AC Fundamentals

An overview
A sinusoidal current wave
Basic Terms
An AC voltage or current 1
reverses its direction at 0.8
regular intervals. 0.6
•Magnitude & Phase: each 0.4
half of sine wave is made 0.2
up a number of 0
instantaneous values. The
-0.2
peak value refers to the
-0.4
maximum voltage or
-0.6
current value.
-0.8
The fraction of time
-1
period, which has elapsed 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

since the quantity last

passed through zero
position of reference, is
called Phase.
Mathematical &
vector representation
The instantaneous value can
be expressed mathematically
as:

Where v(t) and i(t) are

instantaneous current and
voltage values and Vm and Im
are the peak values. 1

0.8

The time required to produce 0.6

one complete cycle is called 0.4

0.2

the Time period which is 0

related to frequency by f=1/T -0.2

and the angular velocity ω is -0.4

-0.6

equal to 2Пf radians per -0.8

second. -1
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
 Graphical representation
• Since an ac voltage and current has two
important parameters- magnitude and phase;
they are represented by complex numbers
a+jb in rectangular coordinate or (r,θ) in polar
form.
• Graphically an ac quantity can be represented
in Vector(phasor) form which can
simultaneously represent the magnitude and
phase of the quantity.
The RMS value
It is the equivalent DC 1

voltage( or current) which 0.8

effectively produces the 0.6

same power across a 0.4

resistor as the power 0.2

produced by the ac 0

voltage. -0.2

-0.4
The equivalent DC voltage
can be determined by -0.6

taking the root of the -0.8

mean value of squared -1

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

instantaneous values over

a period, thus abbreviated
RMS(Root mean square)
Value.
 1

Mathematically: 0.8

0.6

0.4

0.2

-0.2
The RMS value is related to -0.4
peak value by a factor of -0.6

-0.8

-1
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
 1

Phase relationship 0.8

0.6

Two ac quantities are said to be in- 0.4

phase if they start and reach their 0.2

peak values simultaneously. 0

-0.2

If v2 reaches its peak value before V1, -0.4

then V2 leads V1 by some angle Ф. -0.6

Mathematically; -0.8

-1
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

0.8

If v2 reaches its peak value afterV1, 0.6

then V2 lags V1 by some angle Ф. 0.4

Mathematically; 0.2

-0.2

-0.4

-0.6

-0.8

-1
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Exercise
Write the expression for the current
waveform shown in the Figure.
AC through
Resistance

With the application of an

ac voltage across a resistor,
the current flows in the
resistor which is in phase
with the voltage.
AC through
Inductance
For a pure inductor,
the current I lags
behind the voltage by
90⁰.
AC through
Capacitance
Voltage across the
capacitor lags the
current by 90⁰
AC through
complex RLC
circuits
With an storage element like an
inductor or a capacitor or both
are present along with a resistor,
the phase difference between
voltage and current will neither
be 0 ⁰ nor 90⁰ but a value
between these two extremes. The
nature of lag/lead will depend on
which element is predominant

Where
The impedance &
Power triangle
Here
P=VRI= power across resistor
= Active Power
Q=VLI = power through Inductor( in Quadrature)
= Reactive Power
S= VsI = Power output from the source
= Apparent Power
From Power Triangle:
P = S cos θ =VI cos θ
From Impedance Triangle:
R= Z cos θ and X=Z sin θ
Where Cos θ is the power Factor
Power Factor is therefore defined as the Cosine
of the angle between Voltage & current.
Alternately,
Power factor = Actual Power / Apparent power