University of Santo Tomas

Faculty of Engineering
1st sem AY 2018-2019

EXPERIMENT NO. 6
DC & AC Circuits
Group 3
Erwin Cabangal
Alec Cambi
Mico Castillo
Juan Miguel Esporlas
4ChE-B
along from positive to negative in line with the
INTRODUCTION current. [1] Their symbols must also be noted as
shown in Figure 1. A DC circuit is represented as
Electrical circuit is defines as a complete straight lines while an AC circuit has a symbol of
conductive path through which electrons flow a wave.
from the source to the load and back to the
source. It must be noted that the direction and Generally the basic source of direct
magnitude of the electrons flow is dependent on current is produced by batteries, electrochemical,
the kind of source. There are basically two types and photovoltaic cells. But AC is most preferred
of voltage or current source which defines the across the world. [2] Basically AC is used to
kind of circuit and they are the Alternating Current deliver power to industries, houses, office
(AC) and Direct Current (DC). [1] buildings, etc

A passive element is an electrical

component that does not generate power, but
instead dissipates, stores, and/or releases it.
Passive elements include resistances,
capacitors, and coils (also called inductors). [3] In
this experiments, capacitors and inductors are
used in DC and AC circuits.

The purpose of this experiment is to

compare DC and AC voltage and current and to
compare the behavior of passive elements in DC
& AC Circuits.
Figure 1: Difference between DC and AC Circuits SETUP
The major difference between the AC Legend:
and DC, which is also the cause of their different
characteristics, is the direction of flow of electric A- Lamp
energy. In DC, Electrons flow steadily in a single B- Circuit Wires
direction or forward, while in AC, electrons C- Analog Voltmeter
alternate their direction of flow in periodic D- Rectifier
intervals, as shown in Figure 1. This also leads to E- Variac
alternation in the voltage level as it switches F- Inductor

METHODOLOGY
 Capacitor and Inductor Response in
DC
Before the experiment, the instruments to
be used were prepared to accommodate the
required data results. Firstly, both the 50W and
25W lamps were placed and arranged in a series
arrangement. Afterwards, the power source for
the whole circuit was energized with a supplied
EMF of 110V DC. The resulting scenario was
then observed and recorded. However, the 110V
DC source was not available so a bridge rectifier
was used to convert the supplied AC from the
variac into DC.
After it was energized, the current and
the voltage across the 50W and 25W bulb were
measured. The connection for the DC ammeter
was made to be in series with that of the whole
circuit. It was also made sure that the power
source was turned off while in the process of
wiring reconnection to accommodate for the
safety of the whole experiment. For the voltage,
the DC voltmeter was connected in parallel.
Careful recording of data was done afterwards.
The 50W lamp was then connected in
series with the inductor. Eventually, the circuit
was then re-energized by the 110V DC source.
Careful analysis of the resulting response made
by the lamp was done. The current and voltage
across the 50W lamp and the inductor was then
measured. The distribution of the voltages across
the RL circuit was differentiated with the
distribution of the voltages between only 2 lamps.
Finally, the 50W lamp was connected
with the capacitor in series which was then re-
energized by the 110V DC source with the
corresponding resulting response analysis of the
whole circuit. The current and voltage across the
50W lamp and the capacitor were then recorded.
 Capacitor and Inductor Response in
AC
The same procedure from the first circuit
system was done for the setup except that
the Variable autotransformer (Variac) was
used as a power supply instead of using the
110V DC source. Also, instead of using DC
ammeter and voltmeter, the one for the AC
circuit was used.
RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS
D.C.= 110 V
In the first setup, two lamps( Lamp 1
rated at 75W and Lamp 2 rated at 100W) were
connected in a circuit. Using a series connection
with the power supply , the two bulbs lit but with
different brightness , this was due to that in a
series network, the first node that the electricity
will pass through will be the one supplied with the
proper voltage and the rest receives the
remaining power supplied. When an inductor was
inserted , a voltage drop was noticed because
inductors store energy in a magnetic field when
electric current flows through it.Direct current
means that the flow of electrons would always
flow in one direction .For the last trial of this set-
up , a capacitor was included in the network. This
was to prove that capacitors do not play a role in
direct current because it is impossible for a
steady state current to flow across a capacitor
(D.C. is shorted) .
A.C.=110V
In the second setup(using the two lamps
in setup 1), alternating current was used in a
series network. An inductor behaves differently in
ac versus dc. In this supply, the opposition to the
current flowing through the coil windings not only
depends upon the inductance of the coil but also
the frequency of the applied voltage waveform as
it varies from its positive to negative values.This
might explain the slower lighting up of the bulb
versus the previous test in dc . When a capacitor
was inserted into the network. The bulb did not lit
due to the capacitor in a series circuit acts as a
temporary storage device maintaining or holding
the charge therefore preventing the bulb to
achieve its rated voltage.
CONCLUSION
The three main passive components
used in the experiment are 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. Passive
components consume electrical energy and
therefore cannot increase or amplify the power of
any electrical signals applied to them, simply
because they are passive and as such will always
have a gain of less than one.[7]
We also learned that electrical current
can flow through a circuit in either of two ways.
Direct Current, if it flows in one steady direction
only it is classed as direct current while
Alternating current If the electrical current
alternates in both directions back and forth it is
classed as alternating current. Although they
present an impedance within a circuit, passive
components in AC circuits behave very differently
to those in DC circuits.
Resistors whether used in DC or AC
circuits will always have the same value of
resistance no matter what the supply frequency.
This is because resistors are classed to be pure
having parasitic properties such as infinite
capacitance C = ∞ and zero inductance L = 0. [1]
Capacitors and inductors on the other
hand, have a different type of AC resistance
known as reactance, (XL and XC). 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. At DC an
inductor has zero impedance (short-circuit), while
at high frequencies an inductor has infinite (open-
circuit) impedance, ( XL ). While at DC a capacitor
has infinite (open-circuit) impedance, ( XC ) while
at very high frequencies a capacitor has zero
impedance (short-circuit).[1]
After the experiment, we are able to
compare the DC and AC voltage and current as
well as to compare the behavior of passive
elements in DC and AC Circuits.
REFERENCES
[1]Emmanuel, O (2018) AC Circuit Theorey:
What is AC and How its Generated. Retrieved
October 16, 2018 from https://circuitdigest.c
om/tutorial/ac-circuit-theory
[2] Agarwal, T (n.d) What is the difference
between AC and DC Current. Retrieved October
16, 2018 from https://www.elprocus.com/main-
difference-between-ac-and-dc-currents/
[3] Passive Elements. Retrieved October 16,
2018 from https://www.renesas.com
/br/en/support/technical-resources/engineer-
school/electronic-circuits-01-passive-
elements.html
[4] Capacitors in DC Circuit.Retrieved October
16, 2018, from
http://farside.ph.utexas.edu/teaching/302l/lecture
s/node60.html
[5] How Capacitors Behave in AC Circuits.
(2011, November 30). Retrieved October 16,
2018, from https://www.eeweb.com/profile
/andrew-carter/articles/how-capacitors-behave-
in-ac-circuits
[6] Home. (n.d.). Retrieved October 16, 2018,
from https://engineering.mit.edu/engage/ask-an-
engineer/whats-the-difference-between-ac-and-
dc/
[7] ] Aspencore, Passive Components in AC
Circuits (2017) Retrieved from:
https://www.electronics-tutorials.ws/accircuits/pa
ssive-components.html