Alternating Current

Introduction Alternating current and Alternating EMF Average or mean current Root Mean square value of AC Phasor diagram A.C through pure resistor A.C through pure inductor AC through pure capacitor Circuit containing inductance and resistance in series Circuit containing capacitance and resistance in series LCR series circuit

(1) Introduction
We have already discussed about direct current (DC) which is produced by the voltage source whose pole does not change their polarity with time Hence direction of flow of direct current does not changes with time Alternating current on the other hand is produced by voltage source whose terminal polarity keeps alternating with time i.e. terminal which was positive at one instant of time becomes negative some time later and vice -versa Due to changing polarity of voltage source direction of flow of current also keep changing In this chapter we would learn how voltage and current changing with time are related to each other in various circuits with components namely resistors, capacitor and inductor.

(2) Alternating current and Alternating EMF

An alternating current is one whose magnitude changes sinusoidal with time .Thus alternating current is given by

Where i0=current amplitude or peak value of alternating current If T is the time period of alternating current and f is the frequency, then

Where is called angular frequency of A.C and is known as phase constant Instead of sine function AC can also be represented by cosine function and both representation leads to same results. We will discuss circuits with sine representation of A.C Figure below shows the variation of A.C with time

Complete set of variations of the current in one time period T is called cycle The emf or voltage whose magnitude changes sinusoidal with time is known as alternating emf and is represented by

where V0 is the peak value of alternating current.

(3) Average or mean current

When an alternating current passed through a moving coil galvanometer it shows no deflection ,this is because for one complete cycle mean value of alternating current is zero as AC flows in one direction during one half cycle and in opposite direction during another half cycle. But mean value of A.C is finite over half cycle. So, mean or average value of AC is defined either for positive half cycle or for negative half cycle So,

From equation (4),we see that the average value of A.C during the half cycle is .636 times or 63.6% of its peak value Similarly we can show that

During next half cycle mean value of ac will be equal in magnitude but opposite in direction. Always remember that mean value of AC over a complete cycle is zero and is defined over a half cycle of AC.

(4) Root Mean square value of AC

We know that time average value of AC over one cycle is zero and it can be proved easily Instantaneous current I and time average of AC over half cycle could be positive for one half cycle and negative for another half cycle but quantity i2would always remain positive So time average of quantity i2 is

This is known as the mean square current The square root of mean square current is called root mean square current or rms current. Thus,

thus ,the rms value of AC is .707i0 of the peak value of alternating current Similarly rms value of alternating voltage or emf is

If we allow the AC current represented by i=i0sin(t+) to pass through a resistor of resistance R,the power dissipated due to flow of current would be P=i2R Since magnitude of current changes with time ,the power dissipation in circuit also changes

The average Power dissipated over one complete current cycle would be

If we pass direct current of magnitude irms through the resistor ,the power dissipate or rate of production of heat in this case would be P=(irms)2R Thus rms value of AC is that value of steady current which would dissipate the same amount of power in a given resistance in a given tine as would gave been dissipated by alternating current This is why rms value of AC is also known as virtual value of current

(5) Phasor diagram

Phasor diagrams are diagram representing alternating current and voltage of same frequency as vectors or phasors with the phase angle between them Phasors are the arrows rotating in the anti-clockwise direction i.e. they are rotating vectors but they represents scalar quantities Thus a sinusoidal alternating current and voltage can be represented by anticlockwise rotating vectors if they satisfy following conditions Length of the vector must be equal to the peak value of alternating voltage or current Vector representing alternating current and voltage would be at horizontal position at the instant when alternating quantity is zero In certain circuits when current reaches its maximum value after emf becomes maximum then current is said to lag behind emf When current reaches its maximum value before emf reaches its maximum then current is said to lead the emf Figure below shows the current lagging behind the emf by 900

(6) A.C through pure resistor

Figure below shows the circuit containing alternating voltage source V=V0sin connected to a resistor of resistance R

Let at any instant of time ,i is the current in the circuit ,then from Kirchhoffs loop rule V0sintRi or i=(V0/R)sint =i0sint ----(8) Where, i0=V0/R ----(9) From instantaneous values of alternating voltage and current ,we can conclude that in pure resistor ,the current is always in phase with applied voltage Their relationship is graphically represented as

(7) A.C through pure inductor

Figure below shows the circuit in which voltage source V=V0sint (10) is applied to pure inductor (zero resistance) coil of inductance L

As the current through the inductor varies and opposing induced emf is generated in it and is given by -Ldi/dt From Kirchhoffs loop rule

Where C is the constant of integration .This integration constant has dimensions of current and is independent of time. Since source has an emf which oscillates symmetrically about zero, the current it sustain also oscillates symmetrically about zero, so there is no time independent component of current that exists. Thus constant C=0

So we have

From instantaneous values of current and voltage (equation 11 and 10) we see that in pure inductive circuit the current lags behind emf by a phase angle of /2 This phase relationship is graphically shown below in the figure

