MODULE 1

ALTERNATING CURRENT (AC)

CIRCUITS
MAPUA INSTITUE OF TECHNOLOGY
ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING DEPARTMENT

ENGR. JUN A. TERESA

SINUSOIDAL WAVEFORMS

θ
A. AC CIRCUITS: BASIC PRINCIPLES

1. Types of Electrical Current

 Direct Current (DC). It is electric current which flows in

one direction only.

 Alternating Current (AC). It is electric current that

reverses direction periodically usually many times per
second.

Examples of AC Waveforms:

π 2π
0

Sinusoidal wave Square Wave Triangular wave

1. Generation of Alternating Current and Voltages
Alternating voltage may be generated by:
● Rotating a coil in a magnetic field
● Rotating a magnetic field within a stationary coil
● Altering the direction of the magnetic field
Generation of Alternating Current and Voltages
Circular motion produces a sine wave naturally: -

It's just a very natural and fundamental thing to do and trying to produce
waveforms that are different is either more complicated or leads to unwanted side
effects.

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Generation of Alternating Current and Voltages
1. Faraday’s Laws of Electromagnetic Induction

First Law. An emf is induced in a coil whenever the flux linking

the coil changes with time

Second Law. The magnitude of the induced emf in an N-turn

coil is equal to the time rate of change of the magnetic flux
through it.


Where: einduced
emf
in volts
d 
eN Nnumber
of
turns
of
the
coil
dt 
d
rate
of
change
of
flux
in Web
per
se
dt
VARIOUS SOURCES OF AC POWER

1. Electric Generating power plant

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 2. Portable ac generator
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3. Wind turbines power stations

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4.

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5. Function Generator

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 AC vs. DC

Alternating current (AC), is

an electric current in which the
flow of electric charge
periodically reverses direction,
whereas in Direct current (DC,
also dc), the flow of electric
charge is only in one direction.

The abbreviations AC and DC

are often used to mean simply
alternating and direct, as when
they modify current or voltage.

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AC vs. DC

AC is the form in which electric power is delivered to

businesses and residences. The usual waveform of
alternating current in most electric power circuits is a sine
wave. In certain applications, different waveforms are used,
such as triangular or square waves.

Audio and radio signals carried on electrical wires are also

examples of alternating current. These types of alternating
current carry information encoded (or modulated) onto the
AC signal, such as sound (audio) or images (video). These
currents typically alternate at higher frequencies than those
used in power transmission.

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WATCH VIDEO

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What is Alternating Current?
Fig.1 shows the schematic diagram of a very basic DC circuit. It
consists of nothing more than a source (a producer of electrical
energy) and a load (whatever is to be powered by that electrical
energy). The source can be any electrical source: a chemical battery,
an electronic power supply, a mechanical generator, or any other
possible continuous source of electrical energy. For simplicity, we
represent the source in this figure as a battery.

At the same time, the load can be any electrical load: a light bulb,
electronic clock or watch, electronic instrument, or anything else that
must be driven by a continuous source of electricity. The figure here
represents the load as a simple resistor.

Regardless of the specific source and load in this circuit, electrons

leave the negative terminal of the source, travel through the circuit
in the direction shown by the arrows, and eventually return to the
positive terminal of the source. This action continues for as long as a
complete electrical circuit exists.
 Fig.1 Fig. 2

Now consider the same circuit with a single change, as shown in the
second figure to the right. This time, the energy source is constantly
changing. It begins by building up a voltage which is positive on top
and negative on the bottom, and therefore pushes electrons
through the circuit in the direction shown by the solid arrows.
However, then the source voltage starts to fall off, and eventually
reverse polarity. Now current will still flow through the circuit, but
this time in the direction shown by the dotted arrows. This cycle
repeats itself endlessly, and as a result the current through the
circuit reverses direction repeatedly. This is known as an alternating
current.
This kind of reversal makes no difference to some kinds of loads. For
example, the light bulbs in your home don't care which way current
flows through them. When you close the circuit by turning on the
light switch, the light turns on without regard for the direction of
current flow.

Of course, there are some kinds of loads that require current to flow
in only one direction. In such cases, we often need to convert
alternating current such as the power provided at your wall socket to
direct current for use by the load. There are several ways to
accomplish this, and we will explore some of them in later pages in
this section.
VOLTAGE WAVEFORMS
If a graph is constructed showing the
amplitude of a dc voltage across the
terminals of a battery with respect to time, it
will appear in figure 1-1 view A.
The dc voltage is shown to have a constant
amplitude. Some voltages go through
periodic changes in amplitude like those
shown in figure 1-1 view B.
The pattern which results when these
changes in amplitude with respect to time
are plotted on graph paper is known as a
WAVEFORM.
Figure 1-1 view B shows some of the
common electrical waveforms. Of those
illustrated, the sine wave will be dealt with
most often.
Figure 1-1. - Voltage waveforms: (A). Direct
voltage; (B) Alternating voltage.

