LC circuits: Sinusoidal Voltages and

Currents
Aims:
To appreciate:
Similarities between oscillation in LC circuit and
mechanical pendulum.
Role of energy loss mechanisms in damping.
Why we study sinusoidal signals
RMS Current and Voltage
To be able:
To analyse some basic circuits.
Lecture 10
Lecture
9

L and C connected together

The capacitor is charged up to a voltage V
What happens when the switch is closed?
C

1.
2.

3.

C discharges through L
Current in L decays and
charges C with the reverse
e.m.f. (in the reverse polarity)
C discharges through L
and so on .

Lecture 10
Lecture
9

LC oscillation

Pendulum

Energy

Energy

1
CV 2 +V
2
1 2
LI
2

mgh
h

1 2
mv
2

+I

1
CV 2
2
1 2
LI
2

-V

mgh
h

1 2
mv
2

-I
Lecture 10
Lecture
9

Form of oscillation
The voltage across the inductor is
but for the capacitor,

dI
dt
dV
I =C
dt

V = L

so
This is the differential equation describing simple harmonic motion
The details depend on the initial
conditions.

The solution is

is the ANGULAR frequency (radians per second)

The true frequency
(oscillations per second or HERTZ) is
Lecture 10
Lecture
9

f =

1
Hz
=
2 2 LC
4

Form of oscillation
The voltage across the inductor is
but for the capacitor,
so

dI
dt
dV
I =C
dt
d 2I
I = LC 2
dt
V = L

This is the differential equation describing simple harmonic motion

The solution is

I = I 0 sin t
V = V0 cos t

The details depend on the initial

conditions.

is the ANGULAR frequency (radians per second) =

The true frequency
(oscillations per second or HERTZ) is

f =

Lecture 10
Lecture
9

1
rad s-1
LC

1
Hz
=
2 2 LC
5

Relationship between peak

current and voltage
Conservation of energy:

High capacitance high current

High inductance high voltage

Lecture 10
Lecture
9

Relationship between peak

current and voltage
Conservation of energy:

1
1
CV02 = LI 02
2
2
I0
C
=
V0
L

High capacitance high current

High inductance high voltage

Lecture 10
Lecture
9

Sinusoidal oscillations
Voltage

IP

Current

VP

phase difference

time

Period

Frequency = 1/

Sine waves are fundamental to electronic systems

The natural form of oscillations in LC circuits (and sound and radio waves)
The form of voltages generated by rotating dynamos
Any complex waveform can be built up from superpositions of fundamental
sinusoidal waves (Fourier Series)
Lecture 10
Lecture
9

Damping
R

With ideal components, the oscillation will

continue indefinitely (no energy loss).
C

With real components, there is resistance and

power (I2R) is dissipated on each cycle.
dI
Q
+ iR + = 0 (KVL)
dt
C
d 2I
dI
LC 2 + RC + I = 0
dt
dt
L

This differential equation has a solution like

where is the damping coefficient =

I = I 0 exp( t ) sin(t + )

and =

Damping term

1
R2
2
LC 4 L

R
2L

Note a reduction
in the frequency

Lecture 10
Lecture
9

Damped oscillations
Time constant of
decay is
1 2L

ex p

)
(-t

The number of oscillations in

one time constant of the
decay is called the quality
factor, or Q of the circuit:

Q=

1
2

When R is small, this is

given approximately by

Q=

1 L
R C

High Q means long ringing time and high voltage (high L)

Lecture 10
Lecture
9

10

Fourier series

The first few HARMONICS

(multiples of the fundamental frequency)

3f

can be used to reconstruct any regular

waveform.
5f
The accuracy of the reconstruction
improves as you increase the number
of harmonics.

time

This is important because it means

that we can predict the behaviour of
an electronic circuit with any
complex waveform by studying the
effect on pure sine waves of
different frequencies

Time domain

Lecture 10
Lecture
9

11

Jean Baptiste Joseph Fourier

1768 1830
The son of a tailor in Burgundy he
developed much of the mathematical basis
of heat transfer, which led to the Fourier
expansion. This was heavily criticised by
Laplace and Lagrange.
His life was much affected by turbulent
French politics. He narrowly escaped the
guillotine during the Terror, and under
Napoleon he was a senior administrator in
Egypt (where he wrote his Description of
Egypt) and Prefect of Grenoble.
Lecture 10
Lecture
9

12

Frequency ranges
Frequency

Period

0 Hz

Applications
Constant voltages, battery circuits

10 100 Hz 100 ms Power generation / transmission; mains

sockets; TV frame rate
50 / 60 Hz
10 ms

a.k.a.
DC
LF

50 Hz - 20
kHz

20 ms
50 s

Audible frequencies (speech, music), RS232, phone modem, TV line rate

audio
AF

60 kHz
100 MHz

15 s
10 ns

AM SW- FM radio; computer data bus;

Ethernet; CD sampling rate

Radio
RF, VHF

100 MHz
100 GHz

10 ns
10 ps

Mobile phones, TV channels, satellite links,

radar, microwave ovens, PC clocks

UHF
Microwave

> 100 GHz

< 10 ps

??? medical imaging? communication?

high speed super highways?

Terahertz

remember: time constants must be less than this

Lecture 10
Lecture
9

14

Heinrich Rudolf Hertz

1857 1894
Born in Hamburg and became Professor
of Physics in Bonn (via Berlin and
Karlsruhe).
In 1885 he was the first person to
demonstrate experimentally the
electromagnetic waves that had been
predicted theoretically by Maxwell in the
previous year.
(Marconi did not begin his work on radio
until 1894).

Lecture 10
Lecture
9

15

Some general properties of sine waves

Average voltage over one cycle is ZERO
Since power depends on V2 we get an
effective value by taking the square
root of the average of the SQUARE of
the voltage or current over one cycle:

V2 =

1
T

VP
time

V = VP sin( t + )

VP2 sin 2 ( t + ) dt

with T (the period)= 2

VRMS =

This works out to

VP
= 0.707VP
2

This is the RMS - root-mean-square value of the voltage

Lecture 10
Lecture
9

16

RMS values and power

For resistors (current and voltage in phase), RMS values of
voltage or current can be used to calculate power dissipation:

P=

2
VRMS

2
= I RMS
R

Example: Mains voltage has a peak voltage of 339.4 V

so: RMS voltage is 0.707 x 339.4 = 240 V
If we connect this to a heater with a resistance of 57.6
the total power disputed is P=240 x 240/57.6 = 1000 W = 1kW

We cant use this when the current and voltage are not in phase.
Lecture 10
Lecture
9

17