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The Impedance Model

Contents
1 Prerequisites

2 Introduction

3 Linearity

4 Complex numbers

5 Generalizing the method of complex numbers

6 Power

7 Conclusion

8 References

Prerequisites

The prerequisites to understand this article are:


Basic understanding of calculus including differentiation and integration.
Very basic understanding of differential equations.
Firm grasp of electric circuits and understanding of capacitors and inductors as elements in
DC circuits.
Basic knowledge of complex numbers.

Introduction

In this article, we will try to find an easy and simple way to deal with the response of LRC circuits
to an AC voltage input. We will first attempt to solve the series LRC circuit and then generalize it
to any combination. Consider this circuit diagram:

Figure 1: A series LRC circuit.


Let V (t) = A sin(t), and let the current through the circuit be denoted by I(t). We know that
the voltage across a capacitor is given by
q
C
where q is the charge on it and C is its capacitance.
Using Faradays law around the loop in the above circuit, we get
VC =

d
q
V (t) =
C
dt
where is the flux linked with the circuit. Since = LI(t), we get
RI(t) +

RI(t) +

q
dI(t)
V (t) = L
C
dt

Differentiating with respecting to time and rearranging, we get


R

dV
dI
I
d2 I
+ +L 2 =
dt
C
dt
dt

Dividing throughout by L and using the shorthand

dI
dt

= I 0 , we get

1
V0
R 0
I +
I=
(1)
L
LC
L
The above differential equation is a particular case of a type of differential equation called a
second order linear differential equation. Second order means that the highest derivative is a
second derivative. We will look into exactly what linear means in the subsequent section. This
equation is special in that the coefficients of the derivative terms are constant. This equation
comes up in numerous cases of physics and is of utmost importance with regards to AC circuits.
Therefore, we will go through the whole process of solving this equation, which will also reveal a
slick mathematical method which uses complex numbers to simplify the problem.
I 00 +

Linearity

Equation 1 possesses a property called linearity. It basically means that its solutions have the following property. Consider two solutions of equation 1 called I1 and I2 . It is clear that (aI1 + bI2 )
is also a solution of (1) for any two real numbers a and b. This means that equation 3 is linear.
Consider a slightly different equation:
I 00 +

1
R 0
I +
I=0
L
LC

(2)

Let I1 be a solution of (1) and I0 be a solution of (2). Clearly, (I0 + I1 ) is also a solution of (1).
We call I1 a particular solution and I0 a homogenous solution. Let us now explore an elegant
way of solving these equations.

Complex numbers

If we allow the solution of (1) to be a complex function A, it follows from linearity that Re(A) and
Im(A) are also solutions of (1), where Re() and Im() denote the real and imaginary parts. Let us
now suppose that the input voltage V is also complex, keeping its real part the actual input voltage,
and its imaginary part can be chosen such that the equation yields a simplified form. This can be
done by using Eulers formula:
ej = cos + j sin

where j = 1.
We then choose V as follows:
V = Vejt
where V is some complex number, and is the angular frequency of the input AC voltage. Since
V is a complex number, it can expressed as follows:
V = V0 ej
where V0 is a real number. If we take the real part of V (t), we get
Re(V (t)) = V0 cos (t + )

It is clear therefore that V0 is the peak voltage of the source and that it is equal to |V| where |z|
represents the modulus of z. Now going back to solving Equation 1, we get
1
V
R 0
I +
I = jejt
L
LC
L
Let us now guess a solution of the form A(t) = Iejt where I is some complex number. This
is the part where the complex numbers help us. Noting that the derivative of the exponential is a
constant times the exponential itself allows us to simplify the equation into
I 00 +

(I 2 +

R
1
V
Ij +
I)ejt = jejt
L
LC
L

Which becomes
R
1
V
j +
)I = j
L
LC
L

( 2 +
Solving for I, we get
I=

Vj
2 L + jR +

I=

V
R + j(L

1
C

or

If we say Z = R + j(L

1
C )

1
C )

= Z0 ej ,
V = IZ

(3)

Now it is clear that,


A(t) =
A(t) =

V jt
e
Z

V0 j(t+)
e
Z0

Since I(t) = Re(A(t)),


I(t) =

V0
cos (t + )
Z0

Since we are interested only in the steady state solution of the system(more on why in Section
V0
, we get
5), we can take the phase of the voltage, to be 0. Also, setting I0 = Z
0
I(t) = I0 cos (t )
where,
V0
I0 = q
R2 + (L

1 2
C )

1
L C
R
This is the final solution of the system. One thing to notice is that

= arctan

I = I0 ej
V and I are called complex amplitudes or phasors, because they alone encapsulate the amplitude
and phase of oscillations. When they are multiplied with ejt , the oscillating term, we get the total
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solution. They are usually represented on the complex plane as arrows from the origin. The phase
difference between the voltage and the current, is the angle between the two corresponding arrows
on the complex plane. Notice that this angle is also the argument of the complex number Z. These
observations are important features of the Impedance model, which is discussed in the next section.

