Electric Circuits Lab

Series RL Circuits: Phase Angle, Phase Lead, and Inductors as Differentiators

I. Objectives:
After completing this lab experiment, you should be able to:
1. Understand the effect of frequency on inductive reactance.
2. Measure the impedance of an RL circuit.
3. Measure the phase angle and phase lead of an RL circuit using the oscilloscope.
4. Draw the impedance and voltage phasor diagrams.
5. Understand how an inductor differentiates current.

II. Parts List:

1. Resistors 100 Ω, 1 kΩ, 10 kΩ.
2. Inductors 1 µH, 100mH.

III. Procedures:

Part I:

1. Connect the following circuit.

R

1kΩ

L
1Vrms 100mH
1 kHz

Figure 1: RL Circuit

2. Connect one DMM across the resistor and one DMM across the inductor. Set both
DMMs to read AC Voltage. Measure the voltage drop across each component. Record
the result in Table 1.

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3. Use Ohm’s law to calculate the current flowing through the resistor. Since the circuit in
Figure 1 is a series RL circuit, the same current will flow through the inductor and the
resistor. Record the result in Table 1.
VR
Total current I = R

4. Calculate the inductive reactance using Ohm’s law. Record the result in Table 1.
VL
Inductive Reactance XL = I

5. Finally, calculate the inductive reactance using the inductive reactance equation.
Record the result in Table 1.

Inductive Reactance , X L =2 πfL

Inductor L1
Voltage across, R
Voltage across, L
Total Current, I
Inductive Reactance, XL
Computed Reactance, XL

Table 1: Calculated and measured values

6. Adjust the function generator frequency following the steps in Table 2. Use the DMM to
measure the voltage across the resistor and the inductor. Record your measurements.

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 Frequency VR VL VR VL XL = 2πfL
(in Hz) (measured) (measured) I= R XL = I (calculated)

300

1k

3k

5k

7k

9k

11k

13k

15k

Table 2: Calculated and measured values

7. Plot the graph for Frequency vs. VL.

(Use Word or Excel to create the plot)

Figure 2. Plot of Frequency vs. Inductor Voltage

Part II:
8. Build the circuit in Figure 2.

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 Figure 2: Series LR Circuit

9. Set the voltage source amplitude to 1.5 VP and frequency to 25 kHz, sine wave
10. Connect Channel A of the oscilloscope across the resistor and measure the peak
voltage drop (VR). Record the result in Table 3.
11. Use Ohm’s law to calculate the peak current flowing through the resistor. Because it is a
series circuit, the same current will flow through the inductor. Record the result in Table
3.
VR
Total current I = R

VR I VL XL ZT θ

Table 3: Calculated and measured values

12. Connect Channel B of the oscilloscope across the inductor and measure the peak
voltage drop (VL). Record the value in Table 3 above.
13. Calculate the inductive reactance using Ohm’s law. Record the result in Table 3.
VL
Inductive Reactance XL = I

14. Now, calculate the total impedance (ZT) value using the equation. Record the result in
Table 3.

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 VS
Total Impedance (ZT) = I
15. Calculate the phase angle between VR and VS using the formula. Record the result in
Table 3. Also, record this value in Table 4 under Phase Angle calculated value.

Phase angle, θ=tan

−1
( XR )
L

Part III: Phase Angle and Phase Lead Measurement

Phase Angle
16. Connect Channel B of the oscilloscope across the voltage source and run the
simulation. Channel A should still be connected across the resistor.
17. The waveforms should look like the ones shown in Figure 4.

Figure 4: VS and VR waveforms

18. Obtain a stable display showing a couple of cycles for Channel B (which is showing V S)
and disable Channel A by setting it to 0.
19. Measure the time period (T) of the source voltage. Record the result in Table 4. (Use
the cursors to measure the period on the scope it will show as T2-T1). Remember that
the period is the time taken to complete one cycle). See Figure 5.

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 Figure 5: Measuring time period (T)

Type of Angle Measured Time difference Measured Calculated

Period (T) (∆t) Angle Angle

Phase angle θ
Phase Lead Φ

Table 4: Phase angle and phase lead measurements

20. Now set the oscilloscope to view both the channels.

21. Adjust the amplitude of the signals using Channel A and Channel B V/Div scale until
both channels appear to have the same amplitude as seen on the scope face. (as close
as possible)
22. Spread the signals horizontally using the Timebase (Sec/Div) control until both signals
are just visible across the screen as shown.
23. Measure the time duration between the two signals (∆t) and record the result in Table 4.
(Use cursors as shown in Figure 6)

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 Figure 6: Measuring the time difference

24. Calculate the phase angle using the formula and record the result in Table 4.

Phase angle, θ = (∆t/T) * 360°

Phase Lead
25. Connect your circuit as shown in Figure 7. When the output of an RL circuit is taken
across the inductor, the circuit is called an RL lead circuit. The output voltage in an RL
lead circuit will lead the input voltage.

