor for L = …… mH and

C = …… μF for different R values is given below in tabular form:

S. No. R (Ω) Experimental Q-factor Theoretical Q-factor

1
2
3

Post-lab Assessment

Choose the correct answer

(1) An inductor and a capacitor are connected in series. At the resonant frequency
the resulting impedance is
a) maximum
b) minimum
c) totally reactive
d) totally inductive
(2) An inductor and a capacitor form a series resonant circuit. The capacitor value is
increased by four times. The resonant frequency will
a) increase by four times
b) double
c) decrease to half
d) decrease to one quarter
(3) An inductor and a capacitor form a series resonant circuit. If the value of the
inductor is decreased by a factor of four, the resonant frequency will
a) increase by a factor of four
b) increase by a factor of two

10
 c) decrease by a factor of two
d) decrease by a factor of four
(4) The resonant frequency for a series LCR circuit with L = 100 mH, C = 0.01 μF
is approximately
a) 250 Hz
b) 255 Hz
c) 5033 Hz
d) 5000 KHz
(5) The point of intersection of VC and VLC versus 1 curves will give resonance
C
condition. (True/False)
(6) In the V R and VLC versus 1 curves, V R is a maximum while VLC is
C
minimum at resonance. (True/False)
(7) A "high Q" resonant circuit is one which
a) has a wide bandwidth
b) is highly selective
c) uses a high value inductance
d) uses a high value capacitance

Answer the following question

(8) When are the voltage and current in a series LCR circuit in phase?

Answers to Pre-lab Assessment

1. d
2. a
3. d
4. c
5. a
6. b
7. b
8. a
9. True
10. At resonant frequency f 0 , the impedance of circuit is minimum. Hence
frequencies near f 0 are passed more readily than the other frequencies by the
circuit. Due to this reason LCR-series circuit is called acceptor circuit.

Answers to Post-lab Questions

1. b
2. b
3. c
4. b
5. c

11
6. False
7. True
8. When inductive and capacitive reactances are equal.

12
 SECTION B

LCR parallel circuit

The parallel resonant circuit obeys the same formula for resonant frequency as the
series resonant one, but at resonance the parallel resonant circuit has very high
impedance. The resistance at resonance offered by the parallel resonant circuit is very
high if the resistance of the inductance is very small, and is known as the dynamic
resistance.

We now discuss how a series LCR circuit is different than a parallel LCR circuit. The
condition of resonance in this case is known as anti-resonance. We will derive the
condition of anti-resonance of a parallel LCR circuit. The laboratory method of
determination of the anti-resonant frequency and hence the Quality factor is
explained.

Apparatus

• An audio oscillator
• an inductance coil
• three capacitors
• a resistance box
• a.c. voltmeters / multimeter / Cathode Ray Oscilloscope (CRO)
• one a.c. milliammeter
• Connecting wires

Theory

Consider a circuit containing an inductor L and a capacitor C connected in parallel to

an a.c. source (Figure 7). The resistance R is connected in series with the inductor L
and includes its resistance.

The total admittance of the LCR combination is given by

1 1 1
= +
Z XC X L + R
Therefore
1 1 1
= +
Z 1 jωC jωL + R
R − jωL
= jω C + 2
R + ω 2 L2

13
 R ⎡ ωL ⎤
= + j ⎢ωC − 2
R +ω L
2 2 2
⎣ R + ω 2 L2 ⎥⎦

R VR

V0 sin ωt C

Figure 7: Parallel LCR circuit

For the condition of resonance, current and voltage are in phase and the coefficient of
j, i.e., the reactive term which brings about a phase change is zero, hence
ωL
ω0 C − 2 0 2 2 = 0
R + ω0 L
2π f 0 L
2π f 0 C = 2
R + 4π 2 f 02 L2
which gives
1 1 R2
f0 = − 2 (6)
2π LC L
At resonance, the impedance of the circuit is maximum and is given by
R 2 + L2ω02
Z=
R
L ⎛ 1
2
R2 ⎞
= R + ⎜⎜ − 2 ⎟⎟
R ⎝ LC L ⎠
or
L
Z=
RC
The impedance at resonance is called dynamic resistance. The current I = V / Z has
minimum value (Figure 8). It is for this reason that the condition of resonance for a

14
parallel LCR circuit is known as anti-resonance and the corresponding frequency as
the anti-resonance frequency.

