211EEE1301-

Basic Electrical and Electronics

Engineering
YOU DON'T NEED ANYONE PERMISSION TO MAKE SOMETHING GREAT.-MASSIMO BANZI

UNIT-II
AC CIRCUITS
AC Fundamentals
M.Karuppasamy Pandian
AP/EEE
 Alternating Current (AC)
▪Voltages of ac sources alternate in polarity and vary in magnitude
▪Voltages produce currents that vary in magnitude and alternate in direction.

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 Alternating Current
▪A sinusoidal ac waveform starts at zero
▪ Increases to a positive maximum
▪ Decreases to zero
▪ Changes polarity
▪ Increases to a negative maximum
▪ Returns to zero
▪Variation is called a cycle.
▪Why Sine wave?
▪Produces less loss
▪Less interference on telephone lines
▪ Least disturbance in the electrical circuit.

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 AC Waveforms Types
Single Phase Three Phase

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 AC Terminology
▪Waveform ▪Frequency
▪Instantaneous value ▪Amplitude
▪Cycle ▪Average value
▪ Alteration ▪RMS or effective value
▪Time period ▪Phasor

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 Waveform
▪The shape of the curve obtaining by plotting the Instantaneous values of voltage or current as
against time.

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 Instantaneous value
▪The value of an alternating quantity at any instant is called instantons quantity. This is
represented by lower case letter.

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 Cycle
▪One complete set of positive and negative values of an alternating quantity is known as cycle.

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 Alteration
▪One half cycle of an alternating quantity is called as an alteration.

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 Frequency
▪Number of cycles per second of a waveform
◦ Frequency
◦ Denoted by f

Unit of frequency is hertz (Hz)

1 Hz = 1 cycle per second
▪f=1/T

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 Time Period

▪Time it takes to complete one cycle

▪Time is measured in seconds
▪The period is the reciprocal of frequency
◦ T = 1/f

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 Amplitude and Peak-to-Peak Value
▪Amplitude of a sine wave
◦ The maximum value attained (positive or negative) attained by an alternating quantity.

▪Peak-to-peak voltage
◦ Measured between minimum and maximum
peaks +Vp to -Vp

▪To represent Peak-to-peak voltage, we use Epp or Vpp

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 Peak Value or Maximum Value
▪Peak value of an ac voltage or current
◦ Maximum value with respect to zero
◦ Represented by Vp or Vm

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 Average value
▪To find an average value of a waveform
◦ Divide area under waveform by length of its base

Areas above axis are positive, areas below axis are negative.
Let i1, i2, i3…….. in be the mid ordinates.
▪The Average value of current Iav = mean of the mid ordinates

▪What is average value of sine waveform?

Vav=0.637Vm

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 RMS –ROOT MEAN SQUARE-EFFECTIVE VALUE
▪Effective value or RMS value of an ac waveform is an equivalent dc
value
◦ It tells how many volts or amps of dc that an ac waveform supplies in
terms of its ability to produce the same average power.

➢ The effective or r.m.s value of an alternating current is that

steady current (d.c) which flowing through a given resistance for a
given time produces the same amount of heat as produced by the
alternating current when flowing through the same resistance for
the same time.
➢ R.M.S value= Root(Area of half cycle wave squared/Half-cycle
base)
➢What is r.m.s value for sine waveform?
Vrms=0.707Vm

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 Factors
Form factor
Form factor= RMS Value/Average value
For sine wave form, what is form factor?
Form Factor= 0.707Vm/ 0.637Vm= 1.11
Peak Factor (or) Crest factor
Peak Factor= Max value/ RMS value
For Sine wave form, what is peak factor?
Peak Factor= Vm/ 0.707Vm=1.414

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 The Basic Sine Wave Equation
▪Voltage produced by a generator is
◦ e = Vmax sin θ

▪Vmax is maximum (peak) voltage

θ is instantaneous angular position of rotating coil of the generator.
▪Since θ = t, the equation e = Vmax sin θ
becomes v(t) = Vmax sin t
▪Also, v(t) = Vmax sin t and i(t) = Imax sin t

