AC CIRCUITS

Physics 241/261
Fall 2015

This lit bulb is part of an AC circuit. The

coil of wire in the background would have no
effect on a DC circuit, but is a key component
of an AC circuit. It is called an inductor.

Introduction

In this lab, we will conclude our study of Alternating Current (AC) electricity by looking in
detail at how circuits behave when an AC voltage is applied. The previous labs have taught us that
AC is the natural choice for easy power generation and transmission. Therefore, it is important to
understand how various types of circuit elements behave in the AC mode.
For our purposes, circuit elements can broadly be classified into three ideal devices: resistors,
capacitors, and inductors, denoted by R, C, and L respectively. Many real-world devices can be
modeled as combinations of these. Electric motors, for instance, are mostly inductive in nature,
with a non-negligible amount of internal resistance; we can model this as a series combination of
an inductor and a resistor. Your toaster oven, on the other hand, is almost completely resistive
and can be modeled simply as a resistor. Finally, a radio has a tuning circuit that is inductive and
capacitive. When you turn to a specific station, you are varying a capacitor in the radio tuning
circuit so that it is in resonance with the broadcast frequency of the station.
An important property of resistors is that if an alternating current flows through them, the
voltage drop across them is proportional to the current. In Sections 5-7 you will discover that
this is not true for capacitors and inductors; while the voltage drop is still a sine wave, it is phase
shifted relative to the current. To better understand the behavior of the AC circuits, we will be
using phasors to represent voltages and currents. While some textbooks may contain a definition
of phasors, the discussion of their use is typically limited, so we have included a discussion of their
use in Section 2 (note also that conventions may vary between textbooks.)
Many systems have a natural frequency at which they tend to oscillate. Examples you have

previously encountered in mechanics include a mass on a spring and a child on a swing set. When
such a system is driven by some external source at or near its natural frequency, it can absorb
energy very efficiently, causing the amplitude of the oscillations to increase rapidly. This is the
phenomenon of resonance, and it is familiar to anyone who has ever made a swing go higher and
higher by moving their legs and body back and forth at just the right rate.
What would it mean for an electrical system to experience resonance? We would expect to
see the response of the system increase as the system is driven near its natural frequency by an
external AC voltage. In experiment 9 we will see that precisely this phenomenon can occur in a
series RLC circuit. To characterize the response of the circuit, we will measure the voltage across
the resistor. The voltage is directly related to the power dissipated (P = V 2 /R), so a large voltage
across the resistor means that the driver is very efficiently delivering power to the circuit. In this
experiment, we will use a light bulb as a resistor. Its brightness will give you visible confirmation
of resonance.

Theory

Before starting this lab, you should be familiar with the following physical concepts. If you need
to review them, or if you havent yet discussed them in your lecture course, consult the indicated
section in Young & Freedman, Physics.
Inductors, 30.2
Reactance and phasors, 31.1-3
Resonance in RLC circuits, 31.3,5
This experiment will use an oscilloscope extensively. If you are even slightly uncomfortable
with oscilloscope measurements, we strongly recommend that you review the principles of thier
operation as described in the Faradays Law lab.

2.1

Representing Voltages and Currents with Phasors

In this lab write-up we adopt a convention where the current flowing through an AC circuit at
any given time t is
i(t) = Imax sin(t),
(1)
where is the angular frequency (in radians per second), which is related to the frequency, f , (in
hertz) by = 2f . When you see , think frequency, since it is angular frequency and is just a
notational way of avoiding writing 2f many times.
In AC, by our convention, the voltage across an inductor, capacitor, or resistor is also a sine
function and has the form
V (t) = Vmax sin(t + ),
(2)
where is called the phase angle. Since AC voltage and current cycles are continuous oscillations
we arbitrarily set the current to start at zero when t = 0 as in Equation 1. The voltage oscillation
may be at a different point in its cycle so we account for this with a phase angle1 .
1 Our

timing convention of starting the current on the x axis at t = 0 is not universal, in fact, we differ from most
textbooks here. It is usual to adopt a timing convention setting the voltage at zero when t = 0 and then to put
the phase angle in the expression for the current. Instead, we put the current at zero at t = 0 and then put the

y
A
Ay

Figure 1: Taking the y axis projection of a vector.

Since the voltage across a circuit element can be out of phase with the current flowing through
it, keeping track of the voltages and currents in AC can be quite a chore. In order to make it easier,
the representation of voltages and currents by means of phasors is helpful. A phasor is a vector of
constant length, centered on the origin and rotating around the origin at constant speed. For any
~ Ay = A sin(), where is the angle above the x axis made by A,
~ as shown in Figure 1.
vector A,
~ rotates around the origin at a constant rate then = t, the projection of A
~ on the y axis is
If A
Ay = A sin(t).
We can express current as a vector-like quantity (a phasor). In this representation the real
current (physically the rate of charge flow) is the y axis projection of the current phasor. The tail
of the current phasor is fixed at the origin and the head of the phasor rotates counterclockwise with
angular frequency . Some snapshots of this phasor rotation are shown in Figure 2.
We also can express the voltage as a phasor. Both voltage and current phasors rotate around
the origin with the same angular velocity . The angle between these is and it remains constant
as the phasors rotate. Note: in this lab, we plot phasors as snapshots at t = 0. We now explore
the AC behavior of each of the devices below making use of phasors.
It is important to note that in many textbooks you would represent voltages and currents as
phasors and take the x-axis projection. This is merely a convention and it should not confuse you.
We simply use the y-axis projection due to our experimental apparatus. If you are interested in
why this is necessary, you can ask your instructor (it is due to the triggering mechanism of the
oscilloscope).

2.2

Resistors in AC

Resistors under AC behave in the same way as they do under DCthey resist the flow of current,
and in so doing, they dissipate some of the electrical energy as heat. A resistor does not care which
way the current happens to be flowing at the moment; only that the current is flowing. Since the
voltage and current in a resistor obey Ohms law:
Vmax = Imax R,

(3)

Vmax is the maximum voltage across the resistor, Imax is the maximum current flowing through the
resistor, and R is the resistance. In a resistor, the applied voltage and the current are in phase,
R = 0 . That is, when the applied voltage is a maximum, so is the current; when the voltage is
phase angle in the expression for the voltage. We choose this convention because we are dealing with a series RLC
circuit in which the current is the same for each element. Since the current is the common quantity in this lab, it
is straightforward to reference the voltages to it. Switching between the two starting time conventions is simple as
long as you understand each. Refer to a textbook for a complete discussion.

Figure 2: Rotation of a phasor that represents the current flowing through some circuit element.
The y axis projection of the phasor corresponds to i(t) at that given moment.

Figure 3: Phasor diagram for a purely resistive circuit. Notice that the phase difference is 0 .
reversed, so is the current; and when the voltage is zero, so is the current. This is shown in a phasor
diagram in Figure 3.
In a resistor, power is dissipated by heating. As we have seen in previous labs, for a resistive
element, the average power dissipated per cycle is
Pavg = IRMS VRMS .

(4)

2
This is most conveniently expressed as P = IRMS
R. Remember that the RMS values for voltage
and current are used in AC. RMS values
can
easily
be found from the maximum values, for example

the RMS voltage is VRMS = Vmax / 2. Resistors in AC act very much like resistors in DC. They
obey Ohms law and the power dissipated is easily obtained as the product of the RMS voltage and
RMS current.

2.3

Capacitors in AC

Capacitors, however, are slightly more complicated. We say that a capacitor reacts to (as
opposed to resists) the flow of AC current. Lets look qualitatively at what happens in the capacitor.
When the voltage across the capacitor is zero, there is no electric field between its plates (recall
that for a parallel-plate capacitor, V = Ed), and no charge stored on the plates (Q = CV ). It is at
this point that it is easiest for charges to flow onto (charge) the capacitors plates, so we say that
the current to the capacitor is a maximum. Later, when the voltage across the plates is large, there
exists an electric field against which it is difficult to move more charges from the plates. When
the voltage across the capacitor is at its maximum, the current is zero. When the voltage starts
to decrease, the stored electric field dissipates, and charge flows (but in the discharging direction).
This process repeats with the signs reversed and the AC cycle is completed.
We can restate this result simply: the voltage and current for a capacitor are 90 out of phase,
and the current leads the applied voltage. That is, when the applied voltage is going through zero
from low to high, the current is a maximum; and when the applied voltage is a maximum, the
current is zero, but is changing direction. This phase relationship is shown diagrammatically in
Figure 4.
In addition to the phase relationship between voltage and current, we need a relationship between
their maximum values. It turns out that there is a simple one between the maximum voltage applied
to a capacitor, and the maximum current through the capacitor in AC. It is usually written as:
Vmax = Imax XC ,
5

(5)

Figure 4: Phasor diagram for a purely capacitive circuit. Notice that the phase difference is 90 .
where XC is called the capacitive reactance, and is a function of both the capacitance and the
frequency of the AC power source. Lets look at the dimensions of XC . Since Equation 5 looks
astoundingly similar to Ohms law, XC must be in ohms (in fact, it is helpful to think of XC as
an R-like quantity). Recalling that farads can also be expressed as seconds per ohm, we suspect
that XC has some sort of inverse dependence on capacitance. Given that, we must have an inverse
dependence on frequency to make the dimensions work.
This makes some intuitive sense when you think about the DC case: a discharged capacitor
allows current to flow freely onto its plates, while a fully charged capacitor completely hinders it.
If the frequency of the power source were quite high, the capacitor, to an excellent approximation,
would be fully discharged. If the frequency were zero, the capacitor would always be almost fully
charged and XC would be infinite. This qualitative argument is, in fact, correct and the exact
dependence is
1
.
(6)
XC =
C
Thus, at low frequency a capacitor inhibits the flow of AC current but at high frequency it passes
AC.
Finally, in a capacitive circuit element, the instantaneous power is the product of the instantaneous current and voltage. Unlike a resistive device this product can be positive or negative
meaning that the capacitor can store and return energy to the circuit. This results because the
current leads the voltage by 90 . For half of the AC cycle, power is supplied to the capacitor, but
for the other half cycle, power is derived from the capacitor. The average power drawn over a full
AC cycle for a capacitor is:
Pavg,C = 0
(7)
This is not surprising since we think of a capacitor as a device by which we can store energy in the
~ field and retrieve the energy without losses.
form of an E

2.4

Inductors in AC

Lets now consider an inductor in an AC circuit. As you may recall from your text, inductors can
store electrical energy in their magnetic fields. If the strength of this field should change because
the electrical current through the inductor changes, the inductor will transiently have a potential
difference across its terminals (this potential difference is called the back-EMF ). Inductors always
oppose the change in current in the circuit (Lenzs law); thus, if a current drops or rises, the inductor
supplies a countering or back-EMF.
6

Figure 5: Phasor diagram for a purely inductive circuit. Notice that the phase difference is +90 .
Lets look qualitatively at what happens to the potential drop across an inductor when an AC
current is flowing through it. When the current flowing through the inductor is (instantaneously) at
its maximum value, there is no change in the magnetic field (since, at that instant, the current isnt
changing). By Faradays law, this means that there is no potential difference across the inductors
terminals. As the current gets smaller, the magnetic field within the inductor also gets smaller.
This change is opposed, causing a negative potential drop across the inductor (i.e., a positive
potential difference) since the inductor will try to maintain the previously higher levels of current.
This voltage drop becomes the most negative when the instantaneous current through the inductor
is zero. The current (and thus the magnetic field) changes directions. This process then continues
with the signs reversed and the full AC cycle is completed.
We summarize the timing relationship between current and voltage with reference to the phasors
by saying that the current and voltage are 90 out of phase. This is shown in Figure 5. In an
inductor, the voltage leads the current, which means that the phase relationship between voltage
and current is exactly opposite of the capacitor.
In addition to the phase relationships, there is a relationship between the maximum voltage
drop across the inductor and the maximum current that flows through it in AC. This is usually
written:
Vmax = Imax XL ,
(8)
where XL is known as the inductive reactance, and is a function of both the inductance and the
frequency of the AC power source. Examine the dimensions of XL and note that it varies directly
with the frequency and current and its units are ohms (once again, it is helpful to view XL as an
R-like quantity).
Here also, we use the limiting cases to see what ought to happen at the extremes of frequency.
In the high-frequency case, the magnetic field in the inductor is always changing, meaning that XL
is high. If the frequency is zero the magnetic field doesnt change, and XL is near zero. This turns
out to be correct and in fact,
XL = L,
(9)
where L is the inductance. Thus, at high frequency an inductor inhibits AC current but at low
frequency it passes AC.
In terms of AC power, as in a capacitor, an inductor can both receive and deliver energy to and
from a circuit. Since the voltage leads the current by 90 and the instantaneous power is P = IV ,
the power is positive for half the cycle and negative for the other half cycle. The average power

over a cycle is thus:

Pavg,L = 0

(10)

As we will see in the experiments section, the fact that the average power delivered to an inductor
and capacitor is zero will have important consequences for AC circuits composed of series or parallel
combinations of resistors, capacitors, and inductors.

2.5

Phasor Addition in a Series RLC Circuit

We can even keep track of the behavior of the instantaneous voltage and current for an entire
circuit using the phasor representation. For now, we will concentrate on how this is done for a series
RLC circuit. Since the resistor, the inductor, and the capacitor are in series, Kirchhoffs law tells us
that the same instantaneous current is flowing through every element of the circuit, meaning that
the current phasor is at the same angle with respect to the x axis for every element. To find the
voltage phasor for the entire circuit, you add all of the voltage phasors associated with each element
as if they were vectors. (See Figure 6 for an example.) This net voltage phasor will also maintain
a fixed phase angle with the current phasor (Why?). We can project this resultant phasor against
the y axis to obtain the instantaneous voltage across the entire circuit.
Since the sum of the voltage phasors is itself a phasor (refer to your textbook), the magnitude
of this phasor is given as:
q
(11)
V = VR2 + (VL VC )2 .
There is a relationship between the maximum voltage across the series RLC circuit and the current.
Vmax = Imax Z

(12)

where Z is the impedance of the series circuit. It is easy to show from current voltage relationships
above (Equations 3, 5, and 8) and phasor addition that Z is given by
Z=

R2 + (XL XC )2 .

(13)

This is the equivalent R-like quantity for the entire series RLC circuit. Similarly, the phase angle
for the series circuit is given by
XL XC
tan =
.
(14)
R
We will refer to these equations as we explore voltage and current relationships for the RLC circuits
in the experiments below.

2.6

Remembering Voltage-Current Phasor Relationships

You must spend some time memorizing which phasor (current or voltage) leads which in each
situation in order to be completely fluent when discussing AC voltage and current responses. It
may be helpful to remember the mnemonic ELI the ICEman for this purpose. In the mnemonic,
E is the electromotive force, or voltage, and I is the current. E leads I for inductors and I leads
E for capacitors.

Vmax, R

Vmax, L
( = Imax XL)

Vmax, C

Vmax, L

Vmax, R
( = Imax XR)

Vmax ( = Imax Z)

Vmax, C
( = Imax XC )

Figure 6: Addition of phasors associated with an ideal resistor, and ideal capacitor, and an ideal
inductor at a time corresponding to when the shared current phasor is crossing the x axis. (The
current phasor is deleted for the sake of clarity in the figure.)

Equipment
oscilloscope (HP-54603B)
audio driver (Daedelon model EG-50)
RLC circuit board (PASCO model CI-6512)
digital multimeter (DMM) (Meterman 15 XP)
assorted banana cables

3.1

Initial Setup of the Audio Driver

The audio driver will provide a source of AC voltage in this experiment. It is quite similar to
the function generator that you used in the Faradays Law experiment. A principle difference is
that it only provides sine waves, not triangle or square waves.
1. Connect the two outputs on the front of the audio driver (see Figure 8) to points (a) and (d)
on the RLC circuit board. In this configuration, the audio driver will provide an alternating
current to the 33 resistor, 8.2 mH inductor, and 10 F capacitor.
2. Turn on the audio driver, and make sure that the range selector (the knob on the left) is set
to 500 Hz.
3. Adjust the frequency selector (the knob on the right) until the audio driver is set to about
850 Hz.

3.2

Initial Adjustment of the Oscilloscope

At this point, turn the oscilloscope on. At present, the oscilloscope isnt measuring anything, so
now is a good time to make sure that it is set up properly. Well do this in two parts. First, well
make sure that the oscilloscope is properly grounded and set to trigger:
1. Connect the ground on the oscilloscope (labeled
9

) to point (a) on the circuit board.

Inductor

(f)

(c)

Steel Cylinder

Capacitor

(b)

(e)

(a)

Bulb

(d)

Resistor

Figure 7: RLC Circuit Board with points (a)(f) marked and important components labeled. The
white lines are printed on the board, and indicate electrical connections inside the board.

Range Selector

Frequency Control

Amplitude Control
Figure 8: Audio driver with controls labeled.

