Capacitive

Circuits

Sine Wave VC Lags IC by 90

For a sine wave of
applied voltage, a
capacitor provides a
cycle of alternating
charge and discharge
current.
The wave shape
of this charge and
discharge current
IC is compared
with the voltage
VC.

Examining the VC and IC Waveforms

The instantaneous value
of IC is zero when VC is at
its maximum value. At
either its positive or its
negative peak, VC is not
changing. For one
instant at both peaks,
Therefore, the voltage
must have a static value
before changing its
direction. Then V is not
changing and C is not
charging or discharging.
The result is zero current

Why IC leads VC by 90
The
90 phase
angle results
because IC
depends on the
rate of change of
VC. In other
words, IC has the
phase of , not
This
phaseof
between
VC and IC is true in any sinethe phase
V.
wave AC circuit, whether C is in series or parallel
and whether C is alone or combined with other
components. We can always say that for any XC ,
its current and voltage are 90 out of phase.

Capacitive Current Is the Same

in a Series Circuit
The leading phase angle of capacitive current is
only with respect to the voltage across the
capacitor, which does not change the fact that the
current is the same in all parts of a series circuit.

For instance, the

current in the
generator, the
connecting wires, and
both plates of the
capacitor must be the
same because they are
all in the same path.

Capacitive Voltage Is the Same across

Parallel Branches
The voltage is the same across the
generator and C because they are in
parallel. There cannot be any lag or lead
in time between these two parallel
voltages.
At any instant, whatever the voltage value
is across the generator at that time, the
voltage across C is the same. With respect
to the series current, however, both VA
and VC are 90 out of phase with IC .

The Frequency Is the Same for VC

and IC
Although VC lags IC by 90 , both
waves have the same frequency. For
example, if the frequency of the sine
wave VC is 100 Hz, this is also the
frequency of IC .

XC and R in Series
When a capacitor and a
resistor are connected in
series, the current I is limited
by both
XC and R .
The current I is the same in
both XC and R since they are
in series.
However, each component
has its own series voltage
drop, equal to IR for the
resistance and IXC for the
capacitive reactance.

1.
2.
3.

4.

The current is labeled I , rather than IC , because I flows

through all series components.
The voltage across XC , labeled VC , can be considered an
IXC voltage drop, just as we use VR for an IR voltage drop.
The current I through XC must lead VC by 90 because this
is the phase angle between the voltage and current for a
capacitor.
The current I through R and its IR voltage drop are in
phase. There is no reactance to sine-wave alternating
current in any resistance. Therefore, I and IR have a phase

Phase Comparisons
Note the following points about a circuit containing
series resistance and reactance:
1. The voltage VC is 90 out of phase with I .
2. However, VR and I are in phase.
3. If I is used as the reference, VC is 90 out of
phase with VR .
Specifically, VC lags VR by 90 just as the voltage VC
lags the current I by 90.

Phasors representing I , VR ,
and VC

Phase relationships between I , VR , VC , and VT

Combining VR and VC
When the voltage wave VR is combined
with the voltage wave VC, the result is the
voltage wave of the applied voltage VT .
The voltage drops, VR and VC, must add to
equal the applied voltage VT .

Phasor Voltage Triangle

Instead of combining waveforms that are out of
phase, we can add them more quickly by using
their equivalent phasors.
(a)

The phasors in (a) show the

90 phase
angle without any addition.

(b)

The method in (b) is to add the tail of one

phasor
to the arrowhead of the other, using the
angle required to show their relative
phase.

Impedance Z Triangle
A triangle of R and XC in
series corresponds to
the voltage triangle.
It is similar to the
voltage triangle, but
the common factor I
cancels because
the series current
I is the same in
XC and R

Phase Angle with Series

XC and R
The angle between the applied voltage VT and the
series current I is the Phase Angle of the circuit.
Its symbol is (theta).
In the corresponding
impedance triangle, the
angle between Z T and R
is also equal to the phase
angle. Therefore, the
phase angle can be
calculated from the
impedance triangle of a
series RC circuit by the
formula

 Sample:

Series Combinations of
XC and R
In series, the higher the XC compared with R ,
the more capacitive the circuit.
There is more voltage drop across the
capacitive reactance XC , and the phase
angle increases toward 90.
The series XC always makes the series current
I lead the applied voltage VT .
With all XC and no R , the entire applied
voltage VT is across XC and equals 90.

RC Phase-Shifter Circuit

Application of XC and R in series to provide a desired phase

shift in the output V R compared with the input V T .
The R can be varied up to 100 k to change the phase
angle.
The C is 0.05 F here for the 60-Hz ac power-line voltage,
but a smaller C would be used for a higher frequency.
The capacitor must have an appreciable value of
reactance for the phase shift.

 For the circuit in Fig. (a), assume that R is set for

50 k at its middle value. The reactance of the
0.05-F capacitor at 60 Hz is approximately 53 k.
For these values of XC and R , the phase angle of
the circuit is 46.7. This angle has a tangent of
5350 1.06.

 The Phasor Triangle in Fig. (b) shows that IR or VR

is out of phase with VT by the leading angle of
46.7.
Note that VC is always 90 lagging VR in a series
circuit.
The angle between VC and VT then becomes 9046.7= 43.3

XC and R in Parallel
For parallel circuits with XC and R , the 90
phase angle must be considered for each
of the branch currents.
Remember that any series circuit has
different voltage drops but one common
current.
A parallel circuit has different branch
currents but one common voltage.

 In the parallel circuit in Fig. (a) , the applied voltage V A is

the same across X C , R , and the generator, since they are
all in parallel.
There cannot be any phase difference between these
voltages.
the
resistive
branch,has
IR Vits
for individual
the capacitive
branch, IC
For
Each
branch,
however,
A R;
own
current.
VC XC .
The resistive branch current I R is in phase with the
generator voltage V A .
The capacitive branch current IC leads VA , however, because
the charge and discharge

Impedance of XC and R in
Parallel

A practical approach to the problem of calculating the total

or equivalent impedance of XC and R in parallel is to
calculate the total line current IT and divide the applied
voltage VA by this value.

For the circuit in Fig. (a), VA is 100 V, and the total current IT ,
obtained as the phasor sum of IR and IC , is 14.14 A. Therefore,
we can calculate the equivalent impedance ZEQ as

(a
)

Phase Angle in Parallel

Circuits

In this figure, the

phase angle is 45
because R and XC
are equal, resulting
in equal branch
currents.
The phase angle is
between the total
current IT and the
generator voltage
VA .
However, VA and IR
are in phase.
Therefore is also

Using the tangent formula to find from the

current triangle in Figure gives:

Parallel Combinations of
XC and R
When XC is 10 times R , the parallel circuit is
practically resistive because there is little leading
capacitive current in the main line.
The small value of IC results from the high reactance
of shunt XC .
Then the total impedance of the parallel circuit is
approximately equal to the resistance, since the high
value of XC in a parallel branch has little effect.
The phase angle of 5.7 is practically 0 because
almost all of the line current is resistive

 As XC becomes smaller, it provides more leading capacitive

current in the main line. When XC is 110 R , practically all of the
line current is the IC component.
Then, the parallel circuit is practically all capacitive with a total
impedance practically equal to XC .
The phase angle of 84.3 is almost 90 because the line current is
mostly capacitive.
Note that these conditions are opposite to the case of XC and R
in series.
With XC and R equal, their branch currents are equal and the
phase angle is 45.