Figure 7: RL Lead Circuit

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26. Calculate the phase lead using the equation. Notice the similarity to the equation for the
phase angle. The phase lead angle and phase angle of an RL circuit are complementary
angles. (Their sum is 90°.) Use R and XL values from Table 3.

Phase Lead, ϕ=tan

−1
( )
R
XL
27. Measure the time period (T) of the source voltage (as in Step 19). Record this value in
Table 4.
28. Now set the oscilloscope to view both the channels.
29. Adjust the amplitude of the signals using Channel A and Channel B V/Div scale until
both channels appear to have the same amplitude as seen on the scope face. (as close
as possible)
30. Spread the signals horizontally using the Timebase (Sec/Div) control until both signals
are just visible across the screen as shown in Figure 6.
31. Measure the time duration between the two signals (∆t) and record the result in Table 4.
32. Calculate the phase lead using the formula and record the result in Table 4.
Phase lead, θ = (∆t/T) * 360°
33. Plot the Voltage and Impedance Phasor Diagrams. Clearly indicate the phase angle and
the phase lead.

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 (Use Word or Excel to create the phasor plots)

Plot 1(a) Impedance Phasor Plot 1(b) Voltage Phasor

Part IV: The Inductor Differentiates Current

34. Construct the following RL circuit in Multisim. Set the triangular current source to 1mA
and 1ms.

Figure 8: Differentiator Circuit

35. Connect Channel A across the resistor and Channel B across the inductor. (Note:
change one or both trace colors to better observe the two signals)
36. Your signals should look like the example in Figure 9.

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 Figure 9: Inductor as a differentiator waveforms

37. Channel A will show the voltage across the resistor. This signal can be used to find the
circuit current using Ohm’s law.
38. Channel B shows the voltage across the inductor. Show that this signal satisfies the
following equation on the piecewise differentiable intervals.

di
v L ( t )=L
dt

39. Refer to Figure 10 to answer the following questions.

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 Figure 10: Differentiator values, 0 to 0.5 ms

a. The signal has a period of 1 ms. Write the equation for the circuit current on the
interval 0 to 0.5 ms by following the steps.
v R (t )
i (t )=
R
b. The general equation of a line is
y=mx+b .
We will start by finding vR(t). In this case, y is v R(t) and m is the slope of the
voltage. Fill in the values of v R(0.5) and vR(0) to find the slope. Channel A, Cursor
T2 gives the resistor voltage at t=0. Channel A, cursor T1 gives the resistor
voltage at t = 0.5 ms.

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 Δv v R ( .5 )−v R (0)
m= =
Δt 0.5 ms−0 ms
c. Next, find b, the voltage at the beginning of the interval, v(0), expressed in volts.
d. Write the equation for the resistor voltage on the interval of 0 to 0.5 ms using the
values above.
v ( t )=mt + v (0)
e. Find the equation for i(t)
v R (t )
i (t )=
R
f. Find the equation of vL(t) by differentiating i(t).
g. Compare this value to the vL(t) waveform.

40. Refer to Figure 11 to answer the following questions.

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 Figure 11: Differentiator values, 0.5 ms to 1.0ms

a. The signal has a period of 1 ms. Write the equation for the circuit current on the
interval 0.5 ms to 1.0 ms by following the steps.
v R (t )
i (t )=
R
b. The general equation of a line is
y=mx+b .
We will start by finding vR(t). In this case, y is v R(t) and m is the slope of the
voltage. Fill in the values of v R(0.5) and vR(1.0) to find the slope. Channel A,
Cursor T2 gives the resistor voltage at t = 50 ms. Channel A, cursor T1 gives the
resistor voltage at t = 100 ms.

Δv v R ( 1.0 )−v R (0.5)

m= =
Δt 1.0 ms−0.5 ms
c. Next, find b, the voltage at the beginning of the interval, v(0.5), in volts
d. Write the equation for the resistor voltage on the interval of 0.5 ms to 1.0 ms
using the values
v ( t )=mt + v (0.5)
e. Find the equation for i(t)
v R (t )
i (t )=
R
f. Find the equation of vL(t) by differentiating i(t).
g. Compare this value to the vL(t) waveform.

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