10

2. Connect the oscilloscope terminal labeled External Trigger to point (b) on the circuit
board. We will use the voltage across the resistor, which is in phase with the current in the
entire circuit, to trigger the oscilloscope.
3. Push the Setup key, then the screen key labeled Default Setup.
4. Turn the Volts/Div knob until input channel 1 is on the 2.00 V scale. For the rest of this
experiment, do not change the Volts/Div setting without consulting your GSI! If the two
channels have different settings, your data will be unusable.
5. Turn the Time/Div knob until you are on the 500 s scale (not the 500 ms scale!).
6. Push the Source key, then the screen key labeled Ext. This tells the oscilloscope to use
the External Trigger signal for triggering instead of the signal on Channel 1.
7. Push the Slope/Coupling key, then the screen key Reject HF. This tells the oscilloscope
to ignore high frequency (HF) noise in the trigger signal.
Your oscilloscope is now configured to display the voltage at various points on your circuit board,
but is does not have a signal to display. We will now connect channels 1 X and 2 Y to the
RLC circuit board. Figure 9 contains a diagram of the completed setup.
1. Connect the oscilloscope terminal labeled 1 X to point (b) on the circuit board. You should
see a sine wave on the screen. The oscilloscope is plotting the voltage difference between the
terminal 1 X and ground.
2. Adjust the Volume knob on the audio driver until the maximum voltage across the resistor
is 4 V.
3. Connect the oscilloscope terminal labeled 2 Y to point (a) on the circuit board. This should
not change your display.
4. Push the 2 key until On is highlighted. You should now see a fuzzy horizontal line across
the middle of the screen. Turn the Volts/div knob until input channel 2 is on the 2.00 V
scale. The oscilloscope is now also plotting the voltage difference between the terminal 2 Y
and ground. In this case, that difference is roughly zero.
5. Press the key, then the screen key 1-2. The oscilloscope is now also plotting the voltage
difference between the terminal 1 X and the terminal 2 Y. This is the signal we will use
for the first part of the lab.
6. Push the 1 key until Off is highlighted.
7. Push the 2 key until Off is highlighted.
8. Have your GSI check your setup!
In this setup we are using the value of Channel 1 minus Channel 2 to determine the voltage
across a certain component. In this manner we can move the plugs from one component to another
and measure their voltage change, regardless of the ground position. Remember, voltages do not
need to be measured relative to ground!

11

Figure 9: After completing 3.2 your setup should be connected like this.

12

Meter set to measure

resistance ()

Probes at points
(b) and (c)

Figure 10: Measuring the internal resistance of the inductor.

In the Faradays Law lab we used the oscilloscope to plot the voltage difference between one of
the oscilloscope inputs and ground. In this experiment, we will plot the voltage difference between
the two oscilloscope inputs you can think of the terminals 1 X and 2 Y as being like the two
inputs of a voltmeter.

Experiment: Internal Resistance of the Inductor

For our experiment we wish to investigate a resistor, a capacitor and an inductor as ideal devices.
Unfortunately, our inductor is not quite ideal. It is primarily inductive but partially resistive, due
to the resistance of the wire windings. It will be important to know the internal resistance of the
inductor on the circuit board for later analysis. Measure its resistance before any connections are
made on the board. Set the digital multimeter (DMM) to measure resistance() and measure the
internal resistance of the inductor (the thing that looks like a coil of wire) by placing the DMM
plugs across it, as in Figure 10). Record the resistance on your worksheet.

Experiment: AC Voltage and Current in the Resistor

Be sure to go through the steps outlined in Sections 3.1 and 3.2 before beginning the experiments.
Make sure the oscilloscope is still connected to measure the resistor (terminal 1 X connected
to (b), terminal 2 Y connected to (a)), that that the maximum voltage across the resistor is
still set to 4 V, and the audio driver is still set to 850 Hz. It is important that you keep this
frequency the same for the measurements which follow.
Based on the frequency of the audio driver, calculate . Record VR,max and use it to calculate
Imax . Then sketch the voltage waveform that you see on your oscilloscope. Be sure to use the
resistance of the resistor in your calculation, not the resistance of the inductor you measured in the
previous section.
13

VR,max = Imax R

(15)

Now, consider Ohms Law. What will the current in the resistor (and hence in the whole series
circuit) look like, given your sketch of VR ? On the same graph as your voltage wave, draw what the
current looks like, and label the maximum value. Since you are plotting two different values (VR
and I) you will need two different vertical scales. Clearly indicate each.
Draw a horizontal voltage phasor whose length corresponds to the maximum instantaneous
voltage drop that you read on the oscilloscope across the resistor on your worksheet. We set the
voltage phasor to be horizontal because the projection of this phasor at t = 0 is zero on the y axis
(see Section 2 for a discussion of phasors). The current is in phase with the voltage across the
resistor, so it is also a horizontal phasor at t = 0.
On all of your phasor diagrams in these experiments, you need to plot your measured values not
theoretical values.

