Power In AC Circuits

Power In AC Circuits
When an AC (sinusoidal) voltage is applied to an impedance, both the
current and the voltage are sinusoidal function of time. That presents
problems when calculating power because the power fluctuates as the
voltage and the current change.
Consider the case of a resistor. The current and the
voltage are given by:
v(t) = Vmax cos(t)
and
i(t) = Imax cos(t) = (Vmax/R)cos(t)
and the power is given by:
P(t) = (Vmax cos(t))( Imax cos(t))
We can manipulate the power time function to see things a little more
clearly:
P(t) = (Vmax Imax cos2(t))
P(t) = (Vmax Imax )(1 - cos(2t))/2
This is an interesting result, because it really says that the average
power is:
Pavg = (Vmax Imax )/2
You can convince yourself that this is true if you consider that the
average value of the cosine function over a period is zero. What's left is
the result above. In the early days of municipal electrical distribution

systems it was necessary to design light bulbs that worked on both AC

and DC. A 100 watt bulb that worked on a DC system had to work on an
AC system as well. There were many other reasons to worry about
equivlance between AC and DC systems, so there had to be some way of
making things equivalent - determining an equivalent AC voltage that
produces the same power in a resistor as that value of DC voltage. The
convention since that time has often been to represent AC signals in
terms of a heating equivalent. For sinusoidal signals that equivalent is
given by:
Vequiv = Vmax /(SQRT(2)
The effective value is then the peak value of the sine voltage divided by
the square root of 2.
Now, what happens if we have a general impedance, Z, instead of a
resistor R. Assume we have an impedance:
Then, we would have:

Z = |Z|/
v(t) = Vmax cos(t)

and:

i(t) = (Vmax /|Z|)cos(t - )

So, now the power - as a function of time - is given by:

P(t) = (Vmax cos(t))( (Vmax /|Z|)cos(t - ))
P(t) = (V2max/|Z|)cos(t)cos(t - ))
Example
Here is a circuit with the following parameters.

v(t) = 10 sin(377t)
Z = 2/45o
i(t) = 5 sin(377t - 45o)

The current and voltage are plotted in the plot below. In this plot the
red trace is the voltage and the blue trace is the current. The black
trace is the instantaneous power - which we have to talk more about.

First, note that the voltage starts at zero, and has the look of a
typical sine wave. The current begins at a negative value in the plot, and
peaks 45o after the voltage. The peak value of the voltage is 10 v, and
the peak value of the current is 5 A.
Now, examine the power. There are a number of interesting points
in the plot of the instantaneous power.

There are times when the instantaneous power is negative. At

those times, the impedance is returning energy to the source energy which had to be stored previously in the impedance.
The peak power is around 42 watts - looking at the graph. Actually,
we know the expression for the power.
2
o P(t) = (V max/|Z|)cos(t)cos(t - ))
2
o P(t) = (V max/|Z|)cos(t)cos(t - ))

When a load is connected to a Thevinin Equivalent Circuit (TEC), two

things happen - current flows from the source to the load, and the
voltage across the output terminals of the TEC usually drops. In the
process, the load consumes energy. There are many situations in which
the rate of energy consumption - the power delivered to the load - needs
to be as large as possible. In this section, we will examine the conditions
under which that will occur.
Consider a TEC with an attached load as
shown in the figure at the right. The load draws
power from the source. The source is
represented with a TEC that has an open circuit
voltage phasor, V0, and an output impedance, Z0.
When you have a configuration like this, one
question that arises is this:
How do you determine the load impedance, ZL, which will draw the most
power from the source?
In order to answer this question, you need to account for the fact that
the load impedance and the source impedance may both be complex.
We will break both the output impedance, and the load impedance
into real and imaginary parts.
Z0 = Z0,r + j Z0,i
ZL = ZL,r + j ZL,i
Now, the current flowing in the circuit is given by:
IL = V0/( Z0 + ZL)
and the power delivered to the load is given by:
UNDER CONSTRUCTION

Sensors - An Introduction And Some Important Things To Consider

Sensors
Sensors are devices that are used to measure physical variables like
temperature, pH, velocity, rotational rate, flow rate, pressure and many
others. Today, most sensors do not indicate a reading on an analog scale
(like a thermometer), but, rather, they produce a voltage or a digital
signal that is indicative of the physical variable they measure. Those
signals are often imported into computer programs, stored in files,
plotted on computers and analyzed to death.
Sensors come in many kinds and shapes to measure all kinds of
physical variables. However, many sensors have some sort of voltage
output. There are a number of implications to that. Here are some.

If a sensor has a voltage output, then it is a voltage source that is

controlled by the physical variable it measures.
If the sensor is a voltage source, you need to remember that no
physical voltage sources are ideal, and non-ideal voltage sources are
usually best described with a Thevinin Equivalent Circuit that
contains the voltage source and an internal resistance.
If a source has an internal resistance, there is a possibility of
loading the source. If a significant load is attached to the source,
the terminal voltage will drop. At that point, the terminal voltage is
not what you expect it to be (from calibrations, spec sheets, etc.)

Example
The LM35 spec sheet lists an internal resistance of 0.1. Since the
LM35 produces .01v/oC, you can compute how much current you can draw
for a specified change in reading.

Say you are measuring 50oC. Then the output voltage should be
0.5v. To change that output voltage to 0.49v - and error of one degree you would have to have a voltage drop of .01v across the internal
resistance of 0.1. would take .1A or 100mA. That would be a lot of
current to draw from the LM35 and is beyond the limit of what it can
supply.
A More Advanced Model - Using System Dynamics
Often sensors have time constants. (You can refer, for example, to
the charts in the LM35 spec sheet.) If you take the sensor time constant
into account, you would not expect the output voltage to change
immediately when the temperature changed suddenly. A circuit/system
model that takes that into account is shown below.

If you are knowledgeable about Laplace transforms, the denominator

quantity indicates that the input (Measured Variable) is processed by a
system with a single time constant (one pole). If you use this sensor in a
block diagram, you should take that transfer function into account.

Sensors - An Introduction to Sensor Dynamics - An Example

An Introduction to Sensor Dynamics
Temperature sensors are often sensing devices embedded within
some sort of insulation. The insulation may often be for electrical
purposes - to isolate the sensor electrically. However, good electrical
insulation is often also good thermal insulation, and the presence of that
insulation causes the sensor to respond tardily when the sensor heats up.
We'll try to put together a simple model to help explain that
behavior. When we say explain, we mean to imply that we are looking for
a mathematical model for a mathematical explanation. We start with a
physical model - the one shown below.

In this model, we assume the following.

The sensor is embedded within a layer of insulation that insulates

the sensor from the heat source that the sensor is supposed to
experience.
We assume that the temperature of the sensor is Ts(t) - and it is
going to be a function of time because we want to see how it
changes in time when the applied temperature changes.
We represent the external temperature with Ta(t).
We assume that the heat flow into the sensor from the outside is
given by:
o Heat Flow To Sensor = [Ta(t). - Ts(t)]/Rth

In other words, the heat flow to the sensor depends upon the
difference between the external temperature and the sensor
temperature, and the heat flow gets less as the thermal
resistance between the sensor and the external temperature
becomes higher (better insulation).
We assume that a given amount of heat raises the temperature of
the sensor by an amount proportional to the amount of heat. In
other words, the temperature of the sensor is proportional to the
amount of heat energy it contains.
o Heat Content Of Sensor = CsTs(t).
Then, we can write an equation that relates the heat content of the
sensor to the flow of heat into the sensor. Unfortunately, this is
going to be a differential equation.
o Rate of Change of Heat Content of Sensor = Rate of Heat
Flow to Sensor
o CsdT(t)s/dt = [Ta(t). - Ts(t)]/Rth
In this situation, a little re-definition of variables will produce a
differential equation that is a lot easier to solve.
o Define: T(t) = [Ta(t). - Ts(t)]
o If the surrounding temperature, Ta(t), is constant, then
dT(t)/dt = - dTs(t)/dt, and
o dT(t)/dt = - dTs(t)/dt = -[Ta(t). - Ts(t)]/RthCs = T(t)/th,
and this can be rewritten as:
o dT(t)/dt = -T(t)/RthCs = -T(t)/th
th = Thermal Time Constant
You can check that it actually has the units of time.
Now, our goal is to take this differential equation description and
use it to get a meaningful description of how the sensor responds.
o

