Module VI: AC Circuit Analysis

Single-phase EMF Generation, Waveform and Phasor Representation, Average

and Effective value of sinusoids, Peak factor & Form factor, Complex Impedance
and Power using j-operator, Power factor.

By
Dr. Aurobinda Bag
Alternating Voltage and Current:
• A voltage which changes its polarity at regular intervals of time is
called an alternating voltage.
• When an alternating voltage is applied in a circuit, the current flows
first in one direction and then in the opposite direction; the direction of
current at any instant depends upon the polarity of the voltage.
Sinusoidal Alternating Voltage and Current:
• Commercial alternators produce sinusoidal alternating voltage i.e.
alternating voltage is a sine wave.
• A sinusoidal alternating voltage can be produced by rotating a coil
with an angular velocity (ω rad/sec) in a magnetic field.
• The sinusoidal alternating voltage can be expressed by the equation :
• Sinusoidal voltages always produce sinusoidal currents.
• Therefore, a sinusoidal current can be expressed in the same way as
voltage i.e. i = Im sin wt.
• Alternating voltage and current mean sinusoidal alternating voltage
and current unless stated otherwise.
Generation of Alternating Voltages and Currents:
An alternating voltage may be generated :
❖ by rotating a coil at an angular velocity in a magnetic field as shown
in Fig. below.
or
❖ by rotating a magnetic field at an angular velocity within a stationary
coil as shown in Fig. below.
• In either case, the generated voltage will be of sinusoidal waveform.
• The magnitude of generated voltage will depend upon the number of
turns of coil, the strength of magnetic field and the speed of rotation.
• The first method is used for small a.c. generators while the second
method is employed for large a.c. generators.
Equation of Alternating Voltage and Current:
• Consider a rectangular coil of n turns rotating in anticlockwise
direction with an angular velocity of w rad/sec in a magnetic field as
shown in Fig. below.
• Let the time be measured from the instant the plane of the coil
coincides with OX-axis as shown in fig. below.
• In this position of the coil, the flux linking with the coil has its
maximum value max.
• Let the coil turn through an angle θ (= ωt) in anticlockwise direction in
t seconds and assumes the position shown in Fig. below.
• From the above expression it is noted that that e.m.f. induced in the
coil is sinusoidal i.e., instantaneous value of e.m.f. varies as the sine
function of time angle (θ or ωt).
• Thus, a coil rotating with a constant angular velocity in a uniform
magnetic field produces a sinusoidal alternating e.m.f.
• If this alternating voltage (v = Vm sin ωt) is applied across a load,
alternating current flows through the circuit which would also vary
sinusoidally i.e., following a sine law.
• The equation of the alternating current is given by,
Important A.C. Terminology:
• An alternating voltage or current changes continuously in magnitude
and alternates in direction at regular intervals of time.
• It rises from zero to maximum positive value, falls to zero, increases to
a maximum in the reverse direction and falls back to zero again.
AC Terminology:
(i) Waveform:
• The shape of the curve obtained by plotting the instantaneous values
of voltage or current in Y-axis against time in X-axis is called its
waveform or waveshape as shown in fig above.
(i) Instantaneous value:
• The value of an alternating quantity at any instant is called
instantaneous value.
• The instantaneous values of alternating voltage and current are
represented by v and i respectively. As an example, the instantaneous
values of voltage at 0º, 90º and 270º are 0, + Vm, −Vm respectively.
(iii) Cycle:
• One complete set of positive and negative values of an alternating
quantity is known as a cycle.
• Fig. below shows one cycle of an alternating voltage.
• One cycle corresponds to 360º electrical or 2π radians.
• The voltage or current generated in a conductor will span 360º
electrical (or complete one cycle) when the conductor moves past
successive north and south poles.
(iv) Time period:
• The time taken in seconds to complete one cycle of an alternating
quantity is called its time period.
• It is generally represented by T.
(vi) Frequency:
• The number of cycles that occur in one second is called the frequency
(f) of the alternating quantity.
• It is measured in cycles/sec (c/s) or Hertz (Hz).
• One Hertz is equal to 1 c/s.
(vii) Amplitude:
• The maximum value (positive or negative) attained by an alternating
quantity is called its amplitude or peak value.
• The amplitude of an alternating voltage or current is designated by Vm
(or Em) or Im.
Phase and Phase Difference:
• A Phasor is a quantity that has both Magnitude and Displacement.
• A leading alternating quantity is one which reaches its maximum (or
zero) value earlier as compared to the other quantity.
• A lagging alternating quantity is one which reaches its maximum or
zero value later than the other quantity.
Note:
• Phasor is a rotating vector.
• Vector illustrates quantity and direction whereas phasor illustrates
quantity and displacement.
Root-Mean-Square (R.M.S.) Value:
• The r.m.s. value of an alternating current is given by that steady (d.c.)
current which when flowing through a given circuit for a given time
produces the same heat as produced by the alternating current when
flowing through the same circuit for the same time.
(i) Mid-ordinate Method:
• In Fig. below are shown the positive half cycles for both sinusoidal
and non-sinusoidal alternating currents.
• Divide time base ‘t’ into n equal intervals of time each of duration t/n
seconds.
• Let the average values of instantaneous currents during these intervals
be respectively i1, i2, i3 .... in.
• Suppose that this alternating current is passed through a circuit of
resistance R ohms.
Then,
• Heat produced in 1st interval = i 1 2 Rt/n
• Heat produced in 2nd interval = i 2 2 Rt/n
• Heat produced in nth interval = i n 2 Rt/n
• Total heat produced in t seconds is =

