Chapter 2

Alternating-Current Circuits

Definition of Alternating Quantity

An
alternating
quantity
changes
continuously in magnitude and alternates in
direction at regular intervals of time.

Advantages of AC System Over DC

System
1. AC voltages can be efficiently stepped up/down
using transformer.
2. AC motors are cheaper and simpler in
construction than DC motors.
3. Switchgear for AC system is simpler than DC
system.

Generation of Single Phase EMF

Consider a rectangular coil of N turns placed in a uniform magnetic
field as shown in the figure. The coil is rotating in the anticlockwise
direction at an uniform angular velocity of rad/sec.

 The maximum flux linking the coil is in the downward direction as shown
in the figure. This flux can be divided into two components, one
component acting along the plane of the coil max sint and another
component acting perpendicular to the plane of the coil max cost.

 The component of flux acting along the plane of the coil does not
induce any flux in the coil. Only the component acting perpendicular
to the plane of the coil i.e. max cost induces an emf in the coil

Hence the emf induced in the coil is a sinusoidal emf. This

will induce a sinusoidal current in the circuit given by

Average value of a sine wave

average value over one (or more) cycles is
clearly zero
however, it is often useful to know the
average magnitude of the waveform
independent of its polarity
1
we can think of this as
the average value over
half a cycle
or as the average value
of the rectified signal

Vav

0Vp sin d

Vp

2Vp

cos 0
0.637 Vp

Average value of a sine wave

r.m.s. value of a sine wave

the instantaneous power (p) in a resistor is
given by
p

v2
R

therefore the average power is given by

Pav

where

[ average(or mean) of v 2 ]
R

v2
R

is the mean-square voltage

 While the mean-square voltage is useful,

more often we use the square root of this
quantity, namely the root-mean-square
voltage Vrms v 2
where Vrms =

i2

we can also define Irms =

1 V 0.707 V
V

rms
it is relatively
easy pto
p
2

analysis)

1 I 0.707 I
I

rms
p
show that
text for
p
2 (see

 r.m.s. values are useful because their

relationship to average power is similar to
the corresponding DC values
P

av

rms rms

av

av

rms

R
2
rms

Form factor
for any waveform the form factor is defined
as
Form factor r.m.s. value
average value

for a sine wave this gives

Form factor

0.707 V
0.637 V

p
p

1.11

Peak factor
for any waveform the peak factor is defined
as
Peak factor

peak value
r.m.s. value

for a sine wave this gives

Peak factor

p
1.414
0.707 V
p

Alternating Voltages and Currents

Wall sockets provide current and voltage that
vary sinusoidally with time.
Here is a simple ac circuit:

Alternating Voltages and Currents

The voltage as a function of time is:

Alternating Voltages and Currents

Since this circuit has only a resistor, the
current is given by:

Here, the current and

voltage have peaks
at the same time
they are in phase.

Alternating Voltages and Currents

In order to visualize the phase relationships
between the current and voltage in ac circuits,
we define phasors vectors whose length is the
maximum voltage or current, and which rotate
around an origin with the angular speed of the
oscillating current.
The instantaneous
value of the voltage or
current represented
by the phasor is its
projection on the y
axis.

Alternating Voltages and Currents

The voltage and current in an ac circuit both
average to zero, making the average useless in
describing their behavior.
We use instead the root mean square (rms); we
square the value, find the mean value, and then
take the square root:

120 volts is the rms value of household ac.

Alternating Voltages and Currents

By calculating the power and finding the
average, we see that:

Alternating Voltages and Currents

Electrical fires can be started by improper or
damaged wiring because of the heat caused by a
too-large current or resistance.
A fuse is designed to be the hottest point in the
circuit if the current is too high, the fuse melts.
A circuit breaker is similar, except that it is a
bimetallic strip that bends enough to break the
connection when it becomes too hot. When it
cools, it can be reset.

Alternating Voltages and Currents

A ground fault circuit interrupter can cut off the
current in a short circuit within a millisecond.

Capacitors in AC Circuits

How is the rms current in the capacitor

related to its capacitance and to the
frequency? The answer, which requires
calculus to derive:

Capacitors in AC Circuits
In analogy with resistance, we write:

Capacitors in AC Circuits
The voltage and
current in a capacitor
are not in phase. The
voltage lags by 90.

RC Circuits

In an RC circuit, the current across the resistor

and the current across the capacitor are not in
phase. This means that the maximum current is
not the sum of the maximum resistor current
and the maximum capacitor current; they do
not peak at the same time.