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Basic Alternating Current Generator

The Basic AC Generation

- The process is called ELECTROMAGNETIC INDUCTION.
- As the coil (wire) cuts the flux, an induced emf (voltage) is generated.

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AC GENERATION USING ELEMENTARY GENERATOR
THE WAVEFORM
THE FREQUENCY - one complete revolution each second. the generator
produces a number of cycles of ac during each second (1 Hz).

THE PERIOD - The time required to complete one cycle of a waveform

is called the PERIOD of the wave.
t  1/ f where : f = frequency
f  1/ t t = period
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Ex.1. Find the period of a periodic waveform with a frequency of
a) 60Hz
b) 1000Hz

Ex. 2 Find the frequency of the waveform from the figure

0 5 15 25 35ms
When dealing with sine waves in the time domain and
especially current related sine waves the unit of
measurement used along the horizontal axis of the waveform
can be either time, degrees or radians. In electrical
engineering it is more common to use the Radian as the
angular measurement of the angle along the horizontal axis
rather than degrees. For example, ω = 100 rad/s, or
500 rad/s.
Radians
The Radian, (rad) is defined mathematically as a quadrant of
a circle where the distance subtended on the circumference
equals the radius (r) of the circle. Since the circumference of
a circle is equal to 2π x radius, there must be 2π radians
around a 360o circle, so 1 radian = 360o/2π = 57.3o. In
electrical engineering the use of radians is very common so it
is important to remember the following formula.
Definition of a Radian
Using radians as the unit of measurement for a sinusoidal
waveform would give 2π radians for one full cycle of 360o.
Then half a sinusoidal waveform must be equal to 1π radians
or just π (pi). Then knowing that pi, π is equal
to 3.142 or 22÷7, the relationship between degrees and
radians for a sinusoidal waveform is given as.
Relationship between Degrees and
Radians

Applying these two equations to various points along the

waveform gives us.
The conversion between degrees and radians for the more
common equivalents used in sinusoidal analysis are given in
the following table.
Relationship between Degrees and Radians

The velocity at which the generator rotates around its central

axis determines the frequency of the sinusoidal waveform. As
the frequency of the waveform is given as ƒ Hz or cycles per
second, the waveform has angular frequency, ω, (Greek
letter omega), in radians per second. Then the angular
velocity of a sinusoidal waveform is given as.
Angular Velocity of a Sinusoidal Waveform

and in the United Kingdom, the angular velocity or frequency

of the mains supply is given as:

in the USA as their mains supply frequency is 60Hz it is

therefore: 377 rad/s
So we now know that the velocity at which the generator
rotates around its central axis determines the frequency of
the sinusoidal waveform and which can also be called
its angular velocity, ω. But we should by now also know that
the time required to complete one revolution is equal to the
periodic time, (T) of the sinusoidal waveform.
As frequency is inversely proportional to its time
period, ƒ = 1/T we can therefore substitute the frequency
quantity in the above equation for the equivalent periodic time
quantity and substituting gives us.

The above equation states that for a smaller periodic time of the sinusoidal
waveform, the greater must be the angular velocity of the waveform.
Likewise in the equation above for the frequency quantity, the higher the
frequency the higher the angular velocity.
ANGULAR VELOCITY (ω) – the velocity at which the radius
vector rotates about the center.

ω =
distance
(radia
or
deg
time
(seco
2  radian

ω = 2f or  
T  sec 

CYCLE = the portion of a waveform contained in one period of

time.
1 cycle 1 cycle 1 cycle
3. Determine the period of the following waveforms
1 sec 1 sec

T T

(a) (b)
1 sec

T (c)
4. Determine the frequency and T of (a) and (b)

The value of ω depends on the values of f and T

a) ω = 100 rad/sec

b) ω = 500 rad/sec

5. Given ω = 500 rad/sec, how long will it take the sinusoidal

waveform to pass through an angle of 90o?

6. Find the angle (in degrees) through which a sinusoidal

waveform of 60cycle will pass in a period of 5msec.
7. a) Determine the angle at which the magnitude of the
Sinusoidal function v = 10sin377t is 4V.
b) Determine the times at which this magnitude is attained.