There are a few special situations that we will examine here. That
won't get us to a general description that would allow us to predict what
would happen in every situation, but that's what the differential equation
is for. Here we will solve the differential equation for a few special cases

in order to get an appreciation of what the time behavior of the sensor

is. The situations we will examine are:

The case where the temperature of the surroundings changes

suddenly and has to come to equilibrium at the new temperature.
The case where the sensor is taken from a temperature then put
into new surroundings and allowed to cool (or rise?) to the
temperature of the surroundings.

However, it does not matter which of those situations we have. In either

case, the differential equation and the solution to the differential
equation is the same. We will find that the only thing that matters is the
initial temperature of the sensor, and the final temperature it achieves the temperature of its' surroundings.
Imagine that the sensor is taken from a temperature and has to
come to equilibrium with new surroundings. Imagine a situation where the
sensor is at a high temperature and is removed to a cooler temperature.
The differential equation we derived above still holds, and we can solve it
here. Let's look at that differential equation again.

dT(t)/dt = -T(t)/RthCs = -T(t)/th

But, initially, T(0) = [Ta(0). - Ts(0)], and this quantity is fixed when
you start the experiment.
We can solve the differential equation above to get:
-t/th
o T(t) = T(0)e

This time function will look like the following plot.

This plot is done for the following parameters:

T(0) = 25 degrees
th = 20 seconds

Points to note on this plot include the following.

The temperature difference, T(t), asymptotically goes to zero as

time gets large.
Since the time constant for the example was 20 seconds, it seems
as though it takes about five (5) time constants (100 seconds on the
plot) for the response to decay to the point where you can safely
say that it has reached steady state - even though that steady
state is only approached and never reached theoretically.

If we have a situation there the sensor finds itself in a surrounding

temperature higher than its' current temperature, then the sensor
temperature will have to rise. In that situation, we have a plot like the
one below.

This plot is done for the same parameters as above, except that the
actual temperature is plotted here. If you get a plot like this - in lab, for
example - you will need to extract the temperature difference. Here the
steady state looks to be 25 - starting from 0 - and the temperature
difference - that decays to zero - is obtained by subtracting the actual
temperature from 25 degrees.

Introduction to Strain Gages

Introduction
Voltage Divider Circuit
Bridge Circuit

A strain gage is a resistor in which the resistance changes with

strain. A strain gage is a thin piece of conducting material that may look
like the drawing below. (Although, there are also semiconductor strain
gages - not covered here.) It is literally glued on to the device where you
want to measure strain. If you want more information on strain gages, it
is a good idea to check with manufacturers. Here are some good links.

Omega Engineering - A nice writeup about strain gage basics.

Vishay - Links to catalogs
NMB Products - a page on strain gage selection

Entran - A page that gives good definitions of strain gage terms

efunda - Go to this page if you want a more theoretical treatment
of strain gages.
PennState - Another learning resource.

Now, assume that you have a strain gage glued on a device and the
device is under stress. When the device-under-test is put under stress it
may elongate or shrink, and the strain gage is sensitive to that small
change in geometry.

The small elongation in the strain gage produces a small change in the
resistance of the strain gage. Small as it is, it is what we need to use to
get a voltage indicative of the strain in the bar. To convert that small
change in resistance into a usable signal is not impossible, but it takes a
little doing. Often, the strain gage is used is a bridge circuit like this
one.

What are you trying to do in this lesson?

Given a sensor - like a strain gage - that changes resistance as some

physical variable changes,

o
o

Be able to use the sensor in a bridge circuit.

Be able to choose components for the bridge circuit that will
produce good performance.