R1 > R2 > R3 R3

R2
R1

Figure 8: Variation of current with frequency for different R values

The shape of the impedance versus frequency curve in a parallel LCR circuit is the
same as the shape of the current versus frequency curve in a series LCR circuit. In
other words, the circuit has very high impedance at the anti-resonant frequency. The
parallel tuned circuit is used to select one particular signal frequency from among
others. It does this by rejecting the resonant frequency because of its high impedance.
This is the reason why this type of circuit is also known as a rejector circuit.

The circuit is more selective if it offers high impedance at resonance and much lower
impedance at other frequencies. The Q-factor is defined in the same way as for a
series LCR circuit. As in series circuit, Q can also be written as
ωL 1 1 L
Q= 0 = = (7)
R ω0CR R C

Pre-lab Assessment

Choose the correct answer

(1) An inductor and a capacitor are connected in parallel. At the resonant

frequency the resulting impedance is
a) maximum
b) minimum
c) totally reactive
d) totally inductive

15
(2) The anti-resonant frequency for a parallel LCR circuit does not depend on the
value of resistance used in the circuit. (True/False)

(3) A parallel LCR circuit is more selective if it offers

a) high impedance at resonance
b) low impedance at resonance
c) high impedance at frequencies other than the resonant frequency
d) b and c.

Answer the following questions

(4) What is the impedance at anti-resonance for a parallel LCR circuit?

(5) Why is the condition of resonance for a parallel LCR circuit known as anti-
resonance?
(6) Why is a parallel LCR resonant circuit called a rejector circuit?

Procedure

1. Connect the circuit as shown in Figure 6.

2. Switch on the a.c. source and set its output voltage Vi to a value, say, 3V rms
and frequency to a known value.
3. Increase the frequency gradually in steps and record the voltage across resistor
in Table 2.
4. Repeat step 3 for two different R values.

Observations

Table 3: Variation of voltage across resistor with frequency for different R

values

L = …… mH, C = …… μF
S. Frequency V R1 VR2 VR3 V R1 V R2 V R3
No. f I1 = I2 = I3 =
(Hz) (volts) (volts) (volts) R1 R2 R3
(mA) (mA) (mA)
1
2
3
4
5
6

16
Calculations

Plot a graph with current I on y-axis and frequency f on x-axis for different sets
corresponding to different values of R.

• The maxima of the curve for R1 in the graph gives f0 = …… Hz.

• Theoretical value of f0 for R1 (using Equation (6)) =............. Hz.
• Bandwidth for R1 (using Equation (2)), f2 - f1 = …… Hz.
• Quality factor for R1 (using Equation (3)), Q = …….
• Theoretical value of Q for R1 (using Equation (7)) = …….

• The maxima of the curve for R2 in the graph gives f0 = …… Hz.

• Theoretical value of f0 for R2 =............. Hz.
• Bandwidth for R2, f2 - f1 = …… Hz.
• Quality factor for R2, Q = ……. .
• Theoretical value of Q for R2 = …….

• The maxima of the curve for R3 in the graph gives f0 = …… Hz.

• Theoretical value of f0 for R3 =............. Hz.
• Bandwidth for R3, f2 - f1 = …… Hz.
• Quality factor for R3, Q = ……. .
• Theoretical value of Q for R3 = …….

Result

The resonant frequency f0 with L = …… mH and C = …… μF is …… Hz

Theoretical value of f0 = …… Hz
% Error = …….

