Passive Components in AC Circuits

Electrical and electronic circuits consist of connecting together many different components to form a
complete and closed circuit. The three main passive components used in any circuit are the: Resistor,
the Capacitor and the Inductor. All three of these passive components have one thing in common,
they limit the flow of electrical current through a circuit but in very different ways.
Electrical current can flow through a circuit in either of two ways. If it flows in one steady direction
only it is classed as direct current, (DC). If the electrical current alternates in both directions back and
forth it is classed as alternating current, (AC). Although they present an impedance within a circuit,
passive components in AC circuits behave very differently to those in DC circuits.
Passive components cannot increase or amplify the power of any electrical signals applied to them,
because they are passive and as such will always have a gain of less than one. Resistors have a form
of impedance which is termed resistance, (R). Resistors whether used in DC or AC circuits will always
have the same value of resistance from DC to very high AC frequencies.
Capacitors and inductors on the other hand, have a different type of AC resistance known as
reactance, (X
L
, X
C
). Reactance also impedes the flow of current, but the amount of reactance is not a
fixed quantity for one inductor or capacitor in the same way that a resistor has a fixed value of
resistance. The reactance value of an inductor or a capacitor depends upon the frequency of the
supply current as well as on the DC value of the component itself.
The following is a list of passive components commonly used in AC circuits along with their
corresponding equations which can be used to find their value or circuit current. Note that a
theoretically perfect (pure) capacitor or inductor does not have any resistance. However in the real
world they will always have some resistive value no matter how small.
Purely Resistive Circuit
Resistor Resistors regulate, impede or set the flow of current through a particular path or impose a
voltage reduction in an electrical circuit. The resistive value of a resistor is measured in Ohms, O.
Resistors can be of a fixed value or variable.


Purely Capacitive Circuit
Capacitor The capacitor is a component which has the ability or capacity to store energy in the
form of an electrical charge like a small battery. The capacitance value of a capacitor is measured in
Farads, F. At DC a capacitor has infinite (open-circuit) impedance, (X
C
) while at very high frequencies
a capacitor has zero impedance (short-circuit).



Purely Inductive Circuit
Inductor An inductor is a coil of wire that induces a magnetic field within itself or within a central
core as a direct result of current passing through the coil. The inductance value of an inductor is
measured in Henries, H. At DC an inductor has zero impedance (short-circuit), at high frequencies an
inductor has infinite (open-circuit) impedance, (X
L
).




Series AC Circuits
Passive components in AC circuits can be connected together in series combinations to form RC, RL
and LC circuits as shown.






Series RC Circuit



Series RL Circuit









Series LC Circuit




Parallel AC Circuits
Passive components in AC circuits can also be connected together in parallel combinations to form
RC, RL and LC circuits as shown.
Parallel RC Circuit






Parallel RL Circuit




Parallel LC Circuit




Passive RLC Circuits
All three passive components in AC circuits can also be connected together in both series RLC and
parallel RLC combinations as shown below.

Series RLC Circuit




Parallel RLC Circuit



We have seen above that passive components in AC circuits behave very differently than when
connected in a DC circuit due to the influence of frequency, (). In a purely resistive circuit, the
current is in-phase with the voltage. In a purely capacitive circuit the current in the capacitor leads the
voltage by 90
o
and in a purely inductive circuit the current lags the voltage by 90
o
.
The opposition to current flow through a passive component in an AC circuit is called: resistance, R
for a resistor, capacitive reactance, X
C
for a capacitor and inductive reactance, X
L
for an
inductor. The combination of resistance and reactance is called Impedance.
In a series circuit, the phasor sum of the voltages across the circuits components is equal to the
supply voltage, V
S
. In a parallel circuit, the phasor sum of the currents flowing in each branch and
therefore through each of the circuits components is equal to the supply current, I
S
.
For both parallel and series connected RLC circuits, when the supply current is in-phase with the
supply voltage the circuit resonance occurs as X
L
= X
C
. A Series Resonance Circuit is known as an
Acceptor Circuit. A Parallel Resonance Circuit is known as a Rejector Circuit.