AC CURRENTS

1) Introduction:
Till now you would have learnt about DC currents i.e. Current which flows in
a unique direction and for a given constant voltage V, flows through a resistor R with a constant
magnitude of V/R with the conventional flow of cu rrent being from the positive terminal to
the negative terminal of the battery.

AC Currents change their direction alternately with time.

AC Currents are functions of time i=f (t). It can be any function of time with any kind of crazy
graph but here we restrict ourselves to the study of alternating current which varies
sinusoidally with time i.e. i = sin(t + ).It may seem that we are restricting ourselves a lot by
choosing sine waves alone but a lot of electrical signals and voltages are sine waves and any
periodic function can be built up from sine waves (with the use of Fouriers series (not in JEE
portions)).

2) Analysis of the sine function:

i = sin(t + ).

Here is the maximum value of the current called the current amplitude or its peak value. The
current repeats its value after a time interval of T=2/. This is the Time Period. The current is
positive (along one direction) for half a time period and reverses direction (becomes negative)
for the next half of the time period. is the angular frequency. is the initial phase of the sine
wave.

To produce such an alternating current a source of sinusoidally varying emf is required . This is
achieved by AC Dynamos or AC Generators which convert mechanical energy into electrical
energy.

3) AC Generator:

Shown above is an AC Dynamo/Generator. It has three main parts:

a) Magnet: Permanent or Electromagnet which generates a strong uniform magnetic field

of magnitude B.
b) Armature: The wire loop shown. It is generally wound over a soft iron core. The core
increases the magnetic field by getting magnetized. The two ends of the Loop are
connected to two Slip rings. The loop along with the rings can rotate about the axis
shown in the magnetic field. The axis of rotation of the coil(loop) is perpendicular to the
magnetic field.
 c) Carbon Brushes: Two brushes usually of graphite are in permanent contact with the slip
rings and are connected externally. They serve as a conducting path to extract the
output ac voltage from the armature and carry it out to the external circuit.

Working:
Let the area of the coil be A and let it consist of N turns. Suppose it is rotated at a constant
angular momentum of . At t = 0 let the plane of the coil be along the magnetic field. Thus at
t=0 the total flux through it is 0. Suppose at time t the coil has rotated about an angle = t then
flux through one turn is given by, Flux = BAcost.

By Faradays Law, emf induced in each turn of the coil is negative of the rate of change of flux
with time i.e. ABcost

Thus total induced emf E = NABcost. Where max emf induced is NAB. Time period is T =
2/. If the brushes are connected externally this emf will drive a correspondingly varying
current through the circuit.

Check out : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nRMZ3K2pzcE for a more detailed

explanation.

4) Why AC Currents ?
Now you might have the doubt that why we are so concerned about AC currents which are so
complicated. The reason is the power outlets in your house supply AC current and electric
power is transmitted as AC currents. AC currents can easily be stepped up and down using
transformers and can be much more efficiently transmitted.

Extra: Check out the war of currents on Wikipedia

Initially appliances used AC current to run (Old model fridges and radios) but with the advent of
semiconductors all appliances run on DC (TV, Computers) so AC current has to be converted
to DC currents and then used. This is done with the help of circuits called Rectifiers.

These Rectifiers are used in phone adapters to convert AC to DC to charge your phone.

Check out : http://www.wired.com/2014/11/charge-dc-phone-ac-source/ to know more about

them.

5) RMS Current:
The Equation for current gives the instantaneous value of the current at any given time. This is
very cumbersome to work with so to simplify things we may consider using the average value of
the current. But the average value of current over one time period T is 0 as it is positive for one
half and negative for the other half . Check it yourself by integrating i = sin(t + ) over time.

For this reason we take the Root Mean Square Average. This was done with the heat generated
by the AC current in mind. We are going to replace AC current with a DC current which flowing
through a resistor R would generate the same heat as that of AC current.

Split the time period T into N sub parts each of value t such that t = T/N. Also the division is
made in such a way that a constant current flows through the resistor R in each subpart of time
t i.e. say flows in the first t, in the second t and so on till in the Nth t.

Now total heat generated in time T by the AC current is Rt+ Rt+ Rt+..+ Rt

H = ( + + +..+ )Rt.

If a DC current i flowed through the same resistor R for the same time T then heat generated is
.

Equating, = ( + + +..+ )Rt

= ( + + +..+ )t = ( + + +..+ )/N

This current i is known as the rms current, .

= ( + + +..+ )/N = ( + + +..+ )t/T

Now if the current varies very rapidly then the subparts of time are made infinitesimally small

i.e. dt, so = .

For i = sin(t + ) , = /2.

Check out: H C Verma Pg.317 Vol 2 for evaluation of the above integral with i = sin(t + ).

Similiarly, For Voltage V = sin(t + ) , = /2.

Remember the rms current generates the exact same amount of heat that the AC current
generates across R while flowing for the same time.

NOTE : When it is given that a an AC current of 15 A flows through the circuit they mean that
rms value not the peak value.
 6) Simple AC Circuits:

a) AC Circuit with Resistor Only:

As shown, an AC Source of voltage V = sin(t) is hooked up with a resistor of Resistance R.

