12: RLC Circuit -1

12: Parallel RLC CIRCUIT

A resonant circuit consists of an inductor and a capacitor together with an AC voltage or
current source. It is one of the most important circuits used in electronics, in musical
instruments, in everything around us. A resonant circuit allows us to select a desired radio or
television signal from the vast number of signals that are around us at any time. A network is
in resonance when the voltage and current at the network input terminals are in phase and the
input impedance of the network is purely resistive. In this lab, we do hand on experiments on
an RLC circuit with Resistors (1kK), Capacitors (1 F, 0.01 F) and Inductors (10 mH)

1. RLC circuit in series

An RLC circuit in series is shown below. You have done this experiment in Lab 3. The
measured voltage is shown at right. At the resonance frequency f
0
, the measured voltage is
maximum.

2
2
1
0
0

LC
f


The resonant amplitude peaks at frequency f
0
and that the peak has a width, f called the
linewidth. The linewidth is usually measured at amplitude of 71% of A
max
. For a system
which loses energy rapidly through damping or friction, the maximum amplitude, A
max
, is
small and the linewidth large, and the resonance is said to be broad. Similarly, for a
resonating system which loses energy very slowly, the maximum amplitude is very large and
the linewidth is small. The resonance is said to be sharp.
The quality, Q, characterizes the sharpness of one of the resonances. For example, for the
fundamental frequency the Q value is:
Q
f
1
f
.
A high Q system is one with a sharp resonance. Once set oscillating it loses energy very
slowly. A tuning fork is an example of an object with a very high Q. To drive an object with
high Q, the driving frequency must be very close to the resonant frequency, f
1
.



12: RLC Circuit -2



2. RLC circuit in parallel


The parallel RLC circuit is most useful for a power supply with current source. Set up a parallel
RLC circuit as shown below with R = 1 k, C = 0.1 F and L = 10 mH.

3. Measurement of the Quality Factor Q
a. On the breadboard, connect the RLC circuit with values of L and C specified above (each
circuit box may have different L [H] and C [F]). Calculate the resonance frequency of
your box.
L= H, C= F, and f
0
= Hz
b. (See the left photo below) Connect the Function Generator to the input of the circuit
with input peak to peak voltage of about 1 V. Connect this input voltage to the
oscilloscope to channel 2, and trigger by channel 2. Connect the output voltage across
the parallel RLC to channel 1 of the oscilloscope. Measure the output voltage V
out
from
the oscilloscope. The bottom trace and the top trace of the photo at the right photo below
show the signals from the signal generator and from the RLC circuit respectively.
Change the frequency of the function generator, and the V
out
is maximum at the
resonance frequency. Determine the resonance frequency without recording any data
and determine roughly the range of frequencies required to go completely across the
resonance. Compare your result with the theoretical calculated number in part a)
f
0expeeriment
= Hz

c. Now decide upon a set of 15 to 20 frequencies over this range for your measurements.
Set V
in
to a suitable value (e.g. 1.0 V peak-to-peak) so that you can measure V
out
with the



12: RLC Circuit -3



oscilloscope, and measure V
out
at each chosen frequency. Be sure to reset V
in
to the same
amplitude each time, if necessary, and verify that it remains sinusoidal. To achieve a
more precise measurement of resonance and Q-value, choose the starting and ending
frequencies to be about 0.75f
0
to 1.25f
0
.


frequency in Hz V
in
in volts V
out
in volts V
out
/V
in



















c. Plot this new data. Calculate the width f of this response curve at 71% of the
maximum value of the V
out
/V
in
ratio, and obtain the Q for this resonance below:
i. A
max

ii. 0.71A
max
:
iii. f:
iv. f:
v. Q
f
f
:
vi. Your comments:

Note that the observed fact that the output voltage can be much greater than the input voltage
shows why an LC resonance circuit is so useful in radio communication circuits
(transmitters, receivers). In this experimental setup, the resistor was added to make the



12: RLC Circuit -4



resonance broader. Otherwise the quality factor Q would have been too high to make the
measurements readily. In communication resonance circuits the resistance is kept to a
minimum to provide a very sharp resonance and thus a good selectivity of stations on nearby
frequencies.




Discussions:
a.) If you choose the resistor R=1 k instead of 500 , what happens?
b.) If you change the capacitor with small capacitance, what happens?