Experiment No.
7: Resonance in series RLC circuits
Theory
When an AC voltage is applied to the RLC series circuit, a phase difference occurs between the voltage across the circuit
v(t) and the current through the circuit i(t). This phase difference is
Where the inductive reactance is XL= 2πfL, the capacitive reactance is XC, = 1/2πfC, and the resistance is R. The expressions
for the instantaneous current and voltage are:
v(t ) = Vm sin (2ft).
i (t ) = I m sin( 2ft + )
When the frequency of the applied signal is low, the circuit is capacitive and the current leads the voltage. At high
frequencies, the circuit is inductive and the current lags the voltage. At some intermediate frequency, the circuit is purely
resistive and the phase difference between the voltage and the current is zero. This frequency is the resonant frequency
of the system and equals:
Phasor Diagram for a Series RLC Circuit
The resulting vector VS is obtained by adding together two of the vectors, VL and VC and then adding this sum to the
remaining vector VR. The resulting angle obtained between VS and i will be the circuits phase angle as shown below
𝑉𝑠 2 = 𝑉𝑅2 + (𝑉𝐿 + 𝑉𝐶)2
𝑉𝑠√𝑉𝑅2 + (𝑉𝐿 + 𝑉𝐶)2
Impedance of Series RLC Circuit:
As the three vector voltages are out-of-phase with each other, XL, XC and R must also be “out-of-phase”
with each other with the relationship between R, XL and XC being the vector sum of these three
components. This will give us the RLC circuits overall impedance, Z. These circuit impedances’ can be
drawn and represented by an Impedance Triangle as shown below.
When XL>XC, the circuit is predominantly inductive, causes the total current to lag the source voltage.
When XC> XL, the circuit is predominantly capacitive, causes the total current to lag the source voltage.
Total reactance |XL – XC|
Total impedance for a series RLC circuit is:
Analysis of Series RLC Circuit:
*A series RLC circuit is:
*Capacitive when XC>XL
*Inductive when XL>XC
*Resonant when XC=XL
*At resonance Ztot = R
*XL is a straight line
*y = mx + b
*XC is a hyperbola xy = k
*I=maximum value.
*=0o
*v(t) and i(t) will be in phase.
The general shape of reactance vs. frequency is shown in the figure;
notice that, at resonance frequency the above points are obtained.
Objectives
1. To study the resonance in a series RLC circuits.
2. To study and determine the reseonacnat frequency for different cases.
3. Examine the phase angle between the current and the voltage at various frequencies.
4. Examine the voltages vL and vC at various frequencies.
procedure
1. Connect the circuit shown in the figure 1 below.
2. Set the supply frequency on 650Hz, Vm on 4V, R on 100, L on 0.8H.
3. Change the value of C to arrive the reseonance case, record the value of C at this frequency.
4. Set L to 0.5H and C to 0.05F, then complete table1 to vL, vc, iand determine the reseonace frequency.
Resultant Table
f(HZ) VL-(max) V(C-max) Ir.m.s
400
500
600
700
800
900
1K
2K
3K
4K
5K
Calculation & Discussion
1. Plot vL and vC vs. frequency f,
2. Find the experimental value of fr from this plot.
3. Calculate the theoretical value of fr from the equation.
4. Calculate the percentage difference between the experimental and theoretical values of fr.
5. Plot the values of XL and XC obtained above as a function of frequency.
6. Immediately below, plot the current as a function of frequency.
7. Discuss your results and the experiment benefits briefly.