Analyzing the Setup
Imagine you are looking at a simple yet fascinating electrical circuit. We have an inductor with an inductance of L=40 mH and a capacitor with a capacitance of C=100μF connected in series. Powering this setup is an alternating voltage source described by the equation V(t)=10sin(314t).
From this voltage equation, we can immediately extract two critical pieces of information. The peak voltage, Vm, is simply the amplitude of the sine wave, which is 10 V. The angular frequency, ω, is the coefficient of t inside the sine function, giving us ω=314 rad/s.
Calculating Reactances
In an AC circuit, both inductors and capacitors offer opposition to the flow of alternating current. This opposition is known as reactance. Let's calculate the reactance for each component.
First, the inductive reactance, XL, is directly proportional to the frequency and the inductance. The formula is XL=ωL. Substituting our values, we get:
Next, we calculate the capacitive reactance, XC. Unlike the inductor, a capacitor's opposition is inversely proportional to the frequency and capacitance. The formula is XC=ωC1. Plugging in the numbers:
XC=314×100×10−61≈31.85Ω
The Net Impedance and Phase
Because the inductor and capacitor are connected in series, their reactances oppose each other. They are exactly 180∘ out of phase. Therefore, the net impedance, Z, of this L−C circuit is simply the absolute difference between the two reactances:
Z=∣XC−XL∣=31.85−12.56=19.29Ω
Here is the crucial catch: notice that XC>XL. Because the capacitive reactance is greater, the entire circuit behaves effectively like a purely capacitive circuit. In a purely capacitive circuit, the current leads the voltage by exactly 90∘, or 2π radians.
Final Current Equation
Now that we have the net impedance, finding the peak current, Im, is straightforward using Ohm's law for AC circuits:
Im=ZVm=19.2910≈0.52 A
Finally, we construct the equation for the instantaneous current, I(t). We know the peak current is 0.52 A, and we established that the current leads the voltage by 2π. Therefore, we add 2π to the phase of the voltage equation:
Using the trigonometric identity sin(θ+2π)=cosθ, we arrive at our final, elegant answer: