UNIVERSITI TUNKU ABDUL RAHMAN

Centre : Centre for Foundation Studies Session : 201501

(CFS)
Course : Foundation in Science Unit Code : FHSC 1024
Year : Year 1 Unit Title : Thermodynamics and
Trimester : Trimester 3 Electromagnetism

Tutorial 12: Alternating Current Circuit

1. A coiled telephone cord forms a spiral with 70.0 turns, a diameter of 1.30 cm, and an
unstretched length of 60.0 cm. Determine the self-inductance of one conductor in the
unstretched cord.
[Answer: 1.36 µH]

2. An emf of 24.0 mV is induced in a 500-turn coil when the current is changing at a rate
of 10.0 A/s. What is the magnetic flux through each turn of the coil at an instant when
the current is 4.00 A?
[Answer: 1.92 × 10–5 Wb]

3. An audio amplifier, represented by the a.c. source and the resistor R in figure below,
delivers alternating voltages at audio frequencies to the speaker.

If the source puts out an alternating voltage of 15.0 V (r.m.s.), the resistance R is 8.20
Ω, and the speaker is equivalent to a resistance of 10.4 Ω, what is the average power
delivered to the speaker?
[Answer: 6.76 W]

4. (a) When a 4.0 μF capacitor is connected to a generator whose output is 30 V

(r.m.s.), the current in the circuit is observed to be 0.30 A (r.m.s.). What is the
frequency of the source?
(b) A generator in a purely capacitive a.c. circuit has an angular frequency of 120π
rad/s. If ΔVmax = 140 V and C = 6.00 μF, what is the r.m.s. current in the
circuit?
[Answer: (a) 4.0 × 102 Hz; (b) 0.224 A]

5. The generator in a purely inductive a.c. circuit has an angular frequency of 120π rad/s.
If Vmax = 140 V and L = 0.100 H, what is the rms current in the circuit?
[Answer: 2.626 A]

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6. An inductor has a reactance of 54.0 Ω at 60.0 Hz. What will be the maximum current
if this inductor is connected to a source of 50.0 Hz that produces a r.m.s. voltage of
100 V?
[Answer: 3.14 A]

7. A 50.0 Ω resistor, a 120 µF capacitor and a 40.0 mH inductor are connected in series
to a 240 V, 50 Hz a.c. power supply.
(a) What is the total impedance of the circuit?
(b) Derive the function for the current across the three components at time t
seconds.
[Answer: (a) 51.9 Ω; (b) I=6.54 sin ( 100 πt ) ]

8. An inductor (L = 400 mH), a capacitor (C = 4.43 μF), and a resistor (R = 500 Ω) are
connected in series. A 50.0 Hz a.c. generator connected in series to these elements
produces a maximum current of 250 mA in the circuit.
(a) Calculate the maximum voltage ΔVmax generated by the generator.
(b) Determine the phase angle by which the current leads or lags the applied
voltage.
[Answer: (a) 194 V; (b) current leads the voltage by 49.9○]

9. A series a.c. circuit contains a resistor, an inductor of 150 mH, a capacitor of 5.00 µF,
and a generator with ΔVmax = 240 V operating at 50.0 Hz. The maximum current in the
circuit is 100 mA. Determine the
(a) inductive reactance,
(b) capacitive reactance,
(c) impedance,
(d) resistance in the circuit,
(e) phase angle between current and the generator voltage.
[Answer: (a) 47.1 Ω; (b) 637 Ω; (c) 2.4 kΩ; (d) 2.33 kΩ; (e) –14.2○]

10. A 50.0 Ω resistor, a 0.100 H inductor, and a 10.0 μF capacitor are connected in series
to a 60.0 Hz source. The r.m.s. current in the circuit is 2.75 A.
(a) Find the r.m.s. voltages across:
(i) the resistor,
(ii) the inductor,
(iii) the capacitor, and
(iv) the RLC combination.
(b) Sketch the phasor diagram for this circuit.
[Answer: (a) (i) 138 V, (ii) 104 V, (iii) 729 V, (iv) 641 V]

11. An a.c. voltage with amplitude of 100 V is applied to a series combination of a 200 μF
capacitor, a 100 mH inductor, and a 20.0 Ω resistor. Calculate the average power
dissipation and the power factor for frequencies of
(a) 60.0 Hz and
(b) 50.0 Hz.
[Answer: (a) 100 W, 0.633; (b) 156 W, 0.790]

12. An RCL circuit is used to tune a radio to an FM station broadcasting at 88.9 MHz.
The resistance in the circuit is 12.0 Ω and the capacitance is 1.40 pF.
What inductance should be present in the circuit?
[Answer: 2.29 µH]

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13. A 10.0 Ω resistor, a 10.0 mH inductor, and a 100 μF capacitor are connected in series
to a 50.0 V (r.m.s.) source having variable frequency.
If the operating frequency is twice the resonance frequency, find the energy delivered
to the circuit during one period.
[Answer: 0.242 J]

14. A series RCL circuit has a time-varying source of e.m.f. providing ΔVrms = 170 V, a
resistance of R = 820 Ω, an inductance of L = 30.0 mH, and a capacitance of C =
0.290 mF. The circuit operates at its resonance frequency.
(a) Define resonance frequency in the RCL circuit.
(b) Calculate
(i) the resonance frequency of the RCL circuit.
(ii) the ΔVrms across the inductor.
[Answer: (b) (i) 54.0 Hz, (ii) 2.11 V)

15. A 3500 pF capacitor is connected to a 55.0 µH coil of resistance 3.00 Ω. What is the
resonant frequency of this circuit?
[Answer: 3.63 × 105 Hz]

16. The variable capacitor in the tuner of an AM radio has a capacitance of 2800 pF when
the radio is tuned to a station at 580 kHz. Find
(a) the capacitance for a station at 1600 kHz.
(b) the inductance (assumed constant).
[Answer: (a) 368 pF; (b) 2.69 × 10–5 H]

17. An RCL circuit has L = 14.8 mH and R = 4.40 Ω.

(a) What value must C have to produce resonance at 3600 Hz?
(b) What will be the maximum current at resonance if the peak external voltage is
150 V?
[Answer: (a) 1.32 × 10–7 F; (b) 34.1 A]

18. A 130 mH coil whose resistance is 18.5 Ω is connected to a capacitor C and a 1360
Hz source voltage. If the current and voltage are to be in phase, what value must C
have?
[Answer: 1.05 × 10–7 F]

19. An inductance coil draws 2.5 A d.c. when connected to a 36 V battery. When
connected to a 60 Hz, 120 V (r.m.s.) source, the current drawn is 3.8 A (r.m.s.).
Determine
(a) the resistance
(b) the inductance
of the coil.
[Answer: (a) 14.4 Ω; (b) 74.6 mH]