ECEN 2250 Circuits/Electronics 1 Spring 2009

2-16-09 P. Mathys

Sinusoids, Complex Numbers, and Phasors

1 Sinusoids
A (real-valued) sinusoidal waveform with amplitude A, frequency ω = 2πf , and phase φ is
a signal of the form

x(t) = A cos(ωt + φ) = A cos φ cos ωt − A sin φ sin ωt = a cos ωt + b sin ωt ,

where the trigonometric itentity

cos(α + β) = cos α cos β − sin α sin β ,

was used for the second equality. Note that

√ −b

a = A cos φ , b = −A sin φ , and A= a2 + b 2 , φ = tan−1 .
a

The sum of two sinusoidal waveforms

x1 (t) = A1 cos(ωt + φ1 ) = A1 cos φ1 cos ωt − A1 sin φ1 sin ωt = a1 cos ωt + b1 sin ωt ,

and

x2 (t) = A2 cos(ωt + φ2 ) = A2 cos φ2 cos ωt − A2 sin φ2 sin ωt = a2 cos ωt + b2 sin ωt ,

with the same frequency ω results in another sinusoidal waveform with frequency ω

x(t) = x1 (t) + x2 (t) = a cos ωt + b sin ωt = A cos(ωt + φ) .

A straightforward addition of the coefficients in front of cos ωt and sin ωt yields

a = a1 + a2 = A1 cos φ1 + A2 cos φ2 , and b = b1 + b2 = −A1 sin φ1 − A2 sin φ2 .

Therefore
√ p
A= a2 + b2 = (A1 cos φ1 + A2 cos φ2 )2 + (A1 sin φ1 + A2 sin φ2 )2 ,

is the amplitude of the new waveform x(t) and

−b
A1 sin φ1 + A2 sin φ2

φ = tan−1 = tan−1 .
a A1 cos φ1 + A2 cos φ2

1
Since sums of sinusoids with the same frequency occur frequently in the analysis of linear
circuits, it is desirable to develop methods that facilitate the computation of such sums. One
possibility is to use Euler’s identity

ejα = cos α + j sin α ,

to write
x(t) = A cos(ωt + φ) = A Re{ej(ωt+φ) } = Re{A ej(ωt+φ) } ,
where A is assumed to be real-valued for the last equality. Why would the use of complex
numbers facilitate computations with real-valued sinusoids of the same frequency ω? The
key observation is that
A ej(ωt+φ) = (A ejφ ) ejωt ,
that is, A and φ can be grouped together and separated from ωt, thereby opening up the
possibility of performing most computations using just the amplitude and the phase of
sinusoidal waveforms. In particular

A1 cos(ωt + φ1 ) + A2 cos(ωt + φ2 ) = Re{(A1 ejφ1 ) ejωt } + Re{(A2 ejφ2 ) ejωt }

= Re{(A1 ejφ1 + A2 ejφ2 ) ejωt } .

Thus, the amplitude and the phase of the sum of the two sinusoids can be easily computed
as the amplitude and the phase of the sum of the two complex numbers A1 ejφ1 and A2 ejφ2 .

2 Review of Complex Numbers

The figure below shows two complex numbers, z1 and z2 , in the complex plane.

Im Complex Plane

z2 • 3
2 • z1

Re
-4 5

Expressed in rectangular form

z1 = 5 + j 2 , and z2 = −4 + j 3 ,
√
where j = −1. In general,

z =x+jy, with x = Re{z} , and y = Im{z} ,

2
where Re{z} denotes the real part of z and Im{z} denotes the imaginary part of z. Note
that the imaginary part does not include j itself, in fact Im{j} = 1.
A point in a 2-dimensional coordinate system can also be described by a vector that points
from the origin of the coordinate system to the point. In this way the point can be charac-
terized by the length r and the angle φ (with respect to a reference direction) of the vector
associated with it. The figure below shows this vector interpretation of z1 and z2 .

Im Complex Plane

z2 • 3
r2
2 r1 • z1
φ2
φ1
Re
-4 5

The representation
z = r∠φ ,
of a complex number z is called the polar form of z. Using standard trigonometric formulas
the polar and rectangular forms of z are related as follows

Re{z} = x = r cos φ , Im{z} = y = r sin φ ,

and p y

|z| = r = x2 + y 2 , ∠z = φ = tan−1
.
x
The quantity |z| = r is called the magnitude or the absolute value of z and ∠z = φ is
called the angle or phase of z. For z1 and z2 in the figure above
√ √
∠z1 = φ1 = tan−1 52 = 21.8◦ ,


|z1 | = r1 = 52 + 22 = 29 ,
p
∠z2 = φ2 = tan−1 −4 3
= 180◦ − tan−1 43 = 143.13◦ .



|z2 | = r2 = (−4)2 + 32 = 5 ,

Using Euler’s identity, z can also be written as

z = Re{z} + j Im{z} = r (cos φ + j sin φ) = r ejφ .

