In the previous chapters we discussed the basic theory concerning electric and magnetic fields as well as how energy

pertaining to both can be stored in capacitors and inductors. We now turn our attention to how energy can be
transferred from location to location. The way this energy is transferred is through the use of alternating currents and we
shall study the physics behind this type of current later on in this chapter. We first begin with the relationship between
charge, current and voltage within an inductive and capacitive circuit.

LC Oscillations
A Qualitative Perspective

When studying the other types of circuits, namely the

RC and RL circuits, we found that the voltage, current and charge either grew or decayed exponentially. We find that
such quantities in an LC circuit vary sinusoidally. The produced oscillations in the electric and magnetic fields of the LC
circuit are said to be in electromagnetic oscillation and the circuit is said to oscillate. We seek to study to the energy in
both the magnetic and electric fields of the oscillating circuit. From Eq 11 in Capacitors we see that

UE=q22C (1)We can also derive from the quantities given in Induction and Inductance that
UB=Li22 (2)Note that both these quantities vary with time since the current as well as charge varies in time. Assume
that the capacitor is fully charged so that an electric field is established .Since by definition

i=dqdt
there is no charge through the inductor since we are assuming all the charge is in the capacitor. The associated
magnetic energy must be 0. Since energy is conserved and we are assuming no energy is lost elsewhere then the
energy at the capacitor must also be at a maximum. The charge begins to flow from the capacitor and so the electric
energy will decrease. Since current builds up in the inductor a magnetic field is established and eventually all of the
electric energy is transferred to the inductor into magnetic energy. The reverse process eventually occurs transferring all
the magnetic energy to electric energy. This entire process continues indefinitely since we are assuming there is no
resistance.
Quantifying the Process
We now seek to quantitatively study the process of energy transfer in an LC circuit. Since we are assuming there is no
resistance we have

UT=UE+UB(3)dUdt=0(4)Plugging (1) and (2) into (3) we have:

UT=q22C+Li22 (5)Now since
i=dqdtdidt=d2qdt2
We can take the derivative of (5) and plug it into (4) as well as plug in the previous expressions into the derivative of (5):

Ld2qdt2+1Cq=0 (6)This expression is a second order differential equation which can be solved using methods outside
the scope of this article. Using such methods will lead to the following:

q=Qcos(t+) (7)Where Q is the amplitude of the charge variations,omega is the angular frequency of the
electromagnetic oscillations and phi is the phase constant. We now can find an expression for current in terms of time
by taking the derivative of (7):

i=dqdt=Qsin(t+) (8)
where the amplitude of the varying current is:

I=Q (9)We can find an expression for the angular frequency by finding the derivative of (8) and plugging it as well as
(7) into equation (6):

L(2Qcos(t+))+1C(Qcos(t+))=0 (10)We see that the cos term cancels out of the equation leaving:
L(2)+1C=0 (11)Rearranging:
=1LC (12)

Damped Oscillations
Now we wish to examine a circuit that not only has an inductor and a capacitor but also a resistor. Such circuits are
called RLC circuits or damped circuits. We shall only study such circuits that are in series for sake of simplicity. Since
we add resistance to the circuit we are going to have energy loss, specifically in the form of thermal energy and so the
energy in the circuit is no longer constant. From Current and Resistance we know that this energy loss is:
dUdt=i2R

(13)So differentiating (3) and plugging (13) into the derivative of (3) yields

Ld2qdt2+1Cq=i2R (14)Rearranging yields the second order differential equation:

Ld2qdt2+1Cq+i2R=0 (15)Using methods outside the scope of this article yields:
q=QeRt/2Lcos(t+) (16)where
=2(R/2L)2 (17)Finally if we wish to know the total energy in the circuit at any given
time we can simply monitor the electrical energy in the capacitor. Using equation (1) we have:

UE=q22C=(QeRt/2Lcos(t+))22C (18)

Alternating Current
If one seeks to keep the energy of an RLC circuit without it being totally lost via thermal energy then an emf device must
be placed within the circuit to replace this lost energy. Typically the emf device will carry the current through what is
known as an alternating current. This alternating current is produced by an emf device. Usually these devices are easier
to design for an alternating current than a direct current since such devices include rotating machinery in their basic
design. The basic idea behind an alternating current is that the direction of the current is reversed throughout a given
period. This is beneficial since it is easier to control the potential difference of the emf device via an apparatus called a
transformed. It is easier to control the voltage since Faraday's law of induction can be put into practice. This is also due
to the fact that as the current changes direction so does the magnetic field that surrounds that conductor carrying the
current. We can assume under a certain design of an ac emf device that the emf is measured as:

=msin(dt) (19)the epsilon sub m is the amplitude of the emf and the omega sub d t is the phase. Omega sub d is
the angular frequency of the emf and is equal to the angular speed at which the loop in the ac design of the emf device
rotates in the magnetic field. The current produced can also be written as

i=Isin(dt) (20)