CHAPTER 4: ALTERNATING CURRENT CIRCUITS

4.1 Phase in AC waveform

1. Define the alternating current

2. Describe in brief for direct current (DC) circuit and alternating current (AC) circuit with sketch the
waveform and graph in Table 1 below.

Direct Current (DC) Alternating Current (AC)

Table 1

3. State the definition of all terminologies for alternating current in Table 3 below.

Terminology Definition

Frequency,f

Period,T

Peak value

Peak-to-peak value

Root means square

Average value

Table 3

BASIC ENGINEERING STUDIES 1

4. Figure 1 shows the variation of current for sinusoidal ac wave.

Figure 1

Determine:
a) i) Peak current ( Ans:8A)
ii) Peak-to-peak current ( Ans:16A)
iii) Supply frequency (Ans:25Hz)
iv) Period,T (Ans:40ms)
v) R.m.s value of the current (Ans:5.66A)
b) Write expression for the wave (Ans:i(t)= 8sin157.08t)
c) Instantaneous current when t=25ms (Ans: 5.66A)

5. Figure 2.2 shows the waveform of ac voltage.

Figure 2

Determine:
a) i) Peak voltage ( Ans:12V )
ii) Peak-to-peak voltage (Ans:24V )
iii) Supply frequency (Ans:166.67Hz)
iv) Period,T (Ans:6 ms)
v) R.m.s value of the voltage (Ans:8.48v)
b) Write expression for the wave (Ans:v(t)= 12sin1047.22t)
c) Instantaneous voltage when t=7ms (Ans:10.39V)

6. A voltage V= 55 sin 120πt is applied across a 20Ω resistor. What will an ac ammeter reads in
series with the resistor load. (Ans:1.94A)

BASIC ENGINEERING STUDIES 2

 7. Given an alternating current expression is i(t) = 25 sin 628.3t is passed through a 3Ω resistor.
Calculate:
a) Peak current (Ans:25A)
b) R.m.s Current (Ans:17.68A)
c) Frequency of the waveform (Ans:100 Hz)
d) Power dissipated in the 3Ω resistor (Ans:1875W)
e) What is the instantaneous current when t=8ms (Ans: 23.78A)

8. An alternating voltage has the equation v = 141.4 sin 377t. Determine the followings:
i. R.M.S voltage (Ans:99.98v)
ii. frequency (Ans:60 Hz)
iii. instantaneous voltage when t = 3ms (Ans: 127.94v)

9. From figure below, determine:

i. Average value. (Ans:12.73v)
ii. Root mean square (rms) value (Ans:14.14v)
iii. Angular frequency, w. (Ans: 785.4 rad/s)

10. A voltmeter read 80V when connected across the terminals of a sinusoidal source with f = 1.0 kHz.
Write the equation for the instantaneous voltage provided by the source
( Ans :V (t ) = 80 sin 6283.19t )

11. Sketch the waveform given the following alternating current expression:
π
V (t ) = 20 sin(50πt + )V I (t ) = 5 sin 500πt − 30° A
a) 2 c)
π
I (t ) = 3 sin 500πt − °A
b) 4 d) V
(t ) = 100 sin 1500t + 60° V
12. Write the equation for the following waveform:

a) b)

BASIC ENGINEERING STUDIES 3

Tutorial 4.2: R, L, C Basic Circuits

1. Describe the component of passive element (resistor, capacitor and inductor)

Resistor

Capacitor

Inductor

2. State the definition of reactances as stated in Table 2 below:

Resistance

Inductive reactance

Capacitive reactance

Impedance

Table 2
3. Figure 5 below shows a RL circuit.

Figure 5
Referring to Figure 5 above, calculate :
i. Inductive reactance (Ans : 78.54<900Ω )
ii. Impedance (Ans : 98.83<52.620 Ω)
iii. Current, I (Ans : 2.02<52.620 A)
iv. Voltage drop at R, VR (Ans : 121.42<52.620 V )
v. Voltage drop at L, VL (Ans : 158.65<37.380 V )
vi. Sketch voltage vector diagram

BASIC ENGINEERING STUDIES 4

4. Figure 6 below shows a RC circuit.

Figure 6

Referring to Figure 6 above, calculate :

i. Capacitive reactance (Ans : 31.83<900Ω)
ii. Impedance, Z (Ans : 59.27<32.480 Ω)
iii. Current , I (Ans : 3.71<42.480 A)
iv. Voltage drop at R, VR (Ans : 185.5<42.480 V )
v. Voltage drop at C, VC (Ans : 118.09<47.520 V )
vi. Sketch impedance vector diagram

5. Figure 7 below shows a RL circuit.

Figure 7
Referring to figure 7 above:
a) calculate:
i. Voltage drop at R, VR (Ans : 187.3V )
ii. Current, I (Ans : 2.34A)
iii. Inductive reactance (Ans : 64.1<900 V )
iv. Impedance, Z (Ans : 102.5<38.70 Ω)
v. Inductor , L (Ans : 204mH )
b) Sketch the phasor diagram to show phase difference between current and voltage.

BASIC ENGINEERING STUDIES 5

6. Figure 8 below shows a RC circuit.

Figure 8

Referring to figure 8 above, calculate:

i. Voltage supply ( Ans:215.05<24.460 V )
ii. Capacitor value, C (Ans:45.47µF)
iii. Sketch a phasor diagram between voltage and current.

7. Figure 9 below shows a RLC circuit.

Figure 9
Referring to figure 9 above, calculate :
i. Capacitive reactance ( Ans:39.8<900Ω)
ii. Inductive reactance ( Ans:94.2<900 Ω)
iii. Impedance ( Ans:80.9,42.20 Ω)
iv. Current, I ( Ans:2.97<2.80 A)
v. Voltage drop at R, VR ( Ans:178.2<2.80 V )
vi. Voltage drop at C, VC ( Ans:118.21<87.20 V )
vii. Voltage drop at L, VL ( Ans:279.77<92.80 V )
ix. Sketch voltage vector diagram
x. Sketch a phasor diagram between voltage and current.

BASIC ENGINEERING STUDIES 6

8. Figure 10 below shows a RLC circuit.

Figure 2.10
Referring to figure 10 above, calculate
i. Impedance (Ans:5.51Ω)
ii. Resistor, R (Ans:4.96 Ω)
iii. Circuit current (Ans:20.16 A)
iv. Voltage supply (Ans:111v)
v. Sketch impedance vector diagram
vi. Sketch a phasor diagram between voltage and current

9. Figure 11 below shows a RLC circuit.

igure 11
Referring to figure 11 above, calculate
i. nductive reactance (Ans:62.83Ω)
ii. apacitive reactance (Ans:42.44 Ω)
iii. RMS current (Ans:495mA)
iv. Supply voltage (rms) (Ans:33.72V )
v. Sketch impedance vector diagram
vi. Sketch a phasor diagram between voltage and current

BASIC ENGINEERING STUDIES 7

10. Figure 13 below shows a RLC circuit.

Figure 13

Referring to figure 13 above, calculate :

i. Circuit current ( Ans : 3.83 A)

ii. Capacitor value, C ( Ans : 202.6 µF )
iii. Sketch impedance vector diagram

BASIC ENGINEERING STUDIES 8