Such a circuit is known as a purely resistive circuit. Now applying Kirchoffs Second law
assuming a clockwise flow of current at the time t we consider, we get

sin(t) = Ri

i= sin(t) where peak current = .

As we can see here the current wave is in phase with the voltage wave, it only has an amplitude
reduced by a factor of 1/R as shown in fig. (b).

b) AC Circuit with only a Capacitor:

As always the source is given by V = sin(t) (no surprise there)

This circuit is known as pure capacitative circuit. Suppose at any time t the current in the circuit
is i flowing clockwise and the charge is q on the capacitor. In an infinitesimally small amount of
time dt the charge that accumulates on the capacitor is given by,

dq = idt i.e. i =

By Kirchoffs Law, sin(t) = q/C

Differentiating both sides, we get cos(t) = i/C

i= cos(t) sin(t +

Peak Current = and the charge on the capacitor varies with time. Alternate charging
and discharging of the capacitor is observed.

Where = and is known as the reactance of the capacitor. It plays the role of resistance
here. Its unit is ohms. Greater the reactance more the resistance the capacitor offers towards
the flow of current. So for sources with high frequency and capacitors with high capacitances
the reactance is small and so the peak current is accordingly larger.

If frequency = 0 (DC Current): we see that the reactance becomes infinite and the peak
current goes to zero. Thus a capacitor allows alternating current but blocks direct current.

As we can see the current leads the emf by /2 at any given time t i.e. when the emf is zero the
current reaches its peak value and vice versa. (Shown in fig)

c) AC Circuit with only an Inductor:

As shown in the diagram an alternating source of emf, V = sin(t) is connected to an inductor

of inductance L.
This circuit is called a purely inductive circuit. The emf induced along the inductor is .

From Kirchoffs loop law assuming a clockwise current at the time t of consideration,

We get sin(t) =

Sending L to the other side and integrating we get, i = (-) cos(t) + C

NOTE: Here (-) is a minus.

We know that the average of i over one T should be zero as i is purely sinusoidal in nature due
to the fact that emf is purely sinusoidal too, so C = 0.

Thus i = sin(t - ) where peak current =

Also = L is known as the reactance of the inductor. It plays the role of a resistor. Larger its
value greater the resistance offered. Unit is ohm. For DC reactance offered is 0 and it increases
as increases.

We can see that the current through the inductor lags behind the inductor by i.e. when
current is at its negative maximum the emf is zero.

7) Impedance Z:
Impedance given by Z is the total measure of the resistance offered by an AC circuit to the flow
of current through it.

Z = R for a purely resistive circuit

Z= for a purely capacitative circuit

Z = L for a purely inductive circuit

8) Phasors: (Using vectors to find the current)

A) We represent the maximum of the quantity as a vector not the value of the quantity at
any time
B) Current is usually taken along the x-axis
C) Voltage depending on its phase relation with the current is arranged around the x-axis
 D) The vector sum of all the voltage vectors will give the net voltage which is then equated
with the source voltage
E) So now relative to the source voltage the current is known as we already fixed it along
the x-axis

This method works because emf is a sine wave and sine waves when added add up such
that the amplitudes are summed up like vectors with the angle between them being the
phase difference between the waves.

9) RL Circuits:

Let us use phasors to evaluate the current through an LR circuit,

As usual source emf is V = sin(t) (Vg in the diagram plz consider it as

The current is fixed along x-axis now is the max voltage through the resistor = and is
placed along x-axis too as it is phase with the current similarly = which is the max
voltage across the inductor and is placed perpendicular to the x-axis in the positive direction as
it leads the current through the circuit by 90 degrees.

Adding the vectors we get =

Also = tan

Thus we know the source voltage V = sin(t)

So correspondingly if current is along the x-axis then it should lag the source by = tan

Thus i = sin(t ) here Z =

10) RC Circuits:

Repeating what we learnt with phasors for RC circuits,

We see that is the same as in RL and = and is along negative y-axis as the voltage
across C lags the current through the circuit by 90 degrees.

Thus summing them we get = where Z =

Also = tan

Thus Current i = sin(t + )

Here the current leads the voltage by as seen from the phasors

11) Power Factor:

Advantages of an LR circuit:
An Inductor can be used to control the current in a circuit. We know in an LR circuit

Z= thus by increasing the inductance the resistance towards current can be

increased. This can be done by increasing R too. But the advantage of using L is that the energy
stored in the inductor over any T is zero i.e. over one half it is stored and in the other half of the
time period it is removed. Energy stored in the inductor over a cycle is = 0 . Whereas in
the case of R increasing it means we will be losing energy as heat due to Joules heating effect.

Average power dissipated across R = R= R

Average Power Dissipated Across R =

Now in a circuit with only a Resistor Z = R and Power =

But if the circuit has an inductor Power = and as Z>R R/Z < 1

So Power dissipated in purely resistive circuit is Z/R times the power dissipated in an LR circuit.

Thus the power dissipated has been reduced by a factor of R/Z this factor is known as the
Power Factor

Power Factor = R/Z. It is the factor by which power dissipated across the resistor decreases on
using capacitors or inductors.