Figure 2: Phasor diagram in which current lags voltage by 90 degrees

Generalizing the method of complex numbers

If we take a closer look at equation (3), we notice that it is remarkably similar to the expression
given by Ohms law. This important observation is the what gives rise to the Impedance model.
We call Z the impedance of the circuit given in Figure 1. Notice that the impedance depends on
the frequency of the input , but not its modulus |V|. The real part of the impedance is called
the resistance and the imaginary part is called the reactance. Both have dimensions of resistance.
The reactance is sometimes divided into capacitive and inductive reactances, which only introduces
a minus sign. We can ignore this triviality, and simply refer to the impedance as a whole. If we
consider circuits with an AC input only to a resistor, a capacitor and an inductor in isolation, we
find the following corresponding impedances(deriving these expressions is left as an exercise to the
reader):
ZR = R
ZL = jL
j
ZC =
C
Observe that the impedance Z in Equation (3) is exactly equal to ZR + ZL + ZC .
This means that the total impedance of different components in series is the sum of their individual impedances, just like the resistance in Ohms law! It is clear that the parallel impedance is
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also exactly analogous to the parallel resistance, using relation (3). We have now found a general
method to solve any circuit network of resistors, inductors and capacitors, with a single AC source1 .
A summary of this method is as follows:
Replace the various components with their equivalent impedances.
Simplify the circuit by treating these impedances as ordinary resistances.
Use Ohms law to find the complex current amplitude I.
Multiply I by the oscillating term ejt , and take the real part to obtain the final expression
for I(t).
One important point to remember about the Impedance model is that it only gives the steady
state solution of the circuit, and does not give any information about transient solutions. These
transients are given by the homogenous solutions described in section 3. This means that the
response of the circuit immediately after switching on the source is not governed by the solution
derived using the Impedance model. That solution is reached only after a certain amount of time
after which the transients die out. This is also evident from the fact that the solution I(t) does not
depend on the initial conditions of the the circuit like the charge on the capacitor or the current
through the inductor. This important point must kept in mind while solving problems which involve
initial conditions.

Power

The last aspect which we will be looking at is the power dissipated in AC circuits. We know that
for a simple DC circuit, the power P is given by,
P =VI
In the case of AC circuits, V and I are now functions of time, so the power dissipated also becomes
a function of time. In the above expression, P is therefore the instantaneous power dissipated. To
find the average power dissipated in one cycle of the voltage or current, we need to integrate this
power over time and divide by the total time. This is written as
RT

V (t)I(t)dt
T
2
where T = is the time period of oscillations of the voltage and current.
By substituting the results derived in section 4 and evaluating the resultant trig integral, we get
Pavg =

Pavg =

VI
cos
2

This is sometimes written as


Pavg = Vrms Irms cos
V

I
2

where Vrms =
and Irms =
are the root-mean square voltage and current respectively.
The average power is sometimes also called the real power or the active power as it measures the
net amount of energy that the system dissipates in unit time. The apparent power S is defined as
S = Vrms Irms and the reactive power Q is defined as Q = Vrms Irms sin . It is clear that
S 2 = P 2 + Q2
1 Linear

circuits with multiple AC sources can be solved using superposition by considering the different sources
individually in the networks and superposing the results. This process of using superposition is one of the most
powerful techniques in solving complex circuit networks.

This can be visualized in the figure shown below:

Figure 3: Power triangle, denoting the units used for each type of power
The value of cos is also called the power factor of a system as it measures the fraction of
delivered(apparent) power which is actually dissipated as real power. A power factor of 1 means
that all the delivered power is being used. If a system has a low power factor, it will have a
larger apparent power for the same amount of real power dissipated compared to a system with a
larger power factor. This is undesirable because a high apparent power draws larger currents, which
increases the losses in distribution systems. This is why most electrical appliances are made such
that they have a high power factor close to 1. This is also the reason behind distribution services
charging a higher price for consumers who have low power factor systems.

Conclusion

In this article, we have learned a method of reducing the complex problem of solving the differential
equations which arise from an electric circuit with an AC input voltage to a simple algebraic problem.
This was done using the slick mathematical trick of adding an imaginary part to our voltage and
current, which lead to the simplification of the differential equation to a problem in basic algebra.
We also saw how this method could be generalized and developed a model to solve any combination
of components in the system. We called this the Impedance model. We also delved into the practical
part of these systems by looking at the power aspect of AC circuits, and how they affect the efficiency
of power distribution.

References

Solving systems using superposition:


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Superposition theorem
Picture credits:
http://helios.augustana.edu/ dr/102/lectures/25.html
http://www.consultmalta.com/2015/02/10/power-factor-correction/
Written by Rajat V D

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