Experiment 8 Series RLC Circuit

Aim: - To design and study the variation in current and voltage in a series RLC
circuit
Theory: In RLC circuit, the most fundamental elements like resistor, inductor and
capacitor are connected across a voltage supply. All these elements are linear and
passive in nature; i.e. they consume energy rather than producing it and these
elements have a linear relationship between voltage and current. There are
number of ways of connecting these elements across voltage supply, but the most
common method is to connect these elements either in series or in parallel. So
when a resistor, inductor and capacitor are connected in series with the voltage
supply, the circuit so formed is called series RLC circuit.

Series RLC Circuit

Since all these components are connected in series, the current in each element
remains the same,

Where VR is the voltage across resistor, R.

VL is the voltage across inductor, L.
VC is the voltage across capacitor, C.
XL is the inductive reactance.
XC is the capacitive reactance.

In a pure ohmic resistor, the instantaneous voltage across a pure resistor, VR is

in-phase with the current, in a pure inductance The instantaneous voltage across
a pure inductor, VL leads the current by 900 and in a pure capacitance The
instantaneous voltage across a pure capacitor, VC lags the current by 900.
Therefore, VL and VC are 1800 out-of-phase and in opposition to each other.

This means then that we cannot simply add together VR, VL and VC to find the
supply voltage, VS across all three components as all three voltage vectors point
in different directions with regards to the current vector. Therefore, we will have
to find the supply voltage, VS as the Phasor Sum of the three component voltages
combined together vectorially.
Phasor Diagram for a Series RLC Circuit
The phasor diagram for a series RLC circuit is produced by combining together
the three individual phasors above and adding these voltages vectorially. Since
the current flowing through the circuit is common to all three circuit elements we
can use this as the reference vector with the three voltage vectors drawn relative
to this at their corresponding angles.
The resulting vector VS is obtained by adding together two of the vectors, VL and
VC and then adding this sum to the remaining vector VR. The resulting angle
obtained between VS and I (current) will be the circuits phase angle as shown
below.

Here, VS 2 = VR 2 + (VL VC) 2

VS = 2 + ( )2
Where VR = I. R, VL = I. XL and VC = I. XC
And XL = jL, XC =

1
jC

VS = (I. R)2 + (I. X I. X )2 => VS = I. R 2 + (X X )2

Therefore, VS = I. Z

where Z = R 2 + (X X )2

Z is the circuits overall impedance.

Impedance Triangle
for a Series RLC
Circuit

2
1
2

Z = R + (jL
jC )

Vs

Current I =

R 2 +(jL

1 2
)
jC

The phase angle, between the source voltage, VS and the current, i is the same
as for the angle between Z and R in the impedance triangle. This phase angle
may be positive or negative in value depending on whether the source voltage
leads or lags the circuit current and can be calculated mathematically as
Cos =

R
Z

sin =

XL X C
Z

tan

XL XC
R

Cos is the power factor of the circuit

The impedance Z of a series RLC circuit depends upon the angular
frequency, as do XL and XC. If the capacitive reactance is greater than the
inductive reactance, XC > XL then the overall circuit reactance is capacitive
giving a leading phase angle. Likewise, if the inductive reactance is greater than
the capacitive reactance, XL > XC then the overall circuit reactance is inductive
giving the series circuit a lagging phase angle. If the two reactances are the same
and XL = XC then the angular frequency at which this occurs is called the resonant
frequency and produces the effect of resonance.
So at resonance the circuit must have unity power factor i.e. XL - XC = 0
Hence, 0L =
0 =

1
LC

1
0 C

=> f0 =

1
2LC

where f0 is the resonance frequency in hertz

and the current at resonance is given by

I0 =

V
R

Quality Factor
The Q, quality factor, of a resonant circuit is a measure of the goodness or
quality of a resonant circuit. A higher value for this figure of merit corresponds
to a narrower bandwidth, which is desirable in many applications. The quality

factor represents the voltage amplification factor and has a value much greater
than unity.
Q0 =

|VL |
V

|VC |
V

|VL| = |j 0LI0| = 0LI0 and |VC| = |

I0
j0

0
|
=
C
C
0

|V| = |I0 R| = I0 R
Q0 =

0 L
R

1
0

=
RC R C

Frequency Response of series resonant circuit

The -3dB point or the half power point gives us a current value that is 70.7% of
its maximum resonant value which is defined as: 0.5(I2 R) = (0.707 x I)2 R. Then
the point corresponding to the lower frequency at half the power is called the
lower cut-off frequency, labelled L with the point corresponding to the upper
frequency at half power being called the upper cut-off frequency, labelled H.
The distance between these two points, i.e. (H L) is called the Bandwidth.
(BW) = H L here 0 = r

Q0 = 0 where 0 = H L

0
Q0

H =

+ 0

and L = 0 -

= L (Bandwidth of series resonant circuit)

Observations: 1. Suppose an AC generator with V(t)=(150V) sin(100t) is connected to a

series RLC circuit with R= 40 , L = 80.0 mH, and C = 50 F. Find VR0,
VL0 and VC0, the maximum values of the voltage drop across each circuit
element. Simulate the circuit in multisim and compare with theoretical
values.
2. Design and simulate a series RLC circuit by choosing C=4nF, L=10 mH
and R=75. Find out, the frequency of the circuit at which impedance is
minimum.
3. Design a RLC circuit which resonates at a frequency of 104/ Hz and also
find the bandwidth of the circuit. The resistor of the circuit has a value of
2 k and the source is V(t)=(150V) sin(100t).
4. Find the quality factor Q for the above question.