Power Factor = = = cos where is the phase difference between the source

voltage and the current through the circuit.

NOTE: It isnt that Power Factor is defined for LR circuits only and is applicable in all AC circuits

Also since the capacitor and Inductor dont dissipate energy this power dissipated across R is
nothing but the Power delivered by the source.

Thus Power delivered by the source is

This can also be derived by using V at any time multiplied by the current at the same time to
get the instantaneous power which can then be averaged over the time period.

Proof can be found on HC Verma pg 321 Volume 2

It too arrives at the same conclusion

12) LCR Circuits:

The Voltages across L C and R are represented in the phasor. As the max voltages across L and C
are completely out of phase we can just subtract them. The resultant vector is
summed up with the voltage across the resistor. This gives the source voltage.

= where impedance Z =

Here = tan

This is done considering > i.e. an Inductive LCR Circuit and the value of is positive i.e.
the current lags the voltage i = sin(t - ).

If < it is a Conductive LCR Circuit the value of is negative i.e. the current leads the
voltage i = sin(t + ).
13) Resonance in Series LCR:
Now in an LCR circuit impedance Z = and it can be seen that at a particular
value of = and Z = R. Also as Impedance goes to a minimum the current in the circuit
increases to a maximum.

Peak value of current at resonance = /R.

Also Power Factor becomes one.

Basically at resonance the effects of the inductor and capacitor are equal and opposite and
cancel each other out.

Resonant Frequency is the at which =

1
=

Resonant Frequency = if varies about this value Z increases.

This the graph of Current vs Frequency

We can see that at resonance current is

maximum.

An LCR circuit used at frequency close to

the resonant one is known as a resonant
circuit or an acceptor circuit.

These circuits are used to tune radio and

televisions. The distance between the
plates of the Capacitor is varied by some
mechanism such that C varies until the
resonant frequency which is being varied by us matches with the broadcast frequency and
maximum current flows through the circuit.

It is observed that varying R affects the curve above.

As R increases the curve becomes more flat.

For smaller values of R it is sharper i.e. for smaller R once we deviate from the resonant
frequency the increase in impedance is substantial as R is small and so the current in the circuit
drops rapidly.

In case of larger R the change

in impedance is not much and
so the current drops slowly
and sluggishly.

We require the resonant

curve to be sharp as possible
as we want only the signal to
give us max current and
almost zero current at the
other unwanted signals.

This aspect is characterized by a Quality Factor Q.

Higher the value of Q sharper the curve.

Parallel AC circuits not in Syllabus.

Hot Wire Instruments:

Hot wire instruments are basically instruments that read the rms value of AC current, voltage
etc.

This is done by making the deflection proportional to rms value squared of the corresponding
AC current or voltage.

For exact construction and working refer HC Verma Pg 324 Volume 2

14) Choke Coil:

Choke coil is nothing but an

inductor having a large inductance
but very low resistance.

In most places the input current is

220 V 50 Hz this current if taken in
directly by our electrical appliances
that run on AC current like
incandescent bulbs will be
damaged.

So to reduce the current a choke

coil is used. Commonly seen in
mercury tube lights.

A choke coil connected to an an AC

source is a simple LR circuit.

i= sin(t ) is the current as seen before.

The advantage is that the voltage is reduced at the expense of no power loss as the inductor
doesnt dissipate energy.

15) LC Circuit:
In an LC circuit depending on whether > or < the current will either lag or lead the
voltage.

Power Factor here = 0 as R =0

 i.e. No power is dissipated the power supplied by the source is juggled
between the inductor and the capacitor back and forth.

This current is called a Wattless Current.

16) Transformers:

This device is used to obtain either a high AC voltage from a low AC voltage Step up
Transformer or vice versa Step Down Transformer.

It works on the principle of Mutual inductance.

It consists of a laminated soft iron core. A primary winding of turns to which the emf source
is connected and a secondary winding of turns is present.

When an alternating emf is applied across the primary winding a current flows in the primary
circuit while a current flows through the secondary circuit due to electromagnetic induction.
The currents magnetize the soft iron core which in turn produces a strong constant magnetic
field of magnitude B. Assuming the field is constant flux through each turn of both the circuits is
BA where A is the area. Let denote the flux through each turn.

Emf induced in the primary circuit is and similarly emf induced in the second coil is

.

Neglecting Resistance in the primary circuit and applying Kirchoffs lae we get

= 0.

Let the output alternating voltage at the secondary coil be then repeating the same for the
second coil we get

= 0.

Thus, =

The negative sign denotes that is 180 degrees out of phase with

Depending on the transformer is either a step up or a step down transformer.

If < 1 it is a step down transformer as < and vice versa

Efficiency of the transformer = output power/input power

Output is < Input due to hysteresis loss heat loss eddy currents etc.

Now the use of this transformer is appreciated in transporting electric power over long
distances. Large currents require thicker wires (less resistance) so that heating loss is less so
current is transported under large voltages and once the destination is reached the voltage is
reduced and the current is increased. This can be achieved for AC currents using step up and
step down transformers but cannot be done in the case of DC currents that is why power can
be more efficiently transmitted in the case of AC currents

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