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FACULTY OF ENGINEERING, ARCHITECTURE & BUILT ENVIRONMENT

SCHOOL OF ENGINEERING
EV101 ELECTRICAL PRINCIPLES
Experiment 4
AC Circuits: RLC in Parallel.
Objective:
To verify Kirchhoffs Current Law (KCL) in RLC circuit.
Apparatus and components:
1. Resistors: 1 k and 10 .
2. Capacitor: 0.01 uF.
3. Inductor: 10 mH.
4. Breadboard.
5. Signal Generator.
6. Oscilloscope.
7. Multimeter.
8. Jumpers/cables/connectors.
Background theory:
An RLC parallel circuit operated using AC voltages, E, is shown in Fig. 4.1.

R
V

L
V

C
V
S
I
R
I
L
I
C
I
Fig. 4.1 RLC parallel circuit
Procedure:
1. Construct an RLC parallel circuit as shown in Fig. 4.2 on the breadboard. Insert the
measured value of the resistor R.
....... .......... ..........
meas
R
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) ( 8 p p V E
S
I
R
I
L
I
C
I

kHz 10
Fig. 4.2
2. Using the values for the inductance and capacitance and the measured resistor value,
calculate peak-to-peak values of the currents for the circuit of Fig. 4.2.
..., .......... ..........
) (

p p s
I ..., .......... ..........
) (

p p R
I
..., .......... ..........
) (

p p L
I ..., .......... ..........
) (

p p C
I
3. Switch OFF supply from Signal Generator. Connect a sensing resistor
S
R as shown in
Fig. 4.3. Determine the measured value of the peak-to-peak value of the
RS
V , and use it to
calculate the peak-to-peak value of the source current
S
I . Compare with the calculated
value of part 2 above.
..., .......... ..........
) (

p p s
I
) ( 8 p p V E
S
I
R
I
L
I
C
I

kHz 10

10
S
R
Fig. 4.3
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4. Again, by using a sensing resistor, determine the peak-to-peak value of the currents
L
I and
C
I . Use the following construction of the circuits (Fig 4.4 and Fig 4.5) to measure
RS
V , and then calculate the peak-to-peak values of the
L
I and
C
I , respectively. Compare
the results with the calculated values of part 2.
..., .......... ..........
) (

p p L
I ..., .......... ..........
) (

p p C
I
) ( 8 p p V E
S
I
R
I
L
I
C
I

kHz 10

10
S
R
RS
V
Fig. 4.4
) ( 8 p p V E
S
I
R
I
L
I
C
I

kHz 10

10
S
R
RS
V
Fig. 4.5
5. Calculate the peak-to-peak value of the current
R
I using the fact that E V
R
.
..., .......... ..........
) (

p p R
I
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6. Using the input voltage as a reference (

0 ) ( 8 0 p p V E E ) and the measured
values of all the currents, draw a phasor diagram and determine the phase angle between
the applied voltage and the input current.
. .......... ..........
s

7. Using the measured value of

S
I from part 3 and the applied voltage, calculate the
magnitude of the total impedance of the circuit.
... .......... ..........
T
Z
8. Using the calculated value of
S
I from part 2 and the applied voltage, calculate the
magnitude of the total impedance of the circuit. How does it compare to the value of part
7.
... .......... ..........
T
Z
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Discussion:
Conclusion: