Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering EEE241L/ETE241L Electrical Circuits II Lab

Lab 7: Measurement and Calculation of Power in AC circuits

A. Objectives
 Study the concept of instantaneous power and average power.
 Measure instantaneous and average power.
 Study the concept of Real power, Reactive Power, Apparent Power, Power Factor, Complex Power, Power
Triangle and Power Factor Improvement

B. Background
Instantaneous Power:
Power is the rate of doing work or expending energy. The electrical unit of energy is the watt (W) and one watt is
the rate of expending energy at the rate of one joule per second. In DC circuit the power dissipated in a resistive
circuit is given by:

................................................................(1)

where : P = power (W); U = potential difference (PD) (V); I = current (A); and R = resistance (Ω)

In AC circuits the instantaneous values of voltage, current and therefore power are constantly changing. However,
at any instant we can still say that:
P(t)=v(t) i(t)………………………………………………….(2)
where: p(t) = instantaneous power (W); v(t) = instantaneous voltage (V) and i(t) = instantaneous current (A)

The RMS values (U, I and P) can be easily used in AC circuits with only resistance however, matters are more
complicated when capacitance and inductance are involved. Remember that the RMS values are defined so that
a current of RMS 1A AC will produce the same heating effect in a resistor as 1A DC.

Now, if v(t) = Vm cos(ωt+θ) and i(t) = Im cos(ωt +ϕ), then

p(t) = Vm Im cos(ωt+θ) cos(ωt +ϕ) = ½ Vm Im cos(θ - ϕ) + ½ Vm Im cos(2ωt + θ + ϕ)…………………………..(3)
Average Power
In equation (3), p(t) has two parts: first part “½ Vm Im cos(θ - ϕ)” is time independent or constant. This portion is
defined as the average power or real power. Average AC power can be thought as the DC equivalent of effective
power.
For purely resistive circuits, current and voltage are in phase, so the average power is “½ Vm Im” or “Vmrms Imrms”.
But in purely reactive circuit the voltage and current has phase angle difference of ± 90° and the net average
power consumed by the reactive element is zero. This is because the power is received and returned back in
cycles. The following figure shows the relationship of instantaneous power, average power and reactive power of
an ac load.
Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering EEE241L/ETE241L Electrical Circuits II Lab

True (real/active), Reactive and Apparent Power

Reactive loads such as inductors and capacitors dissipate zero power, yet the fact that they drop voltage and draw
current gives the deceptive impression that they actually do dissipate power. This “phantom power” is called
reactive power, and it is measured in a unit called Volt-Amps-Reactive (VAR), rather than watts. The mathematical
symbol for reactive power is (unfortunately) the capital letter Q. The actual amount of power being used, or
dissipated, in a circuit is called true power, and it is measured in watts (symbolized by the capital letter P, as
always). The combination of reactive power and true power is called apparent power, and it is the product of a
circuit’s voltage and current, without reference to phase angle. Apparent power is measured in the unit of Volt-
Amps (VA) and is symbolized by the capital letter S.

As a rule, true power is a function of a circuit’s dissipative elements, usually resistances (R). Reactive power is a
function of a circuit’s reactance (X). Apparent power is a function of a circuit’s total impedance (Z). Since we’re
dealing with scalar quantities for power calculation, any complex starting quantities such as voltage, current, and
impedance must be represented by their polar magnitudes, not by real or imaginary rectangular components. For
instance, if I’m calculating true power from current and resistance, I must use the polar magnitude for current, and
not merely the “real” or “imaginary” portion of the current. If I’m calculating apparent power from voltage and
impedance, both of these formerly complex quantities must be reduced to their polar magnitudes for the scalar
arithmetic.

There are several power equations relating the three types of power to resistance, reactance, and impedance (all
using scalar quantities):
𝐸2
𝑇𝑟𝑢𝑒 𝑃𝑜𝑤𝑒𝑟, 𝑃 = 𝐼 2 𝑅 = (𝑚𝑒𝑎𝑠𝑢𝑟𝑒𝑑 𝑖𝑛 𝑢𝑛𝑖𝑡𝑠 𝑜𝑓 𝑊𝑎𝑡𝑡𝑠)
𝑅
𝐸2
𝑅𝑒𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑣𝑒 𝑃𝑜𝑤𝑒𝑟, 𝑄 = 𝐼 2 𝑋 = (𝑚𝑒𝑎𝑠𝑢𝑟𝑒𝑑 𝑖𝑛 𝑢𝑛𝑖𝑡𝑠 𝑜𝑓 𝑉𝐴𝑅)
𝑋
𝐸2
𝐴𝑝𝑝𝑎𝑟𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑃𝑜𝑤𝑒𝑟, 𝑆 = 𝐼 2 𝑍 = = 𝐼𝐸(𝑚𝑒𝑎𝑠𝑢𝑟𝑒𝑑 𝑖𝑛 𝑢𝑖𝑛𝑖𝑡𝑠 𝑜𝑓 𝑉𝐴)
𝑍
Power Triangle
True, reactive, and apparent power relate to one another in trigonometric form, which is called the power triangle
(as show below):

Power Factor
The angle of a “power triangle” graphically indicates the ratio between the amount of dissipated (or consumed)
power and the amount of absorbed/returned power. It also happens to be the same angle as that of the circuit’s
impedance in polar form. When expressed as a fraction, this ratio between true power and apparent power is
Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering EEE241L/ETE241L Electrical Circuits II Lab

called the power factor for the circuit. Because true power and apparent power form the adjacent and hypotenuse
sides of a right triangle, respectively, the power factor ratio is also equal to the cosine of that phase angle:
𝑃
𝑃𝑜𝑤𝑒𝑟 𝐹𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑜𝑟, 𝑝𝑓 = 𝑐𝑜𝑠𝜃 = (𝑢𝑛𝑖𝑡𝑙𝑒𝑠𝑠)
𝑆
For the purely resistive circuit, the power factor is 1 (perfect), because the reactive power equals zero. Here, the
power triangle would look like a horizontal line, because the opposite (reactive power) side would have zero length.

For the purely inductive circuit, the power factor is zero, because true power equals zero. Here, the power triangle
would look like a vertical line, because the adjacent (true power) side would have zero length.

The same could be said for a purely capacitive circuit. If there are no dissipative (resistive) components in the
circuit, then the true power must be equal to zero, making any power in the circuit purely reactive. The power
triangle for a purely capacitive circuit would again be a vertical line (pointing down instead of up as it was for the
purely inductive circuit).

If a circuit is predominantly inductive, we say that its power factor is lagging (because the current wave for the
circuit lags behind the applied voltage wave). Conversely, if a circuit is predominantly capacitive, we say that its
power factor is leading.
Power Factor Improvement
Power factor is an important aspect to consider in an AC circuit, because any power factor less than 1 means that
the circuit’s wiring has to carry more current than what would be necessary with zero reactance in the circuit to
deliver the same amount of (true) power to the resistive load. Thus poor power factor makes for an inefficient
power delivery system.

Poor power factor can be corrected, paradoxically, by adding another load to the circuit drawing an equal and
opposite amount of reactive power, to cancel out the effects of the load’s inductive reactance. Inductive reactance
can only be canceled by capacitive reactance. The effect of these two opposing reactances in parallel is to bring
the circuit’s total impedance equal to its total resistance (to make the impedance phase angle equal, or at least
closer, to zero).