• Suppose that a direct current of value I produces the same heat through the
same resistance during the same time t.
• Heat produced by it is = I 2 Rt.
• By definition, the two amounts of heat produced should be equal.
Analytical Method
Average Value:
• The average value of an alternating current is expressed by that steady
current which transfers across any circuit the same charge as is
transferred by that alternating current during the same time.
• In the case of a symmetrical alternating current (i.e. one whose two
half-cycles are exactly similar, whether sinusoidal or non-sinusoidal),
the average value over a complete cycle is zero.
• Hence, in their case, the average value is obtained by adding or
integrating the instantaneous values of current over one half-cycle
only.
(i) Mid-ordinate Method:
(ii) Analytical Method:
• This can be obtained by integrating the instantaneous value of current
over one-half cycle (i.e. area over half-cycle) and dividing the result
by base length of half-cycle (= p).
Form Factor:

Crest or Peak or Amplitude Factor:

Problem:
An alternating current of frequency 50Hz has a maximum value of 100
A. Calculate (i) its value 1/600 second after the instant the current is
zero and its value is decreasing there afterwards (ii) how many seconds
after the current is zero and then increasing will attain the value of 86·6
A?
J Operator:
• An alternating voltage or current can be represented by a phasor.
• The length of the phasor represents the magnitude (r.m.s. value) of the
alternating quantity and angle θ from the reference axis (i.e. OX-axis)
indicates the phase of that quantity.
• We used phasor diagrams to solve problems on a.c. circuits.
• A phasor diagram is a graphical representation of the phasors (i.e.
voltages and currents) of an a.c. circuit.
 Fig. 1
Notation of Phasors on Rectangular Co-ordinate Axes:
• Consider a phasor V lying along OX-axis as shown in Fig. 1.
• If we multiply this phasor by –1, the phasor is reversed i.e. it is rotated
through 180° in the counterclockwise (CCW) direction.
• We can see by multiplication of what factor the phasor be multiplied
so that it rotates through 90° in CCW direction.
• Suppose this factor is j.
• As shown in Fig, multiplying the phasor by j2 rotates the phasor
through 180º in CCW direction.
• This means that multiplying the phasor by j2 is the same as
multiplying by –1;.
• It follows, that
• So, we concluded that when a phasor is multiplied by j (= -1 ), the
phasor is rotated through 90º in CCW direction.
• Each successive multiplication by j rotates the phasor through an
additional 90º in CCW direction.
• It is easy to see that multiplying a phasor by
• Fig.1 shows the effect of multiplying a phasor by j.
Fig. 1
The following points may be noted carefully :
(i) j is an operator which rotates the phasor through 90° in CCW
direction without changing the magnitude of the phasor.
(ii) The operator j occurs with the phasor only when it is along Y-axis.
• Thus, when the phasor is along OY-axis, it is jV and when along OY′-
axis, it is –jV.
• The phasor lying along X-axis is not associated with j.
(iii) Since j =-1 and its value cannot be determined, it is called an
imaginary number.
• For this reason, any phasor associated with j is called the imaginary
part.
• A phasor along X-axis is not associated with j and is called the real
part.
Significance of Operator j:
• j indicates an operation of rotating the phasor through 90° in CCW
direction.
• The operator j does not change the magnitude of the phasor.
• For example, jV means that V is 90° CCW from OX-axis (i.e. it is
lying along OY axis) while j 2 V (= – V) means that V is turned
through 180° CCW from OX-axis i.e. it is lying along OX' -axis.
• As seen in Fig.1, j will be associated with a phasor lying along OY-
axis and –j with that lying along OY' -axis.
• The utility of j becomes more apparent if we consider a phasor V
displaced θ° counter-clock wise from OX-axis as shown in Fig.2.
• This phasor is not lying along the rectangular co-ordinate axes.
• However, it can be resolved into two components viz. the horizontal
component ‘a’ along X-axis and the vertical component ‘b’ along Y-
axis.
• It can be seen that vertical component is displaced 90° CCW from OX-
axis.
• Therefore, mathematically, we can express this component as jb,
meaning that component b is displaced 90° CCW from the component
a (i.e. OX-axis).
Fig. 2
• It may note that a + j b is the mathematical form of the phasor V.
• This form describes the magnitude as well as the phase angle of the
phasor.
The following points may be noted carefully :
(i) The quantity (a + j b) is called a complex number or complex
quantity.
• It is because it consists of a real component (a) and an imaginary
component (jb).
(ii) To call the component lying along Y-axis (i.e. the component
associated with j or –j) as imaginary merely because the value of j (= -
1 ) cannot be determined.
• The imaginary components can be represented graphically on the Y-
axis just as real components can be represented on the X-axis.
• Electrical engineering the horizontal and vertical components are
called as in-phase and quadrature components respectively.
Active and Reactive Components of Circuit Current I:
Active, Reactive and Apparent Power:
Power Factor:
Problem:
In an R-L series circuit, R = 10 ohm and XL = 8.66 ohm. If current in
the circuit is (5 – j10)A, find (i) the applied voltage (ii) power factor and
(iii) active power and reactive power.
Problem:
A sinusoidal voltage of 50 Hz has a maximum value of 200 2 volts. At
what time measured from a positive maxmium value will the
instantaneous voltage be 141·4 volts ?