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Waveform
The path traced by a quantity (such as voltage or current) plotted as a function of some
variable (such as time, degree, radians, temperature etc.) is called waveform.
Cycle
1. One complete set of positive and negative values of alternating quality
(such as voltage and current) is known as cycle.
2. The portion of a waveform contained in one period of time is called cycle.
3. A distance between two same points related to value and direction is
known as cycle.
4. A cycle is a complete alternation.
Period
The time taken by a alternating quantity (such as current or voltage) to complete one
cycle is called its time period “T”.
It is inversely proportional to the Frequency “ f ” and denoted by “T” where the unit of
time period is second.
T = 1/f
Frequency
Frequency is the number if cycles passed through per second. It is denoted by “f” and
has the unit cycle per second i.e. Hz (Herts).
The number of completed cycles in 1 second is called frequency.
It is the number of cycles of alternating quantity per second in hertz.
Frequency is the number of cycles that a sine wave completed in one second or the
number of cycles that occurs in one second.
f = 1/T
Amplitude
The maximum value, positive or negative, of an alternating quantity such as voltage
or current is known as its amplitude. Its denoted by VP, IP or VMAX and IMAX.
Electric waveforms
Circuits with alternating current (AC) are functions whose values vary in both magnitude and
direction
The waveforms are characterized with a couple of quantities:
The period (T) is the length of time that the waveform takes to repeat itself from start to finish.
The unit for period is second.
The frequency (f) is the number of times the waveform repeats itself within a one second
period:
f = 1/T
Unit: The unit for frequency is Hertz (Hz).
The amplitude A is the magnitude or intensity of the signal waveform.
The unit of the amplitude depends on the quantity being described: for current it’s amps and
for voltage - volts. There are a couple of fundamental differences between AC and DC circuit:
• The current flow in DC circuits is always in the same direction;
• In AC circuits the direction of the charge flow changes with time. In other words, the
electric charges in AC circuits vibrate around their initial place.
Phasor representation
The current lags the voltage by φ=30 °. Then the phasor diagram of the two vectors for t=0 is
presented. In time the two vectors rotate together with angular frequency ω however the current
vector will continue to lag the voltage by 30°.
Peak value
The sinusoidal waveform starts from zero attain peak value and again come down to zero in a
positive half cycle. In the next negative half cycle, the waveform goes through a negative peak
value and comes down to zero value. Thus in one complete cycle, the waveform attains positive
peak value at 90 degrees and negative peak value at 270 degrees.
Determination of peak value
The maximum value attained by an alternating waveform during one cycle is known its peak
value. The peak value is also termed as crest value. The peak value of symmetrical alternating
voltage and current waveform can also be determined by measuring the peak to peak value of
waveform.
Average Value
The sinusoidal waveform has different magnitude of voltage or current at different instant of
waveform. The magnitude of the current or voltage at particular instant is called instantaneous
value of the waveform.
The average of all the instantaneous values of an alternating voltage and current over one
complete cycle is known as average value.
For a symmetrical sinusoidal waveform, the positive half cycle is symmetrical to the negative
half cycle. Therefore, the average value of one complete cycle is zero.
However, the average value is calculated without considering the signs.
Therefore, only positive half cycle is considered for determining the average value of the
alternating waveform.
RMS Value
The ‘RMS Value’ stands Root Mean Squared value.
The RMS value of an alternating current is given by that steady (D.C) current which when
flowing through a given time produces the same amount of heat as produced by the A.C when
flowing through the same circuit for the same [Link] is also known as effective value of A.C.
DC Value Equivalent of RMS Value
For symmetrical sinusoidal voltage or current waveform analytical method can be used to find
out the RMS value.
The word RMS stands for Root Mean Square. An RMS voltage is defined as the
square root of the mean square of instantaneous values of the voltage signal. The
RMS is also known as the quadratic mean. RMS voltage can also be defined for a
continuously varying voltage in terms of an integral of the squares of the instantaneous
values during a cycle.
The RMS value is most important in the case of an AC signal. Because the
instantaneous value of an AC signal varies continuously with respect to time. Unlike a
DC signal, which is relatively constant.
Therefore, the instantaneous value of voltage cannot directly be used for the
calculation.
The RMS voltage is also known as the equivalent DC voltage because the RMS value
gives the amount of AC power drawn by a resistor similar to the power drawn by a DC
source.
For example, take a 5Ω load connected with a 10V DC source. In the case of the DC
source, the value of voltage is constant for every instant of time. Hence, the power
drawn by the load is easily calculated, and it is 20W.
But instead of a DC source, say we use an AC source. In this condition, the value of
voltage is varying with respect to time, as shown in the figure below.
The AC signal is a sinusoidal wave signal in most conditions, as shown in the above
figure. Since in a sinusoidal wave signal the instantaneous value varies, we cannot
use the instantaneous value to calculate the power.
But if we find the RMS value of the above signal, we can use it to find the power. Let
say the RMS value is 10Vrms. The power dissipates by the load is 20W.
The voltage we received at home is RMS voltage. Multimeters also give an RMS value
for AC power. And in a power system, we use system voltage that is also an RMS
value.
The RMS value is only calculated for the time-varying waveforms where the magnitude
of quantity varies with respect to time.