Sensors In Voltage Divider Circuits

The kind of sensor that we will examine is a resistive sensor, and to
make things specific we will look at using a strain gage to make mechanical
measurements of strain. Here's that sensor (Rs) in a voltage divider with
another resistor, Ra.

Let's examine what happens in this circuit. Some of the things that
happen in this circuit include the following.

When the sensor resistance changes, the output voltage changes.

Although the voltage changes, if the resistance change is small,
then the voltage change will also be small.
When the supply voltage changes, the output voltage will also
change.
Let's assume that we have a typical strain gage. Normally a strain
gage has a nominal resistance of either 120 or 350. Here is how
a strain gage looks.
We need to remember that strain is the fractional change in length
in a material when the material is stressed. It is normally measured
in inches/inch (or you could make that furlongs/furlong if you like.)

Normally, in most metals, for instance, the strain will not exceed
.005 inch/inch.
The material will elongate no more than .5 inches in a 100 inch long
piece of material.
If the maximum strain is .005 (.5%) then the maximum fractional
change in resistance will be 1% - and that is far larger than you
would expect to see since it is an extreme case.

We went into the laboratory where we have some strain gages

attached to a ten inch bar of .05" thickness.
o That's shown at the top of the picture, where the bar
extends from the wooden block.
o We had strain gages on both the top of the bar and
underneath the bar so that one would always elongate and the
other would compress.
The bar is clamped at one end and the other end is free. Putting 75
cents (three US quarters) on the free end of the bar produced no
measurable change in resistance with a 5-1/2 digit ohmmeter.
However an overloaded wallet (about 1/2 pound) changed resistance
from 350.550 to 350.520. The change in resistance can be very
small.

Now, if we have some sense of the resistance change, then we can

think about how we will sense that change. Because the change is very
very small we will have to worry about how we are going to use that very
small change in resistance We have at least a couple of options for how
we can make that measurement.

We can measure resistance directly. But as we have seen, the

resistance change is very small and ohmmeters will have trouble
showing us much.
We can put the strain gage in a circuit like a voltage divider, letting
the change in resistance cause a voltage change and measure that
change. We will need to check to see if that makes our situation
any better.
Our problem is complicated by the fact that most devices that are
used for electrical measurements will measure DC voltage. The
ohmmeter is an exception. But if we want to get our measurements
into a computer and we don't want to type them in, we'll probably
need a voltage.
So, we conclude that the voltage divider (below) is a good idea in
some ways.

Let's compute the output voltage for the voltage divider.

V1 = Vin Rs/( Ra + Rs)

The expression for the output voltage is one we have seen many
times before.
The output voltage from the voltage divider increases as the sensor
resistance increases.
Now, let's compute some typical values.

Let's use a source voltage of 5 volts.

Assume we have a standard strain gage sensor - a nominal resistance

of 350.
We'll choose the same value, 350, for the other resistor in the
voltage divider.

Now, we can check what happens when the resistance changes by a

typical small amount.

We will assume that the resistance changes from 350 to 350.03.

The typical small change we discussed earlier.
The question we need to answer is "How much does the output
voltage change when the resistance changes from 350 to 350.03?"

We can compute the output for both cases.

When the sensor is unstrained and has a resistance of 350, the

output is:
o V1 = Vin/2. Remember we are assuming that Ra = 350.
When the strain gage sensor changes to 350.03, the output
changes to:
o V1 = Vin*350.03/(350+350.03) = 0.50002142*Vin.
That's a pretty small change in the output voltage.

When the sensor is unstrained and has a resistance of 350, the

output is:
o V1 = Vin/2. Remember we are assuming that Ra = 350.
When the strain gage sensor changes to 350.03, the output
changes to:
o V1 = Vin*350.03/(350+350.03) = 0.50002142*Vin.

If the supply voltage is 5v, that change becomes:

.00002142*Vin = 0.0001071v.
That is about one tenth of a millivolt. If we read that change with a
voltmeter that goes to 3 v - which we would need since V1 is around

2.5 volts - we would need a 5-1/2 digit meter just to see the first
significant figure in the voltage change.
Now we can define what the problem really is.

