A current flowing around an electric circuit may meet with three different kinds

of opposition or impedance. They are caused by resistance (R), inductance (L),

and capacitance (C).
Of these, resistance is the easiest to understand, because it has the same effec
t on both direct currents and alternating currents. When the voltage across the
two terminals of a resistance changes, the current changes immediately. If the v
oltage rise, the current rises; and if the voltage falls, the current falls, and
so on. Current and voltage are said to be in phase.
In a circuit containing just resistance, current and voltage are in phase
Inductors (L) and capacitors (C) behave quite differently, In "L" circuits a ris
e in voltage is accompanied by a rise in current, but this rise is delayed by a
back e.m.f. (see reactance) generated by the inductor. As the voltage rises and
falls, the current rises and falls, but a fraction of a second later. So the cur
rent flowing through the inductor is always lagging behind the voltage, and curr
ent and voltage are said to be out of phase.
In a circuit containing only inductance, changes in the current always lag those
in the voltage
In "C" circuits, on the other hand, the current in the circuit must first flow t
o the two plates of the capacitor (round the circuit from plate to plate and not
across the gap between the plates) to make potential difference across them. As
the current rises, the voltage between the two plates; and as the current falls
, the voltage falls, but the voltage follows the current's lead a fraction of a
second later. Current and voltage are again out of phase, only in "C" circuits t
he current is always leading the voltage.
In a circuit containing only capacitance, changes in the current always lead tho
se in the voltage
One complete cycle of an alternating current consists of a rise (in current or v
oltage) up to the positive maximum, followed by a drop, through zero, to the neg
ative maximum voltage, and a subsequent rise back to the zero starting point. A
"positive" current means that electrons flow in one direction round the circuit,
while a "negative" current means that they surge round in the opposite directio
n.
In a circuit containing only resistance, the positive surges of current and the
positive increases in voltage coincide. But in a circuit containing only capacit
ance the surges of current occur a quarter of a cycle before the increase of vol
tage across the capacitance. In a circuit containing only inductance the current
surges occur a quarter of a cycle later.
Suppose a capacitor and an inductor are both connected across an alternating vol
tage supply (i.e., connected in parallel), then the same voltage sends a current
through each. But in the "C" part of the circuit the current leads the voltage
and in the "L" part the current lags behind the voltage. If the values of induct
ance and capacitance are selected so that both offer the same impedance at the f
requency of the alternating current supply, then the current through both "L" an
d "C" parts will be equal. But since one is a quarter of a cycle behind the volt
age, and the other is a quarter of a cycle in front of the voltage, there is a d
ifference of phase of a half cycle between the currents in the "L" and "C" parts
. As one current is positive, the other current is negative (i.e., flowing in th
e opposite direction) and the same size as the positive current. So the two curr
ents cancel each other out, and as a result no current flows out of the "L" and
"C" combination, although there is a voltage connected across the pair of them.
So the inductor-capacitor pair offers a very large impedance to the current â far la
rger than their separate impedances.
In a parallel tuned circuit, the inductor's lag and the capacitor's lead cancel
each other out, so that no net current flows out of the circuit
This arrangement is called a parallel tuned circuit or rejector circuit, because
it will not allow through current of a particular frequency â the frequency at whic
h the impedance of the capacitor is equal to the impedance of the inductor. Then
the currents flowing through both parts are equal and opposite in direction. At
any other frequency the two impedances will not be quite equal, the two current
s will not be quite cancel each other out, and some current will be able to flow
right round the circuit.