Sunday, December 8, 2013

Ch 34: electromagnetism

To end the "Electricity and Magnetism" series of blogs; one *must* see this astounding video on the beauty of science in our everyday world:
http://youtu.be/sEw-v4yQxek


Amperes FULL Law; (A law that describes nature perfectly): 

Maxwell discovered that there was a missing link in Amperes original law! 

This link is responsible for describing the change in electrical field causes by a change in magnetic field. 

Maxwell determined that electromagnetic  waves have a speed - which is how light travels. Maxwell determined that the speed of light (experimentally known at the time) is the SAME speed as electromagnetic waves. Thus, Maxwell is responsible for determining that light itself is an electromagnetic disturbance.

Online slides from Texas U that are helpful for reviewing:


Sunday, December 1, 2013

Chapter 33: AC Circuits

Alternating Current Circuits




source for image: http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/electric/accircon.html#c1

Equations to remember:

when an AC Circuit switch is closed, we have a charging circuit, and:
I = deltaV/R

voltage across the inductor equals 0, and delta V = 0

  • instantaneous voltage and current are 90 degrees out of phase, where V lags behind I within the capacitor
  • instantaneous voltage and current are 90 degrees out of phase, where V leads I within the Inductor
  • voltage is IN PHASE With the current, within the resistor

DeltaVoltageAVG = 1/2VAVG

DeltaVrms = DeltaVmax / sqrt(2)

Inductive Reactance: XL = ωL

Capacitive Reactance: XC = 1/ωC

TOTAL reactance of an RLC circuit:

XL - X= Rtan(theta)

theta = angle I is leading V

impedance (Z):  Impedance is ...?


Z = SQRT(R^2 + X^2)

Z = V / I

NOTE: V and I are complex sinusoidal functions for voltage and current


**when you have an AC (Oscillating voltage) Circuit that only contains an INDUCTOR,

I = Vrms / ωL

**when you have an AC (Oscillating voltage) Circuit that only contains an CAPACITOR

I = V / XC
I = VωC

The PHASE ANGLE..


in a series RLC circuit the phase angle is given by: tan(theta) = (XL - XC/R)

at resonance, Inductive Reactance equals the Capacitive Reactance:

XL = XC

Phase angles are frequency dependent~!

Power in an electric circuit


RATE OF power delivered (or work done by power) = (frequency) ( voltage)

when F and V are vectors..

P = FVcos(theta)


Quality Factor (Q)

Q tells you how underdamped an oscillator is In physics and engineering the quality factor or Q factor is a dimensionless parameter that describes how under-damped an oscillator or resonator is,[1] or equivalently, characterizes a resonator's bandwidth relative to its center frequency.[2] Higher Q indicates a lower rate of energy loss relative to the stored energy of the resonator; the oscillations die out more slowly

source: Wikipedia

Capacitance for an AC-circuit?

UNIT for C = FARADS (F)

C = 1/[4(pi)^2*frequency^2*(L)]


Chapter 32: Inductance

This chapter is about the Inductance (L)



An Inductor is a coil of wire - a miniature solenoid - used in circuits to oppose sudden changes in current. 

Inductors don't like change. They will do anything to oppose change! 

Inductors like to build up a magnetic field within themselves (to store energy) -  this inhibits the flow of current through the circuit.

Once a magnetic field is done being "built" inside the inductor - current flows freely around the circuit! 

Remember: Inductors are pretty useless unless current is changing (increasing or decreasing). 

The capacity of an inductor is a factor of its geometry (area, radius, space between coils) and the number of coils (n).

Summary of main concepts:


Source: http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/electric/indtra.html






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