Experiment No: 4

R-L-C Series Circuit: Steady–state Response and Resonance

Name: Neelesh Gautam
Entry number: 2024EE10710
Group number: 28

Aim:
To understand the R-L-C Series circuit behaviour with ac supply
To understand the series resonance in R-L-C series circuit and plotting its frequency response.

Apparatus:
(a) Breadboard, Connecting wires, Passive components
(b) Voltmeters, Ammeters, Digital Multi-meter,
(c) Digital Storage Oscilloscope
(d) DC power supply, Function Generator

Circuit Diagrams:

Fig 4.1: R-L-C Circuit

Theory:
The response of electric circuit to sinusoidal excitation is of great importance in electrical engineering.
Essentially all the electrical energy generated in the world today is in the form of sinusoidal waveforms
alternating nature. Not only electrical engineering but other engineering disciplines also deal with
sinusoidal signals, e.g. sinusoidal vibrations in the mechanical engineering. Furthermore, a non-sinusoidal
periodic waveform can be represented as a series of sinusoids (Fourier series). Thus the study of sinusoidal
response is useful even for the analysis of systems with non sinusoidal signals. The analysis of systems
subjected to non-sinusoidal waveforms is also closely related to the knowledge of sinusoidal response of
the system.

A series circuit consisting of a resistor (R), inductor (L), and capacitor (C) is depicted in Figure 4.1. When
an AC voltage source (Vin) with a frequency (f) is applied to this circuit, an alternating current (I) flows
through all components, causing voltage drops across R, L, and C, denoted as VR, VL, and VC, respectively.
According to Kirchhoff’s Voltage Law (KVL), the phasor sum of these voltages must be equal to the
applied AC voltage:
 ̅ 𝑖𝑛̅̅ = (̅𝑉̅𝑅̅ + 𝑉̅𝐿 + ̅𝑉̅𝐶̅)_____(1)
𝑉̅
Since the current (II) is the same throughout all elements in the series circuit, Equation (1) can be rewritten

̅𝑉̅𝑖𝑛̅̅ = (𝑅 + 𝑗𝑋𝐿 − 𝑗𝑋𝐶)𝐼̅ = 𝑍𝐼______(2a)̅

as:

where the inductive reactance (XL) and capacitive reactance (XC) are given by:

𝑋𝐿 = 𝜔𝐿 = (2𝜋𝑓)𝐿_____(2b)

1 1

𝑋𝐶 = ω𝐶 = (2π𝑓)𝐶____(2c)

Here, 𝑍 = (𝑅 + 𝑗𝑋𝐿 − 𝑗𝑋𝐶) represents the impedance of the circuit. The terms XL and XC define the
opposition offered by the inductor and capacitor to the AC current, respectively. By comparing Equations
(1) and (2a), the voltage drops across R, L, and C can be expressed as follows:

̅𝑉̅𝑅̅ = 𝑅𝐼 ̅

𝑉̅𝐿 = 𝑗𝑋𝐿𝐼 ̅

𝑉ˉ𝐶̅𝑉̅𝐶̅ = −𝑗𝑋𝐶𝐼 ̅

From these equations, it is evident that the voltage drop across the resistor (̅𝑉̅𝑅̅) is in phase with the input
AC voltage (̅𝑉̅𝑖𝑛̅̅). However, the voltage across the inductor (𝑉̅𝐿) leads the current, while the voltage
across the capacitor (̅𝑉̅𝐶̅) lags behind the current. The phase relationships among these voltages are
depicted in Figure 4.2.

Fig 4.2: Phasor diagram of R-L-C series circuit.

Furthermore, since the values of inductive and capacitive reactances (XL and XC) depend on the AC supply
frequency (f), they are frequency-dependent parameters. At a particular frequency, known as the resonance
frequency (fr), the magnitudes of inductive and capacitive reactances become equal. This resonance
condition is described by the formula:

1
𝑓𝑟 =
 2π√𝐿𝐶

Fig 4.3: R, XL, XC variation with frequency.

The variation of reactance with frequency is illustrated in Figure 4.3. From the graph, it is clear that at

referred to as "Resonance." At resonance, the voltages across the inductor (𝑏𝑎𝑟𝑉𝐿) and capacitor (̅𝑉̅𝐶̅)
resonance (fr), the overall impedance of the R-L-C circuit is purely resistive (R). This phenomenon is

exceed the applied AC supply voltage.

Measurements:

1
Table-1: Parameters (Referring to Fig 4.1)

𝑓𝑟 =
2𝜋√𝐿𝐶
R L C

= 0.99 kΩ = 2H =0.229 µF = 235.3 Hz

Table-2: Steady-state response of R-L-C series circuit

AC Supply Voltage across Voltage across Voltage across Current in the R-L-C
voltage resistance-R inductance-L capacitance-C series circuit (mA)
Vin (Volt) VR (Volt) VL (Volt) VC (Volt) I: VR/R

17 0.095 5.45 0.022 0.095

18 0.101 5.773 0.025 0.101

 19 0.106 6.091 0.025 0.106

20 0.112 6.413 0.025 0.112

Table-3: Observations for frequency response of R-L-C series circuit

10
Plots:
50
Plot (a) Logarithmic Frequency (Hz) vs Absolute Magnitude
 Magnitude
3

2.5 220, 2.456

1.5

0.5

0
1 10 100 1000 10000 100000

Plot (b) Logarithmic Frequency (Hz) vs Phase Angle (deg)

Phase Angle vs Frequency

50

0
1 10 100 1000 10000 100000

-50

-100

-150

-200

(c) Resonance Frequency

The resonance frequency from the graph occurs at the frequency 220 Hz, which corresponds to the
absolute magnitude of 2.456 approximately.

1
The calculated theoretical value of the resonant frequency is given by:
=
𝑓𝑟 2�√𝐿
L = 2H
C = 0.229 µF

𝑓𝑟
fr = 235.2 Hz
The resonance frequency from the graph of 220 Hz closely matches the calculated resonance frequency of
235.2 Hz.

Conclusions:
The circuit was used to analyze the frequency response of a series RLC Circuit by measuring the capacitor
voltage and phase shift at different frequencies. Then a graph between the absolute magnitude voltage
ratio of the voltage across capacitor to input voltage was plotted. Another graph of phase difference
between capacitor voltage and input voltage was plotted. Using these plots the resonance frequency was
found which occurred at the maximum value of absolute magnitude. The experimental result closely
matched the theoretical resonance frequency.

Verification: