UNIT II

AC FUNDAMENTALS

1
 Alternating Currents
An alternating current such as that produced
by a generator has no direction in the sense
that direct current has. The magnitudes vary
sinusoidally with time as given by:

AC-voltage Emax
and current
imax
E = Emax sin time, t
i = imax sin

2
 Rotating Vector Description
The coordinate of the emf at any instant is the
value of Emax sin Observe for incremental
angles in steps of 450. Same is true for i.

E E = Emax sin

1800 2700 3600

450 900 1350

Radius
R = =Emax
Emax
3
 Effective AC Current
The average current
imax I = imax
in a cycle is zero
half + and half -.
But energy is expended,
regardless of direction.
So the root-mean- II22 II
IIrms
rms

square value is useful. 22 0.707
0.707

The rms value Irms is The effective ac current:

sometimes called the
ieff = 0.707 imax
effective current Ieff:
4
 AC Definitions
One effective ampere is that ac current for
which the power is the same as for one
ampere of dc current.
Effective current: ieff = 0.707 imax
One effective volt is that ac voltage that
gives an effective ampere through a
resistance of one ohm.

Effective voltage: Veff = 0.707 Vmax

5
Example 1: For a particular device, the house ac voltage
is 120-V and the ac current is 10 A. What are their
maximum values?
ieff = 0.707 imax Veff = 0.707 Vmax

imax = 14.14 A Vmax = 170 V

The ac voltage actually varies from +170 V to

-170 V and the current from 14.1 A to 14.1
A. 6
 Pure Resistance in AC Circuits
R Vmax Voltage
A V
imax Current

a.c. Source

Voltage and current are in phase, and Ohms

law applies for effective currents and voltages.

Ohms law: Veff = ieffR

7
 A Pure Inductor in AC Circuit
L Vmax Voltage
A V
imax Current

a.c.

The voltage peaks 900 before the current peaks.

One builds as the other falls and vice versa.

The reactance may be defined as the non resistive

opposition to the flow of ac current.
8
 Inductive Reactance
The back emf induced L
by a changing current
A V
provides opposition to
current, called inductive
reactance XL. a.c.
Such losses are temporary, however, since the
current changes direction, periodically re-supplying
energy so that no net power is lost in one cycle.

Inductive reactance XL is a function of both the

inductance and the frequency of the ac current.
9
Calculating Inductive Reactance
L Inductive Reactance:
A V X L 2 fL Unit is the
Ohm's law: VL iX L
a.c.

The voltage reading V in the above circuit at

the instant the ac current is i can be found from
the inductance in H and the frequency in Hz.

(2 fL
VVLL ii(2 fL)) Ohms law: VL = ieffXL
10
 A Pure Capacitor in AC Circuit
C Vmax Voltage
A V
imax Current

a.c.

The voltage peaks 900 after the current peaks.

One builds as the other falls and vice versa.

The diminishing current i builds charge on C

which increases the back emf of VC.
11
 Capacitive Reactance
Energy gains and losses C
are also temporary for
A V
capacitors due to the
constantly changing ac
current. a.c.
No net power is lost in a complete cycle, even
though the capacitor does provide nonresistive
opposition (reactance) to the flow of ac current.

Capacitive reactance XC is affected by both the

capacitance and the frequency of the ac current.
12
Calculating Capacitive Reactance
C Capacitive Reactance:
1
A V XC Unit is the
2 fC
Ohm's law: VC iX C
a.c.

The voltage reading V in the above circuit at

the instant the ac current is i can be found from
the inductance in F and the frequency in Hz.

ii
VVLL Ohms law: VC = ieffXC
22 fLfL 13
 Impedance in an AC Circuit
Impedance
VVTT ii RR22 ((XXLL XXCC))22
XL - XC Z
Impedance Z is defined:
R
ZZ RR22 ((XXLL XXCC))22

Ohms law for ac current V iZ or i VVTT

VTT iZ or i
and impedance: ZZ
The impedance is the combined opposition to ac
current consisting of both resistance and reactance.
14
 Power in an AC Circuit
No power is consumed by inductance or
capacitance. Thus power is a function of the
component of the impedance along resistance:

Impedance In terms of ac voltage:

Z
XL - XC PP == iV cos
iV cos

R In terms of the resistance R:
P lost in R only PP == ii22RR

The fraction Cos is known as the power factor.

15
 Example 6: What is the average power loss for the
previous example: V = 120 V, = -60.50, i = 90.5 A, and R
= 60 .
P = i2R = (0.0905 A)2(60 Resonance XL = XC
0.5 H
Average
Average PP == 0.491
0.491 W
W
A 8 F
The power factor is: Cos 60.50 120 V

Cos =
Cos = 0.492
0.492 or
or 49.2%
49.2% ? Hz 60

The higher the power factor, the more

efficient is the circuit in its use of ac power.
16
 Instantaneous Power and Average Power
Instantaneous Power

p (t ) v (t ) i (t )
A circuit element

If v(t) is a periodic function

v (t ) v (t T )
Then for a linear circuit i(t) is also a periodic function
i (t ) i (t T )
p (t ) v (t T ) i (t T ) 17
 Instantaneous Power and Average Power(cont.)
Average Power
t0 T
1
P
T
t0
p(t ) dt
Arbitrary point in time
If v(t) is a sinusoidal function

v (t ) Vm (cos t V )
For a linear circuit i(t) is also a sinusoidal function

i (t ) I m (cos t I )
p (t ) Vm I m (cos t V )(cos t I ) 18
 Vm I m
p(t ) cos(V I ) cos(2 t V I )
2
T
1 Vm I m
P cos(V I ) cos(2 t V I ) dt
T 0 2
T T
1 Vm I m 1 Vm I m
cos(V I ) dt cos(2 t V I ) dt
T 0 2 T 0 2
T T
Vm I m 1 Vm I m
cos(V I ) dt cos(2 t V I ) dt
2T 0
T 0 2
Vm I m average value of the cosine
cos(V I ) 0
2 function over a complete
Vm I m
cos(V I ) period is zero
2 19
 Apparent Power

In case of sinusoidal voltage applied to the circuit, the product of

voltage and current is not the true power or average power. This
product is called apparent power. This apparent power is expressed
in volt amperes, or simply VA.

Apparent power = VeffIeff

20
 Power Factor
The ratio of the average power to the apparent power is
called the power factor(pf).
I mVm
average powerP cos(V I )
{2
S apparent power
pf cos (V I )
14 2 43
pf angle
Therefore the average power
I mVm
P pf
2 21