We cannot find the RMS value for the DC waveform as the DC waveform has a
constant value for every instant of time.
There are two methods to calculate RMS value.
• Graphical Method
• Analytical Method
Graphical Method
In this method, we use a waveform to find the RMS value. The graphical method is
more useful when the signal is not symmetrical or sinusoidal.
The accuracy of this method depends on the number of points taken from the
waveform. Few points result in low accuracy, and a more significant number of points
result in high accuracy.
The RMS value is a square root of the average value of the squared function. For
example, let’s take a sinusoidal waveform of voltage as shown below figure.
Follow these steps to calculate the RMS voltage by graphical method.
Step-1: Divide waveform into equal parts. Here, we consider the half cycle of the
waveform. You can consider full-cycle also.
The first half cycle divides into ten equal parts; V1, V2, …, V10.
Graphical Method
Step-2: Find square of each value.
Step-3: Take the average of these squared values. Find the total of these values and
divide by the total number of points.
Step-4 Now, take square root of this value.
These steps are same for all type of continuous waveforms.
For different types of time-varying signals like triangular, square; these steps follow to
find the RMS voltage.
Let’s solve these steps with an example.
Find the RMS value of the waveform shown in the figure below. Consider a pure
sinusoidal wave of voltage.
Example RMS Voltage
Step-1: First half-cycle divides into ten equal parts. And the values of these parts are
as shown in the figure.
Step-2: Find a Square of each point.
6.2 11.8 16.2 19 20 19 16.2 11.8 6.2 0
38.44 139.24 262.44 361 400 361 262.44 139.24 38.44 0
Analytical Method
In this method, the RMS voltage can be calculated by a mathematical procedure. This
method is more accurate for the pure sinusoidal waveform.
Consider a pure sinusoidal voltage waveform defined as VmCos(ωt) with a period of
T.
Where,
Vm = Maximum value or Peak value of voltage waveform
ω = Angular frequency = 2π/T
Now, we calculate the RMS value of voltage.
So, RMS value of pure sinusoidal waveform can derive from the peak (maximum)
value.
In above example (graphical method), the peak value is 20V.
RMS Voltage Formula
RMS voltage can be calculated from peak value, peak-to-peak value, and average
value.
For sinusoidal waveform below formulas are used to calculate the RMS voltage.
From peak voltage (VP);
From peak to peak voltage (VPP);
From average voltage (VAVG);
RMS Voltage
RMS Voltage vs Peak Voltage vs Peak-to-Peak Voltage vs Average Voltage
The RMS voltage is essential for various calculations in AC circuits. Similarly, peak
voltage, peak-to-peak voltage, and average voltage are also necessary.
Peak Voltage
Peak voltage is defined as the maximum value of voltage for any voltage waveform.
The peak value measures from the reference axis (0) to the highest point of the
waveform.
If we consider a sinusoidal waveform, the value of voltage increases from the
reference axis and reaches the peak point of the waveform on the positive side. The
difference between these two points gives us the positive peak voltage.
From the peak point, the voltage starts decreasing and reaches to reference axis. After
that, it starts increasing on the negative side and reaches the peak point. This point is
a negative peak point.
Peak Voltage
We can calculate peak voltage from the RMS voltage, peak-to-peak voltage, and
average voltage.
Peak Voltage From RMS Voltage
To calculate the peak voltage from RMS voltage, we need to multiply RMS voltage by
an approximate factor of 1.414.
Peak Voltage From Peak-to-Peak Voltage
The peak voltage is half of the peak-to-peak voltage.
Peak Voltage From Average Voltage
To calculate the peak voltage from average voltage, we need to multiply the average
voltage by an approximate factor of 1.57.
Peak-to-Peak Voltage
Peak-to-peak voltage is a difference between positive peak voltage and negative peak
voltage.
For a sinusoidal waveform, peak-to-peak voltage is shown below figure.
Peak-to-peak Voltage
We can calculate Peak-to-peak voltage from the RMS voltage, peak voltage, and
average voltage.
Peak-to-Peak Voltage From RMS Voltage
To calculate peak-to-peak voltage from RMS voltage, 2.8284 is the approximate
multiplier factor.
Peak-to-Peak Voltage From Peak Voltage
Peak-to-peak voltage is twice of the peak voltage.
Peak-to-Peak Voltage From Average Voltage
To calculate peak-to-peak voltage from RMS voltage, 3.14 (π) is the approximate
multiplier factor.
Average Voltage
The method to find the average voltage is similar to the RMS voltage. The only
difference is that the instantaneous values are not squared function and do not make
square root.
The average value gives us the horizontal line. And the area above the horizontal line
is the same as the area below the horizontal line. It is also known as means voltage.
Average Voltage
We can calculate the average voltage from the RMS voltage, peak voltage, and peak-
to-peak voltage.
Average Voltage From RMS Voltage
To calculate the average voltage from RMS voltage, 0.9 is the approximate multiplier
factor.
Average Voltage From Peak Voltage
To calculate the average voltage from peak voltage, 0.637 is the approximate
multiplier factor.
Average Voltage From Peak-to-Peak Voltage
To calculate the average voltage from peak-to-peak voltage, 0.318 is the approximate
multiplier factor.