Passive circuit elements

A passive element is an element of the electrical circuit that does not create power, like a
capacitor, an inductance, a resistor. Capacitors and Inductors are known as energy storage
elements since, unlike the resistor, they can store electrical energy.

Essentially, a capacitor is two conducting plates separated by an insulator (dielectric).
Moreover, capacitors are AC circuit elements that mean it is based on phenomena associated
with electric field. The source of the magnetic field is the charge in motion, or current. If the
current is varying with time, the magnetic field induces a voltage in any conductor linked by
the field. Inductors are AC circuit elements based on phenomena associated with magnetic
fields. The source of the magnetic field is the charge in motion, or current. If the current is
varying with time, the magnetic field induces a voltage in any conductor linked by the field.

Table 1 summarizes the passive elements for a resistor R, an inductor L and a capacitor C in
the time domain, the complex frequency (s = o + je) domain and the frequency (s = je)
domain which can be easier to see the difference.


Table 1 : Passive elements in the time domain, the complex frequency domain and the
frequency domain.

Items


Time Domain Complex Frequency
Domain (s = o + je)
Frequency Domain
(s = je), o = 0
Operator
dt
d


s = o + je s=je
Resistor R

R = V/I R = V(s)/I(s) R = V(je)/I(je)

Capacitor C
dt
t dv
C t i
C
C
) (
) ( =


( ) ( )
( ) 1
( )
( )
C C
C
C
C
I s CsV s
V s
Z s
I s sC
=
= =


1
( )
( )
( )
C
C
C C
Z j
j C
j
Z j
C
Z j jX
e
e
e
e
e
=

=
=

Inductor L
dt
t di
L t v
L
L
) (
) ( =


( ) ( )
( )
( )
( )
L L
L
L
L
V s LsI s
V s
Z s sL
I s
=
= =

( )
( )
L
L L
Z j j L
Z j jX
e e
e
=
=


The impedance of a resistor, an inductor, and a capacitor are R, jeL, and 1/(jeC),
respectively, where R is the resistance of a resistor, L is the inductance of an inductor, and C
is the capacitance of a capacitor. The angular frequency e is 2t f, where f is the frequency
and j = 1 . In all cases, the impedance is measured in ohms. The concept of impedance is
crucial in sinusoidal steady-state analysis.


According to the Ohms law said that the voltage at the
terminal of a resistor is the resistance times the current
which can simplify into the simple form as shown in the
following line.

V = RI

This is the relationship of a resistor between voltage and
current.
Figure 1 depicts the phase relationship between the current and the voltage of a resistor R. It
can be seen from Figure 1 that there is no phase difference between the current and voltage.

0
v,i
t
T/2 T
v
i


Figure 1 : No phase difference between the voltage and current of a resistor.



2.3. V-I relationship of an inductor

An inductive impedance Z
L
at the terminals of a pure inductor can be described as

( )
( )
L
L
L L
L
L L
L
L
di t
V t L
dt
d
j
dt
V Lj I
V
Z j L jX
I
X L
e
e
e
e
=

=
= = =
=
(2)

In the phasor diagram, j means Z90 shift. Therefore the phase angle of an inductive
reactance X
L
is 90 compared to the phase angle of a resistance R at 0, as shown in Figure 2.



Figure 1






Figure 2 : The phase angle of an inductive reactance X
L
is 90

It can be seen from equation (2) that the voltage and current are out of phase by exactly 90.
In particular, the voltage leads the current by 90 or, equivalently, the current lags behind the
voltage by 90, as shown in Figure 3.


















Figure 3 : The voltage leads the current by 90 in a pure inductive circuit.


2.4. V-I relationship of a capacitor

Similar to the inductive circuit, a capacitive impedance Z
C
at the terminals of a pure
capacitance can be described as

( )
( )
1
1
C
C
C C
C
C C
C
C
dv t
i t C
dt
d
j
dt
I Cj V
V j
Z jX
I j C C
X
C
e
e
e e
e
=

= = = =
=
(3)


where -j means Z-90. Therefore the phase angle of a capacitive reactance X
C
is 90
compared to the phase angle of a resistance R at 0, as shown in Figure 4.










Figure 4 : The phase angle of a capacitive reactance is 90

It can be seen from equation (3) that the voltage and current are out of phase by exactly 90.
In particular, the voltage lags the current by 90 or, equivalently, the current leads the voltage
by 90, as shown in Figure 5.

















Figure 5 : The voltage lags the current by 90 in a pure capacitor circuit.


2.5. Peak Voltage and RMS Voltage

Figure 6 summarizes the relationship between the peak voltage and the rms voltage.














Figure 6: Peak voltage and RMS voltage