A comparison of the experimental and theoretical Quality factor for L = …… mH and

C = …… μF for different R values is given below in tabular form:

S. No. R Experimental f0 Theoretical f0 Experimental Theoretical

(Ω) (Hz) (Hz) Q-factor Q-factor
1
2
3

17
Glossary

Alternating voltage: An alternating voltage is a sinusoidally varying voltage, where

is the peak value and is the angular frequency of the voltage.
Anti-Resonance: The condition in a parallel LCR circuit when the impedance of the
circuit is maximum and the current minimum is termed as anti-resonance.
Anti-Resonant Frequency: For a parallel LCR circuit the frequency at which the
current has minimum value, is called anti-resonant frequency.
Bandwidth: The range of frequencies lying within the upper and lower cut-off
frequencies which correspond to 0.707 times the voltage value at resonance is called
bandwidth. It is also defined as the difference between the two half power frequencies
which correspond to the points where the power has been reduced to one half of its
value at resonance.
Capacitance: The property of a conductor that describes its ability to store electric
charge is called capacitance C and is given by Q/V where Q is the charge stored on
the conductor and V is the potential difference between the conductor and earth.
Color code:
Dynamic Resistance: The frequency-dependent resistance of a parallel LCR circuit at
resonance is known as the dynamic resistance.
Impedance: A measure of the total opposition that a circuit or a part of a circuit offers
to electric current. It includes both resistance and reactance.
Inductance: It is the property of a conductor, often in the shape of a coil, defined as
the electromotive force induced in a conductor per unit rate of change of current
flowing through it.
Pass-band: The electric waves lying within a certain range, or band, of frequencies
allowed to pass, all other frequencies being blocked by the series LCR circuit.
rms: An alternating potential difference has a value of one volt rms (root mean
square) if it produces the same heating effect when applied to the ends of a resistance
as is done by a steady potential difference of one volt applied to the same resistance in
the same time. Numerically, rms value is 1 times the maximum value. The a.c.
2
ammeters and voltmeters measure the root mean square (rms) value of the current and
potential difference respectively.
Quality factor: It is a measure of the selectivity or the sharpness of the resonance
curve and is denoted by Q. A low value of resistance in the circuit leads to a high Q.
Quality factor is given by the ratio of the voltage across the inductor to the input
voltage and is hence a dimensionless quantity. Since Q is ordinarily greater than
unity, it is termed as the magnification factor of the circuit.
Reactance: The frequency-dependent opposition to current flow, which results from
energy storage rather than energy loss, is called reactance and is denoted by XL and
XC for an inductor and capacitor respectively.
Resistance: It is a measure of the opposition offered by an electric circuit to the flow
of electric current.
Resonance: The condition in a series LCR circuit when the impedance is purely
resistive and hence minimum and current maximum is called resonance.
Resonance Curve: A graph showing the variation of the voltage across a circuit (or a
part of it) with frequency in the vicinity of resonance is the response curve or the
resonance curve.

18
Resonant Frequency: For a series LCR circuit the frequency at which the reactance
due to the inductor, XL, is exactly equal and opposite to the reactance due to the
capacitor, XC, resulting in the impedance of the circuit being purely resistive, is called
the resonant frequency.
Selectivity: The selectivity of a tuned circuit is its ability to select a signal at resonant
frequency and reject other signals that are close to that frequency.

Post-lab Assessment

Choose the correct answer

(1) An inductor and a capacitor form a parallel resonant circuit. The capacitor value
is increased by four times. The resonant frequency will
a) increase by four times
b) double
c) increase
d) decrease
(2) An inductor and a capacitor form a parallel resonant circuit. If the value of the
inductor is decreased by a factor of four, the resonant frequency will
a) increase by a factor of four
b) increase
c) decrease by a factor of two
d) decrease by a factor of four
(3) The anti-resonant frequency for a parallel LCR circuit with L = 900 mH, C =
0.03 μF and R = 1 KΩ is approximately
a) 476 Hz
b) 952 Hz
c) 1904 Hz
d) 1 KHz

Answers to Pre-lab Assessment

1. a
2. a
L
3. Z=
RC
4. False
5. Because the current at resonance is minimum.
6. The parallel tuned circuit is used to select one particular signal
frequency from among others. It does this by rejecting the resonant
frequency because of its high impedance. This is the reason why this
type of circuit is also known as a rejector circuit.

19
Answers to Post-lab Assessment

1. d
2. b
3. b

20