RC Circuits
This phasor diagram
illustrates the phase
relationships. The
voltages across the
capacitor and across the
resistor are at 90 in the
diagram; if they are
added as vectors, we
find the maximum.

RC Circuits
This has the exact same form as V = IR if we
define the impedance, Z:

RC Circuits
There is a phase angle
between the voltage and
the current, as seen in the
diagram.

RC Circuits
The power in the circuit is given by:

Because of this, the factor cos is called

the power factor.

Inductors in AC Circuits

Just as with capacitance, we can define

inductive reactance:

Inductors in AC Circuits
The voltage across an inductor leads the
current by 90.

Inductors in AC Circuits
The power factor for an RL circuit is:

Currents in resistors,
capacitors, and
inductors as a
function of
frequency:

RLC Circuits
A phasor diagram is a useful way to analyze an
RLC circuit.

RLC Circuits
The phase angle for an RLC circuit is:

If XL = XC, the phase angle is zero, and the

voltage and current are in phase.
The power factor:

RLC Circuits
At high frequencies, the capacitive reactance is
very small, while the inductive reactance is very
large. The opposite is true at low frequencies.

Resonance in Electrical Circuits

If a charged capacitor is connected across an
inductor, the system will oscillate indefinitely in
the absence of resistance.

Resonance in Electrical Circuits

The rms voltages across the capacitor and
inductor must be the same; therefore, we can
calculate the resonant frequency.

Resonance in Electrical Circuits

In an RLC circuit with an ac power source, the
impedance is a minimum at the resonant
frequency:

Resonance in Electrical Circuits

The smaller the resistance, the larger the
resonant current:

THREE PHASE AC CIRCUITS

A three phase supply is a set of three alternating quantities displaced from each other by an
angle of120. A three phase voltage is shown in the figure. It consists of three phasesphase A, phase B and phase C. Phase A waveform starts at 0. Phase B waveform stars at
120 and phase C waveform at240.

The three phase voltage can be represented by a set of three equations as shown below.

The sum of the three phase voltages at any instant is equal

to zero.
The phasor representation of three phase voltages is as
shown.
The phase A voltage is taken as the
reference and is drawn along the x-axis.
The phase B voltage lags behind the
phase A voltage by 120. The phase C
voltage lags behind the phase A voltage
by240 and phase B voltage by 120.

Generation of Three Phase

Voltage

Three Phase voltage can be generated by placing three rectangular coils

displaced in space by 120 in a uniform magnetic field. When these coils
rotate with a uniform angular velocity of rad/sec, a sinusoidal emf
displaced by 120 is induced in these coils.

Necessity and advantages of three phase

systems:-

3 power has a constant magnitude whereas 1 power pulsates from zero to peak
value at twice the supply frequency
A 3 system can set up a rotating magnetic field in stationary windings. This is not
possible with a 1 supply.
For the same rating 3 machines are smaller, simpler in construction and have better
operating characteristics than 1 machines
To transmit the same amount of power over a fixed distance at a given voltage, the
3 system requires only 3/4th the weight of copper that is required by the 1 system
The voltage regulation of a 3 transmission line is better than that of 1 line

Star Connected Load

A balanced star connected load is shown in the figure. A phase voltage is defined as
voltage across any phase of the three phase load. The phase voltages shown in figure are
EA, EB and EC. A line voltage is defined as the voltage between any two lines. The line
voltages shown in the figure are EAB, EBC and ECA. The line currents are IA, IB and IC. For
a star connected load, the phase currents are same as the line currents.

Using Kirchhoffs voltage law, the line voltages can be written in terms of the phase
voltages as shown below.

The phasor diagram shows the three phase voltages and the line voltage EAB
drawn from EA and EB phasors. The phasor for current IA is also shown. It is
assumed that the load is inductive.

From the phasor diagram we see that the line voltage EAB leads the phase voltage EA by
30. The magnitude of the two voltages can be related as follows.

Hence for a balanced star connected load we can make the following
conclusions.

Line voltage leads phase voltage by 30

Delta Connected Load

A balanced delta connected load is shown in the figure. The phase currents IAB, IBC and ICA.
The line currents are IA, IB and IC. For a delta connected load, the phase voltages are same
as the line voltages given by EAB, EBC and ECA .

Using Kirchhoffs current law, the line currents can be written in terms of the phase
currents as shown below.

From the phasor diagram we see that the

line current IA lags behind the phase phase
current IAB by 30. The magnitude of the
two currents can be related as follows.

Hence for a balanced delta connected load we can make the following
conclusions.

Line current lags behind phase current

by 30