SINGLE PHASE AC

CIRCUITS
(INTRODUCTION, RESPONSE OF
AC SUPPLY TO R, L & C
ELEMENTS)
(MODULE II)
Dr.R.Mohan Das
Associate Professor
Department of Electrical & Electronics
Engineering
New Horizon College of Engineering
Bangalore
 AC CIRCUITS - SINUSOIDAL WAVEFORM TERMINOLOGY

 Amplitude: The amplitude of sine wave is the

maximum value (V/I) reached during a positive or
negative alternation
 Peak value: It denotes the maximum value of the
alternative quantity reached during a positive or
negative direction. It is denoted as Vm , Im
 Instantaneous value: The value of voltage or current
at a particular instant (time) is known as instantaneous
value. Generally it is denoted by small alphabet(v for
voltage and i for current).
 Cycle: One complete set of positive and negative
values of an alternating quantity is called cycle. ie
during one cycle the wave from trace 0 to +max to 0 to
-max to 0.
 Time Period: The time taken for one cycle is known as time period or periodic time.(T). Its unit is
1 1
time in seconds f  or T 
T f
 Frequency: No of cycles made in one second is called as frequency of the alternating quantity. It
is denoted by f. The unit is Hertz or cycles/second
 Peak Value: The maximum value of an alternating quantity (It may be a current or voltage)
during a cycle is called its peak value.
 Average Value: The arithmetical average of all the values of an alternating quantity over one
cycle is called as average value.
For sine waveform the average value is IAvg = (2/π) Im = 0.637Im

 Root Mean Square Value (RMS Value) or Effective Value : The rms value of an alternating
current is defined as that steady current which when flowing through a given resistance for a
given time produces the same amount of heat as produced by the alternating current when
flowing through the same resistance for the same time. For sine waveform the root mean
square(RMS) value is
 Peak Factor: It is defined as the ratio of the peak or maximum value, to the r.m.s. value,
of a waveform.
Peak Factor = Maximum Value / RMS value
For sine waveform Peak Factor = Vm /0.707Vm = 1/0.707 = 1.414

 Form Factor: It is defined as the ratio of the r.m.s. value to the average value.
Form Factor = RMS value / Average Value
For sine waveform Form Factor = 0.707 / 0.637 = 1.11
 Peak to peak Value : The magnitude between the positive maximum and negative
maximum of an alternating quantity is called peak to peak value.
 Phase Difference: If two alternating quantities having the same frequency but the intial
starting points are not same then their exits a phase difference.

 For average value and RMS value derivations please refer class notes
 PURELY RESISTIVE CIRCUIT

Consider an ac circuit containing a pure resistance of R ohms connected across a sinusoidal voltage represented by
v = Vm sin wt, as shown.

From Ohms law

 From the expressions of instantaneous applied voltage and instantaneous current, it is evident that in a pure resistive
circuit, the applied voltage and current are in phase with each other, as shown by wave and phasor diagrams above
figures.
 Power in Purely Resistive Circuit:

 The instantaneous power delivered to the circuit in question is the product of the instantaneous values of applied
voltage and current.

Where V and I are the rms values of applied voltage and current respectively

 However, Power is always positive. This is so because the instantaneous values of voltage and current are always either
positive or negative and, therefore, the product is always positive. This means that the voltage source constantly delivers
power to the circuit and the circuit consumes it.
 The phase difference between voltage and current is zero.
 PURELY INDUCTIVE CIRCUIT

 When an alternating voltage is applied to a purely inductive coil, an emf, known as self-induced emf, is
induced in the coil which opposes the applied voltage.
 The voltage across an inductor is directly proportional to the derivative of the current flowing through an
inductor.

 The phase difference between voltage and current is 90 degrees lagging.

Power in Purely Inductive Circuit:

 The instantaneous power delivered to the circuit in question is the product of the instantaneous values of applied
voltage and current.
 The instantaneous power is alternately positive and negative.
 When the power is positive, the power flows from the source to the inductor
and when the power in negative, the power flows from the inductor to the
source.
 The positive power is equal to the negative power and hence the average
power in the circuit is equal to zero.
 The power just flows between the source and the inductor, but the inductor
does not consume any power
 PURELY CAPACITIVE CIRCUIT

 Consider an AC circuit with a pure capacitance C as shown in the figure (a)

 The voltage across an inductor is directly proportional to the integral of the current flowing through an
capacitor.
𝑣 ∝ න 𝑖 𝑑𝑡

1
𝑣= න 𝑖 𝑑𝑡
𝐶

𝑣 𝐶= න 𝑖 𝑑𝑡

𝑑
𝑖 = 𝐶 𝑣
𝑑𝑡
𝑑
𝑖 = 𝐶 (𝑉 sin(𝑤𝑡))
𝑑𝑡 𝑚
𝑖 = 𝐶ሺ 𝑉
𝑚 cos(𝑤𝑡ሻ 𝑤)

𝑖 = 𝐶𝑤 𝑉 𝑚 cos(𝑤𝑡)
𝜋
𝑖 = 𝐶𝑤 𝑉 sin(𝑤𝑡 + )
𝑚
2
𝑉 𝜋
𝑖 = sin(𝑤𝑡 + )
𝑚
𝑋𝑐 2  The phase difference between voltage and current is 90 degrees leading.
Power in Purely Capacitive Circuit:

 The instantaneous power delivered to the circuit in question is the product of the instantaneous values of applied
voltage and current.
 The instantaneous power is alternately positive and negative.
 When the power is positive, the power flows from the source to the capacitor and
when the power in negative, the power flows from the capacitor to the source.
 The positive power is equal to the negative power and hence the average power
in the circuit is equal to zero.
 The power just flows between the source and the capacitor, but the capacitor
does not consume any power
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