From equation (12) peak value of current in the coil is i0=V0/L or V0=(L)i0 Comparing it with the ohm's law we find product L has dimension of resistance and it can be represented by XL=L where XL is known as reactance of the coil which represents the effective opposition of the coil to the flow of alternating current XL=L is zero for DC for which =0 and increases as the frequency of current increases

(8)AC through pure capacitor

Figure given below shows circuit containing alternating voltage source V=V0sint connected to a capacitor of capacitance C

Suppose at any time t,q be the charge on the capacitor and i be the current in the circuit Since there is no resistance in the circuit, so the instantaneous potential drop q/C across the capacitor must be equal to applied alternating voltage so q/C=V0sint Since i=dq/dt is the instantaneous current in the circuit so

is the peak value of current Comparing equation (13) with V=V0sint ,we see that in a perfect capacitor current leads emf by a phase angle of /2 This phase relationship is graphically shown below in the figure

Again comparing peak value of current with ohm's law ,we find that quantity 1/C has the dimension of the resistance Thus the quantity XC=1/C =1/2fC ---(14) is known as capacitive reactance From equation (14) we see that capacitive reactance decreases with increasing frequency of current and in infinite for direct current for which frequency f=0

(9) Circuit containing inductance and resistance in series

Figure below shows pure inductor of inductance L connected in series with a resistor of resistance R through sinusoidal voltage V=V0sin(t+)

An alternating current I flowing in the circuit gives rise to voltage drop V R across the resistor and voltage drop VL across the coil Voltage drop VR across R would be in phase with current but voltage drop across the inductor will lead the current by a phase factor /2 Now voltage drop across the resistor R is VR=IR and across inductor

VL=I(L) where I is the value of current in the circuit at a given instant of time So voltage phasors diagram is

In figure (10) we have taken current as a reference quantity because same amount of current flows through both the components. Thus fro phasors diagram

is known as impedance of the circuit Current in steady state is

and it lags behind applied voltage by an angle such that tan=L/R ---(16)

(10) Circuit containing capacitance and resistance in series

Figure below shows a circuit containing capacitor and resistor connected in series through a sinusoidal voltage source of voltage V=V0sin(t+)

In this case instantaneous P.D across R is VR=IR and across the capacitor C is VC=I/C In this case VR is in phase with current i and VC lags behind i by a phase angle 900 Figure 11(b) shows the phasors diagram where vector OA represent the resultant of VR and VC which is the applied Voltage thus

is called the impedance of the circuit Again from the phasors diagram applied voltage lags behind the current by a phase angle given by tan= VC/ VR=1/CR ---(18)

(11) LCR series circuit

Figure below shows a circuit containing a capacitor ,resistor and inductor connected in series through an alternating voltage source

Same amount of current will flow in all the three circuit components and vector sum of potential drop across each component would be equal to the applied voltage If i be the amount of current in the circuit at any time and VL,VC and VR the potential drop across L,C and R respectively then VR=iR Voltage is in phase with i VL=iL Voltage is leading i by 900 VC=i/C Voltage is lagging behind i by 900 Since VL is ahead of i by 90 and VC is behind by 90 so that phase difference between VL and VC is 180 and they are in direct opposition to each other as shown in the figure 12(b)

In figure 12(b) we have assumed that VL is greater than VC which makes i lags behind V.If VC > VL then i lead V In this phasors diagram OA represent VR,AD represent VC and AC represent VL.So in this case as we have assumed that VL > VC ,there resultant will be (VL VC) represented by vector AD

Vector OB represent resultant of vectors VR and (VL -VC) and this vector OB is the resultant of all the three ,which is equal to applied voltage V,thus

is called impedance of the circuit From phasors diagram 12(b),current i lag behind resultant voltage V by an phase angle given by,

From equation (20) three cases arises (i) When L > 1/C then tan is positive i.e. is positive and voltage leads the current i (ii) When L < 1/C,then tan is negative i.e. is negative and voltage lags behind the current i (iii) When L = 1/C ,then tan is zero i.e. is zero and voltage and current are in phase Again considering case (iii) where L = 1/C,we have

which is the minimum value Z can have. This is the case where XL=XC,the circuit is said to be in electric resonance where the impedance is purely resistive and minimum and currents has its maximum value Hence at resonance L = 1/C or =1/LC ---(21) But =2f where f is the frequency of applied voltage .Therefore f0=1/2LC ---(22) This frequency is called resonant frequency of the circuit and peak current in this case is i0=V0/R and reactance is zero

We will now define resonance curves which shows the variation in circuit current (peak current i0) with change in frequency of the applied voltage Figure below shows the shape of resonance curve for various values of resistance R

for small value of R,the resonance is sharp which means that if applied frequency is lesser to resonant frequency f0,the current is high otherwise For large values of R,the curve is broad sided which means that those is limited change in current for resonance and non -resonance conditions