If we use a voltage divider, the voltage change is very small and

occurs out in the fifth decimal place in a typical example.
We need something that will improve this situation.

Using A Bridge Circuit

A bridge circuit can help with our problem. Here's a bridge circuit.

We will choose Ra and Rb to have the same value. That will produce 2.5
volts at the middle of the left branch.

Since both Rc and Rs are 350, the voltage at the mid-point of

Rc and Rs is also 2.5 volts.
That means Vout = 0 volts when the strain gage is unstrained!
There are some implications of this result with the bridge circuit.

If the voltage is zero when the gage is unstrained - the bridge is

balanced - and the voltage becomes 0.0001071v when the gage is
strained, then the change is large percentage-wise.

That voltage may be small, but we can amplify it - and we won't be

amplifying it embedded in a DC voltage. We'll need a differential
amplifier - something like this. Here the bridge output can be
amplified to a usable level - depending upon the gain of the amplifier
- and the output can be made to be zero at zero strain.

There are some other alternatives also.

The output voltage from the bridge can be amplified by a

differential amplifier in a data acquisition board. You don't
necessarily have to build your own amplifier. Most currently
available data acquisition boards have differential amplifiers that
will amplify the difference between two input voltages.
You could measure the output voltage with a good voltmeter with an
ungrounded input.

An important consideration when using bridge circuits is choice of

values for those resistors that have values you can choose. In the bridge
we just considered, only the strain gage resistance was fixed. That leads
to a question.

How do you choose resistors in a bridge circuit so that performance

is optimized?

Let's imagine that you have a strain gage. Let's also assume that you
have measured the thermistor, and you know the following.

Resistance at zero strain = 350.

You want to build a bridge that has a zero output voltage at zero
strain. In other words, you want to build a balanced bridge.

The question is "How to build the bridge?". We'll work on an answer to

that question starting next. We will assume that the supply voltage is
five (5) volts.

The strain gage is Rs. That means that Rs is 350. There are many
ways that we can build a balanced bridge. Here are a few.
Circuit 1:
o Ra = Rb = 10,000.
o Rc = Rs = 350.
o Both voltages out of the bridge (Vout,+ and Vout,-) are half of
the supply voltage, so, since they are equal, the output of the
bridge is zero volts.
Circuit 2:
o Ra = 1,000, Rb = 10,000.
o Rc = 3500, Rs = 350.
o Both voltages out of the bridge (Vout,+ and Vout,-) are (1/11) of
the supply voltage, so, since they are equal, the output of the
bridge is zero volts.
Circuit 3:
o Ra = 10,000, Rb = 1,000.
o Rc = 35, Rs = 350.
o Both voltages out of the bridge (Vout,+ and Vout,-) are (10/11)
of the supply voltage, so, since they are equal, the output of
the bridge is zero volts.
Let's look at the implications of one choice. We'll look at Circuit 1.

Unstrained, both sides form voltage dividers with 350 and

10,000 - equal values, on both sides of the divider, so that the
output from both is 2.5v with a 5v supply.
Now, compute the changed voltage from the sensor side of the
bridge when the strain gage is strained. We will assume that we
have the load we discussed above, and that the strain gage sensor's
resistance changes to 350.03.
o When the strain gage sensor changes to 350.03, the output
on the sensor side of the bridge changes to:
Vout,- = 5*350.03/(350+350.03) = 0.50002142*5 =
2.500107.

With that voltage, the output of the bridge becomes:

2.5 - 2.500107 = .000107 = 107v.

What we have demonstrated is that we get a very small voltage change

with this choice of resistors for the bridge. There is always the
possibility that a different choice of resistors would produce better
results. Let's check that out. Let's look at Circuit 2. Here is what we
noted above for Circuit 2.

Circuit 2:
o Ra = 1,000, Rb = 10,000.
o Rc = 3500, Rs = 350.
o Both voltages out of the bridge (Vout,+ and Vout,-) are (1/11) of
the supply voltage, so, since they are equal, the output of the
bridge is zero volts.