Experiment: AC Voltage and Current in the Capacitor

Before changing the oscilloscope connection to view the voltage across the capacitor, check
that the voltage across the resistor remains at 4.0 V. Store the resistor waveform by pressing the
Autostore key twice. The stored waveform will be displayed at a lower intensity. Next, move the
oscilloscope leads to measure the capacitor voltage, 1 X to (d) and 2 Y to (c). Be careful to
make the connections correctly if you reverse the leads, you will get the wrong phase shift.
Carefully, measure and record on your worksheet the amplitude voltage across the capacitor
from your oscilloscope display. We will also need to determine the phase shift, . If we have two
periodic signals of period T , offset from one another by some t, then the phase shift is defined as
t

360
T

(16)

Lets focus our attention on a particular feature of the signals on the oscilloscope: points where the
signal crosses the x-axis with positive slope. The time between two such successive crossings for one
signal is tells us T , while the time between the nearest such crossings for the two different signals
tells us t. If you eyeball your signal, you should find that t/T 1/4, so that 90 is that
the case?
In order to make more precise measurements of you will need to use a feature on the oscilloscope
known as cursors. The cursors are dashed lines that you can move around using the knob located just
below the Cursors key. If you place them near interesting features of your signal, the oscilloscope
will report their position with considerable precision. To turn the cursors on, press the Cursors
key. Now, press the t1 screen key. The t1 cursor should be positioned on the y-axis, where it
may be hard to see. Well leave it there, since this should be a point where the VR signal crosses
the x-axis with positive slope. Now activate the second cursor by pushing the t2 key. Use the
cursor knob to move this to the next point that the VR signal crosses the x-axis, as shown in Figure
11(a) You should now be able to read T from the bottom of the screen.
Next, move the t2 cursor so that it lines up with the point closest to the origin where the
VC signal crosse the x-axis with positive slope, as in Figure 11(b) You can now read t from the
bottom of the screen. Since you have T and t, you can now compute the phase shift using
equation 16.

14

When done, press the Clear Cursors screen key to remove the cursors from the display, then
draw a sketch of the display with the stored waveform (resistor) and active waveform (capacitor)
clearly marked.
Draw a phasor diagram for the voltage across the capacitor. Remember, your reference for the
phase is the voltage across the resistor (which represents the current in the circuit). Make particular
note of the phase of the voltage across the capacitor relative to the current in the capacitor. Does
the current lead or lag behind the voltage applied to a capacitor?
With the data taken, you can determine the capacitive reactance from
VC,max = Imax XC .

(17)

Capacitive reactance is
1
.
(18)
C
To within your errors, does your calculation of XC based on your measurements agree with the
theoretical value? Finally, what XC phase angle (current to voltage) did you derive for the capacitor?
Does it agree with the predicted value?
XC =

Experiment: AC Voltage and Current in the Inductor

Before changing the oscilloscope connection to view the voltage across the inductor, return the
oscilloscope leads to the resistor voltage points, 1 X to (b) and 2 Y to (a), and check that the
voltage across the resistor remains at 4.0 V. Next, move the oscilloscope to measure the inductor
voltage, 1 X to (c) and 2 Y to (b). Be careful to make the connections correctly if you
reverse the leads, you will get the wrong phase shift.
Carefully, measure and record on your worksheet the amplitude and phase of the voltage across
the inductor from your oscilloscope display. Draw a sketch of the display with the stored waveform
(resistor) and continuous waveform (inductor) clearly marked.
Draw a phasor diagram for the voltage across the inductor. Does the current lead or lag behind
the voltage applied to an inductor?
We can find the reactance of the inductor, XL , using
VL,max = Imax XL ,

(19)

and the measured voltage across the inductor. Compare the inductive reactance to the resistance you
measured for the coil in Section 4. Is it reasonable to neglect this resistance in our measurement of
the voltage phasor across the inductor? (Even if not, we will neglect it for clarity in this discussion.)
Compare the measured value of XL with the relation (which can also be found in your text):
XL = L.