This is called the exponential form of z. Thus, any complex number z may be written as

z = x + j y = r (cos φ + j sin φ) = r ejφ = r∠φ .

Note that √
j= −1 = 0 + j 1 = ej π/2 = 1∠90◦ .

3
An important quantity is the complex conjugate z ∗ or z of z, defined as

z ∗ = z = Re{z} − j Im{z} = |z| e−j∠z

= x − j y = r (cos φ − j sin φ) = r e−jφ = r∠−φ .

Addition of two complex numbers z1 = x1 + j y1 and z2 = x2 + j y2 is defined as

z = z1 + z2 = (x1 + x2 ) + j (y1 + y2 ) .

An example for z1 = 5+j 2 and z2 = −4+j 3 which results in z = 1+j 5 is shown graphically
in the following figure.

Im Complex Plane
z1 +z2
5 •

z2 • 3
2 • z1

Re
-4 1 5

The real part of a complex number z = x+j y can be obtained using addition of the complex
conjugate as follows

z + z∗ (x + j y) + (x − j y)
= = x = Re{z} .
2 2
The figure below shows this graphically.

Im Complex Plane

z
Im{z} •
z+z ∗
• Re
Re{z} 2 Re{z}
-Im{z} •
z∗

4
Using ejα = cos α + j sin α, it is therefore possible to express cos α as

ejα + e−jα
cos α = .
2

Subtraction of two complex numbers z1 = x1 + j y1 and z2 = x2 + j y2 is similarly defined

as
z = z1 − z2 = (x1 − x2 ) + j (y1 − y2 ) .
The figure below shows the computation of z1 −z2 = (5+j 2)−(−4+j 3) = 9−j graphically.

Im Complex Plane

z2 • 3
2 • z1
5 9
Re
-4 -1 •
z1 −z2

Subtracting the complex conjugate of a complex number z = x + j y can be used to obtain

the imaginary part of z in the following way

z − z∗ (x + j y) − (x − j y)
= = y = Im{z} .
2j 2j
This is shown graphically in the next figure.

Im Complex Plane

z−z ∗
2 Im{z} •

Im{z} • z

Re
Re{z}
-Im{z} • z∗

5
If z = ejα = cos α + j sin α, this leads to the following expression for sin α

ejα − e−jα
sin α = .
2j

Multiplication of two complex numbers z1 = x1 + j y1 and z2 = x2 + j y2 is defined as

z = z1 · z2 = (x1 + j y1 ) (x2 + j y2 ) = (x1 x2 − y1 y2 ) + j (x1 y2 + x2 y1 ) .

In exponential form, with z1 = r1 ejφ1 and z2 = r2 ejφ2 this becomes

z = z1 · z2 = r1 r2 ej(φ1 +φ2 ) ,

which is a little easier to compute. Note that

z · z ∗ = r ejφ · r e−jφ = r2 = |z|2 ,

which is a nice way to compute the magnitude of z.

Division of two complex numbers z1 = x1 + j y1 and z2 = x2 + j y2 6= 0 is defined as

z1 x1 + j y1 z1 · z2∗ (x1 x2 + y1 y2 ) − j (x1 y2 − x2 y1 )

z= = = = .
z2 x2 + j y2 |z| 2 x22 + y22

If z1 = r1 ejφ1 and z2 = r2 ejφ2 are in exponential form this reduces to

z1 r1 ejφ1 r1 j(φ1 −φ2 )

z= = = e .
z2 r2 ejφ2 r2

The reciprocal z −1 of a complex number z = x + j y is

1 1 z∗ x−jy
z −1 = = = 2 = 2 .
z x+jy |z| x + y2

If z = r ejφ is given in polar form this reduces to

1 1 1
z −1 = = jφ = e−jφ .
z re r

√
The N -th root N
z of a complex number z = r ejφ is computed as
√
1/N √
N
z = z 1/N = r ejφ = N
r ejφ/N .
√ √
In particular, z= r ejφ/2 .

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3 Phasors
Definition: A phasor is a complex number that represents the amplitude and the phase
of a sinusoid.
Using Euler’s identity, the real-valued sinusoid x(t) = A cos(ωt + φ) can be written as

x(t) = A Re{ej(ωt+φ) } = Re{A ejφ} ejωt } ,

| {z
=X
where
X = A ejφ ,
is the phasor that represents the sinusoid x(t). The equivalence between x(t) in the time
domain and X in the phasor domain is often expressed as

x(t) = A cos(ωt + φ) ⇐⇒ X = A ejφ

***** To be continued *****

2001–2009,
c P. Mathys. Last revised: 2-16-09, PM.