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 Phasor and Phasor diagram
▪Rotating vectors whose projection onto a
vertical or horizontal axis can be used to
represent sinusoidally varying quantities.
▪ Phasor is defined as how much distance
waveform shifted from zero.
▪It is graphical representation of sinusoidally
varying quantities
▪Phasors used to represent shifted waveforms

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 Phase Difference
▪Phase difference is angular displacement between waveforms of same frequency.
▪If angular displacement is 0°, waveforms are in phase
▪ If angular displacement is not 0o, they are out of phase by amount of displacement.
▪ If v1 = 5 sin(100t) and v2 = 3 sin(100t - 30°), v1 leads v2 by 30°
▪ If v1 = 5 sin(100t-30°) and v2 = 3 sin(100t), v1 lags v2 by 30°
▪ If v1 = 5 sin(100t) and v2 = 3 sin(100t), v1 and v2 are in phase.

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 Phase Difference
➢ The terms lead and lag can be
understood in terms of phasors.
If you observe phasors rotating
as in Figure, the one that you
see passing first is leading and
the other is lagging.

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 Power factor
➢ Cosine angle between voltage and current.
➢Pf= CosΦ
➢It defines the quality of power. PF close to one means quality of power is good.
➢Power factor may be lagging or leading. It depends on circuit nature.
➢ What is the power factor DC circuit?
Pf is unity or one in DC circuits because v and I are in Phase. (Φ=0)

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 Reactance of Inductors and Capacitors
▪The ratio of voltage to current is a measure of how the component opposes the flow of
electricity
▪In a resistor this is termed its resistance
▪In inductors and capacitors it is termed its reactance
▪Reactance is given the symbol X
▪Therefore
ac tan ce of an inductor, X L = L
Reactance
Re

1
ac tan ce of a capacitor, XC =
Reactance
Re
C

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 Impedance
➢The relationship between current and voltage in circuits containing reactance can be
described by its impedance.
➢ In DC circuits, circuit contains only resistor, hence V=IR.
➢But in AC circuits, circuit contains resistance and reactance's. Hence in AC circuit V=IZ
➢ Where, Z=R+jX
In general,

Z = R2 + X 2 −1 X
 = tan
R

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 Impedance Triangle
➢ From this triangle, PF and phase angle can be obtained.
➢ PF=cosΦ= R/Z
➢Phase angle Φ=tan^-1(X/R)

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 Resistance connected to an AC supply
i

v
Instantaneous current, i=
i R
v = Vm sin(2ft )
i = m sin (2ft )
R V
R
i = I m sin (2ft )

v
i
Current and Voltage are in phase

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Pure Inductance connected to an AC supply

▪Current lags behind the voltage by 90 degree. i – instantaneous current
i

v = Vm sin (2ft )
v
L

Phasor diagram and wave form

▪ Current I=V/Z where Z=impedance=XL=2*pi*f*l

▪ Power factor= 0 Lagging
▪ Voltage across inductor= IXL

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Capacitance connected to an AC supply

➢ Current leads voltage by 90 degree. i
i
i

v = Vm sin(2ft ) C
v

Phasor diagram and wave form

▪ Current I=V/Z where Z=impedance=XC=1/2*pi*f*C

▪ Power factor= 0 Leading
▪ Voltage across capacitor= IXC

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 Memory Aid for AC Elements
“E L i”

An old, but very effective, way to remember the

the phase differences for inductors and “I C E”
capacitors is :
man
“E L I” the “i C E” Man

Emf E is before current i in inductors L; Emf E is after current i in capacitors C.

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 POWER IN AC CIRCUITS
▪ Real Power or True Power P= VI cosΦ Watts
▪Reactive power Q=VI SinΦ Volt ampere Rating (VAR)
▪Apparent Power S=VI Volt-ampere (VA)
▪ Power triangle can also be used to find power factor
of an AC circuit.
PF=P/S

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 ANALYSIS OF AC SERIES CIRCUIT

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