(20)

Again, to within experimental error, does your value of XL agree with expectations? Finally, to
within experimental error how well does your measured phase angle L agree with the phase angle
expected for an ideal inductor?

15

(a) Since the cursors enclose a single cycle, the period T is reported as t at the
bottom of the oscilloscope display.

(b) t is reported as t at the bottom of the oscilloscope display.

Figure 11: Using cursors to make measurements. Note that the first cursor t1 is coincident with
the y-axis, and thus hard to see.

16

Experiment: AC Voltage and Current in a Series RLC

Circuit

In this final measurement you will repeat the measurement for all three components together.
Next, move the oscilloscope to measure the voltage across the entire circuit, 1 X to (d) and 2 Y
to (a). Be careful to make the connections correctly if you reverse the leads, you will get the
wrong phase shift.
Draw the phasor diagram for the complete RLC circuit. Be sure to clearly label the phase
angle and the magnitude of the voltage vector. Compare this to what you expect from adding the
individual R, L and C phasors.
First, draw the phasor which corresponds to VR (and thus total current) along the positive
x-axis. Next, based on your responses above, draw the theoretical phasors for VC and VL on the
positive/negative y-axis. Next, perform vector addition to add all three phasors on your diagram.
Label your resultant phasor VRLC on a new diagram (also draw VR on the new diagram). Using
the coordinates for the VRLC vector, determine the phase shift between voltage and current in the
circuit.
We can now determine the impedance of the entire circuit. It is
Z=

(R + RL )2 + (XL XC )2

(21)

where RL represents the resistance of the inductor (measured in Section 4). Using
Vmax = Imax Z,

(22)

determine the maximum voltage provided by the audio driver and compare that with what you
measured.

Experiment: Resonance in RLC Circuits (Frequency Dependence of Z)

You do not need to use the oscilloscope in this experiment, so you can disconnect it from the
RLC circuit board. Construct an RLC circuit using the 10 F capacitor, the inductor, and the
light bulb:
Connect one output of the audio driver to the 10 F capacitor (d).
Connect a jumper from the inductor (b) to the connector just above the light bulb (f).
Connect the other output of the audio driver to the connector just below the light bulb (e).
To measure the voltage across the light bulb, simply connect your multimeter to the two connectors
above and below the bulb. Be sure that your multimeter isset to measure AC volts (Ve ). Recall
that in this configuration, the meter reports VRM S = VM ax / 2
Begin with the audio driver frequency set to 100 Hz, and adjust the Volume knob until the
voltage reads approximately 0.2 V. The bulb will probably not light. Now measure Vbulb as a
function of frequency for 10 values ranging from 100 Hz to about 1500 Hz. (For frequencies above
1000 Hz, you will need to adjust the range selector on the audio driver to 5000 Hz.) Evenly-spaced
frequencies are not necessarily bestuse fine measurements (50 Hz spacing) when the voltage is
17

changing more slowly and a coarser scale when it is changing more rapidly. Above 1000 Hz, it is
sufficient to use a 200 Hz spacing. Record and plot your data on your worksheet. Be sure to find
the resonant frequency, fr , at which Vbulb reaches its maximum value.
The circuit can absorb the most energy from the audio driver when its impedance Z is at a
minimum. The impedance of the circuit is given by
Z =

R2 + (XL XC )2

R2 + (L 1/C)2 .

Because the inductive and capacitive reactance terms appear with opposite signs, and depend in
different ways on frequency, they can cancel each other out when XL = XC . This leads to a minimum
in the impedance at the resonant frequency,
fr =

.
2 LC

Compute the resonant frequency for your circuit and compare it to your observations. Do they
agree?
At the resonant frequency, use your multimeter to measure the voltage drop across the capacitor?
Is it zero? What is the power dissipated in the capacitor? What about the inductor?

Measuring the Inductance of an Unknown Inductor

Adjust the frequency on the audio driver so that your RLC circuit is at resonance again. Now
take the steel cylinder from your circuit board and insert it into the inductor. What happens to
the bulb?
Scan the frequency on the audio driver until you find the new resonant frequency of the circuit.
Based on this result, what is the inductance of the inductor when the steel cylinder is inserted?
Increasing the inductance by inserting a magnetic material into a coil is analogous to increasing
capacitance by adding a dielectric. For this reason, you will often see inductors wound on an iron
core.

18