Now, with no strain the bridge is balance, and with a 5 volt supply,
we would have 10/11 of five volts or 0.4545454volts. When the load is
applied and the sensor resistance changes, the voltage from the sensor
side of the bridge is going to be:

Vout,- = 5*350.03/(350.03+3500) = 0.4545808734

The voltage has changed by 35.4v, so that is the output voltage
from the bridge.
The output voltage here is much smaller than the output voltage
from Circuit 1.

Problem
Compute the output voltage from the loaded bridge for Circuit 3.

What can we conclude from this?

When we chose resistors that placed Vs and Vd near the "rails" - i.e.
near zero/ground or near the power supply voltage - the voltage
didn't change very much when the strain gage was strained. Maybe
we should have expected that!
The best sensitivity - in terms of voltage change for the same
resistance change - seemed to come when all the resistors were
equal when unstrained.

What might we think about now?

Investigating the sensitivity mathematically is one thing we should

do. That's another topic, and there is a section in the lesson on
bridge circuits that covers senstivity.
For now, you have enough information to do some interesting things
in the lab, and you have some idea of how to choose resistors when
you use the bridge circuit with a resistive sensor.

Temperature Sensor - The LM35

You are at: Elements - Sensors - LM35
Return to Table of Contents

The LM35 is an integrated circuit sensor that can be used to

measure temperature with an electrical output proportional to the
temperature (in oC)
The LM35 - An Integrated Circuit Temperature Sensor

Why Use LM35s To Measure Temperature?

o You can measure temperature more accurately than a using a
thermistor.
o The sensor circuitry is sealed and not subject to oxidation,
etc.

The LM35 generates a higher output voltage than

thermocouples and may not require that the output voltage be
amplified.

What Does An LM35 Look Like?

o Here it is.

What Does an LM35 Do? How does it work?

o It has an output voltage that is proportional to the Celsius
temperature.
o
o The scale factor is .01V/ C
o The LM35 does not require any external calibration or
trimming and maintains an accuracy of +/-0.4 oC at room
temperature and +/- 0.8 oC over a range of 0 oC to +100 oC.
o Another important characteristic of the LM35DZ is that it
draws only 60 micro amps from its supply and possesses a low
self-heating capability. The sensor self-heating causes less
than 0.1 oC temperature rise in still air.
The LM35 comes in many different packages, including the following.

TO-92 plastic transistor-like package,

T0-46 metal can transistor-like package
8-lead surface mount SO-8 small outline package
TO-202 package. (Shown in the picture above)

How Do You Use An LM35? (Electrical Connections)

o Here is a commonly used circuit. For connections refer to the
picture above.
o In this circuit, parameter values commonly used are:
Vc = 4 to 30v
5v or 12 v are typical values used.
-6
Ra = Vc /10
Actually, it can range from 80 K to 600 K , but most
just use 80 K.

Here is a photo of the LM 35 wired on a circuit board.

The white wire in the photo goes to the power supply.
Both the resistor and the black wire go to ground.
The output voltage is measured from the middle pin to
ground.l

What Can You Expect When You Use An LM35?

o You will need to use a voltmeter to sense Vout.
o The output voltage is converted to temperature by a simple
conversion factor.
o
o The sensor has a sensitivity of 10mV / C.
o Use a conversion factor that is the reciprocal, that is
100 oC/V.
o The general equation used to convert output voltage to
temperature is:
o
o
Temperature ( C) = Vout * (100 C/V)
o
So if Vout is 1V , then, Temperature = 100 C
The output voltage varies linearly with temperature.
What If You Want More Data On The LM35?
o Click here to get the National Semiconductor data sheet for
the LM35.

Problem
P1. In using an LM35, you obtain an output voltage of 0.173 v. What is
the temperature (in oC)?
Enter your answer in the box below, then click the button to submit your
answer. You will get a grade on a 0 (completely wrong) to 100 (perfectly
accurate answer) scale.