If the (uncorrected) reactive power (inductive) is known, the correct capacitor size (which should be connected
directly parallel to the load) to produce the same quantity of (capacitive) reactive power can be calculated by using
the power formulas:
1
𝐶=
2𝜋𝑓𝑋𝐶

Maximum Power Transfer Theorem

In an active AC network consisting of source with internal impedance ZS which is connected to a load ZL, the
maximum power transfer occurs from source to load when the load impedance is equal to the complex conjugate
of source impedance ZS.
Let’s consider the below circuit consisting of Thevenin’s voltage source with series Thevenin’s equivalent
resistance (which are actually replacing the complex part of the circuit) connected across the complex load.
Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering EEE241L/ETE241L Electrical Circuits II Lab

From the above figure, Let ZL = RL + jXL and ZTH = RTH + jXTH then the current through the circuit is given as,

For power to be maximized, the above equation must be differentiated with respect to XL and equates it to zero.
Then we get:

Therefore, in AC circuits, if XL = – XTH and RL = RTH, maximum power transfer takes place from source to load.
This implies that maximum power transfer occurs when the impedance of the load is complex conjugate of the
source impedance, i.e., ZL = Z*TH.

For a given values the Thevenin’s voltage and

Thevenin’s resistance, the variation of power delivered
to the load with varying load resistance is shown in the
figure.
Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering EEE241L/ETE241L Electrical Circuits II Lab

Experiment 1: Instantaneous and Average Power

1 1

R1 R1
V1 V1
10KΩ 10KΩ
220Vrms 220Vrms
50Hz 50Hz
0° 0° 2
2

0 C1
1.0µF
L1
10H
0

Fig.1: Inductive load in a series circuit Fig.2: Capacitive load in a series circuit

Procedure

1. Construct the circuit of Fig.1 in MULTISIM and conduct a transient analysis. Using cursors, acquire the
information needed to fill up table 1.1,1.2 & 1.3
2. Construct the circuit of Fig.2 in MULTISIM and conduct a transient analysis. Using cursors, acquire the
information needed to fill up table 1.4,1.5 & 1.6

Simulation
1. Attach the transient analysis output graphs with your lab report.

Questions
1. How much average power is consumed by the inductor and the capacitor?
2. What is the effect of the inductor and capacitor on the instantaneous power of the R1?
3.
Determine the Load ZLD that will allow maximum power to be
delivered to the load for the following circuit, if the frequency
is 192.241 Hz. What should be the maximum power at the
load?
Construct the final circuit in MULTISIM and measure the
power at the load. Is your result similar to the theoretical
maximum power that you found? Attach the simulation
screenshots in your lab report.
Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering EEE241L/ETE241L Electrical Circuits II Lab

Data Sheet: Lab 7

Date: Points:
Remarks: Signature of the Instructor

Student Information

Section: Group: Status:

Table 1.1: Table 1.2:

0° 90° 180° 270° Experimental peak
VS
vs(t)
VRload
vRload(t) VLload

vLload(t) IS=VRload/Rload

∆t
is(t)
ϴ=∆t×f×360
PRload(t)
∆tL

PLload(t) Ф

Table 1.3:

Theoretical Experimental % Difference

VS (rms)

VRload (rms)

VLload (rms)

Vload (rms)

IS (rms)

PRload=VRload×IS×cosϴ

PLload=VLload×IS×cosϴ

Pload=Vload×IS×cosϴ

Ptotal=PRload+PLload

PS=VS×IS×cosϴ
Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering EEE241L/ETE241L Electrical Circuits II Lab

Table 1.4: Table 1.5:

0° 90° 180° 270° Experimental peak
VS
vs(t)
VRload
vRload(t) VCload

VCload(t) IS=VRload/Rload

∆t
is(t)
ϴ=∆t×f×360
PRload(t)
∆tC

PCload(t) Ф

Table 1.6:

Theoretical Experimental % Difference

VS (rms)

VRload (rms)

VCload (rms)

Vload (rms)

IS (rms)

PRload=VRload×IS×cosϴ

PCload=VCload×IS×cosϴ

Pload=Vload×IS×cosϴ

Ptotal=PRload+PCload

PS=VS×IS×cosϴ