
Explore sine wave fundamentals, time-domain voltages and currents, rms values, phasors, impedance and reactance, power triangle concepts (real, reactive, apparent power), and frequency resonance in AC circuits.
Explore the fundamentals of alternating current, compare AC and DC behavior, and learn waveforms, frequency, peak and RMS values, and basic power calculations in resistive loads.
Explore phasors to represent AC voltages and currents with magnitude and phase. Learn polar and rectangular notation and perform phasor addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division.
Learn how reactance and impedance shape voltages and currents in series RLC circuits using phasors, frequency-dependent reactances, and resonance.
Apply Kirchhoff's voltage and current laws to AC series and parallel circuits with a resistor, inductor, and capacitor, converting polar to rectangular voltages and computing currents and impedance.
Analyze instantaneous and average power in AC circuits, including real, reactive, and apparent power. Explore LC resonance, tank circuits, and series and parallel configurations.
Alternating current (AC) is an electric current that periodically reverses direction and changes its magnitude continuously with time in contrast to direct current (DC) which flows only in one direction. Alternating current is the form in which electric power is delivered to businesses and residences, and it is the form of electrical energy that consumers typically use when they plug kitchen appliances, televisions, fans and electric lamps into a wall socket. A common source of DC power is a battery cell in a flashlight. The abbreviations AC and DC are often used to mean simply alternating and direct, as when they modify current or voltage.
The usual waveform of alternating current in most electric power circuits is a sine wave, whose positive half-period corresponds with positive direction of the current and vice versa. In certain applications, like guitar amplifiers, different waveforms are used, such as triangular waves or square waves. Audio and radio signals carried on electrical wires are also examples of alternating current. These types of alternating current carry information such as sound (audio) or images (video) sometimes carried by modulation of an AC carrier signal. These currents typically alternate at higher frequencies than those used in power transmission.
This course deals specifically with sinusoidal waveforms and will provide the student with the basic understanding of working with circuits involving Alternating Current, which includes sinusoidal waveforms, vectors & phasors, reactance & impedance of R,L,C circuits, as they relate to the basic laws and theorems of electricity. This includes working with AC Power, Power Factor, Resonance, Complex Numbers, Reactance and Impedance