AC Circuits

7-23-99
Alternating current
Direct current (DC) circuits involve current flowing in one
direction. In alternating current (AC) circuits, instead of a
constant voltage supplied by a battery, the voltage
oscillates in a sine wave pattern, varying with time as:

In a household circuit, the frequency is 60 Hz. The angular

frequency is related to the frequency, f, by:

Vo represents the maximum voltage, which in a household

circuit in North America is about 170 volts. We talk of a
household voltage of 120 volts, though; this number is a
kind of average value of the voltage. The particular
averaging method used is something called root mean
square (square the voltage to make everything positive, find
the average, take the square root), or rms. Voltages and
currents for AC circuits are generally expressed as rms
values. For a sine wave, the relationship between the peak
and the rms average is:
rms value = 0.707 peak value
Resistance in an AC circuit
The relationship V = IR applies for resistors in an AC
circuit, so

In AC circuits we'll talk a lot about the phase of the current

relative to the voltage. In a circuit which only involves
resistors, the current and voltage are in phase with each
other, which means that the peak voltage is reached at the
same instant as peak current. In circuits which have
capacitors and inductors (coils) the phase relationships will
be quite different.
Capacitance in an AC circuit

Consider now a circuit which has only a capacitor and an

AC power source (such as a wall outlet). A capacitor is a
device for storing charging. It turns out that there is a 90°
phase difference between the current and voltage, with the
current reaching its peak 90° (1/4 cycle) before the voltage
reaches its peak. Put another way, the current leads the
voltage by 90° in a purely capacitive circuit.
To understand why this is, we should review some of the
relevant equations, including:
relationship between voltage and charge for a capacitor:
CV = Q

The AC power supply produces an oscillating voltage. We

should follow the circuit through one cycle of the voltage to
figure out what happens to the current.
Step 1 - At point a (see diagram) the voltage is zero and the
capacitor is uncharged. Initially, the voltage increases
quickly. The voltage across the capacitor matches the
power supply voltage, so the current is large to build up
charge on the capacitor plates. The closer the voltage gets
to its peak, the slower it changes, meaning less current has
to flow. When the voltage reaches a peak at point b, the
capacitor is fully charged and the current is momentarily
zero.
Step 2 - After reaching a peak, the voltage starts dropping.
The capacitor must discharge now, so the current reverses
direction. When the voltage passes through zero at point c,
it's changing quite rapidly; to match this voltage the current
must be large and negative.
Step 3 - Between points c and d, the voltage is negative.
Charge builds up again on the capacitor plates, but the
polarity is opposite to what it was in step one. Again the
current is negative, and as the voltage reaches its negative
peak at point d the current drops to zero.
Step 4 - After point d, the voltage heads toward zero and
the capacitor must discharge. When the voltage reaches
zero it's gone through a full cycle so it's back to point a
again to repeat the cycle.
The larger the capacitance of the capacitor, the more charge
has to flow to build up a particular voltage on the plates,
and the higher the current will be. The higher the frequency
of the voltage, the shorter the time available to change the
voltage, so the larger the current has to be. The current,
then, increases as the capacitance increases and as the
frequency increases.
Usually this is thought of in terms of the effective
resistance of the capacitor, which is known as the
capacitive reactance, measured in ohms. There is an inverse
relationship between current and resistance, so the
capacitive reactance is inversely proportional to the
capacitance and the frequency:
A capacitor in an AC circuit exhibits a kind of resistance
called capacitive reactance, measured in ohms. This
depends on the frequency of the AC voltage, and is given
by:
We can use this like a resistance (because, really, it is a
resistance) in an equation of the form V = IR to get the
voltage across the capacitor:

Note that V and I are generally the rms values of the

voltage and current.
Inductance in an AC circuit

An inductor is simply a coil of wire (often wrapped around

a piece of ferromagnet). If we now look at a circuit
composed only of an inductor and an AC power source, we
will again find that there is a 90° phase difference between
the voltage and the current in the inductor. This time,
however, the current lags the voltage by 90°, so it reaches
its peak 1/4 cycle after the voltage peaks.
The reason for this has to do with the law of induction:

Applying Kirchoff's loop rule to the circuit above gives:

As the voltage from the power source increases from zero,

the voltage on the inductor matches it. With the capacitor,
the voltage came from the charge stored on the capacitor
plates (or, equivalently, from the electric field between the
plates). With the inductor, the voltage comes from
changing the flux through the coil, or, equivalently,
changing the current through the coil, which changes the
magnetic field in the coil.
To produce a large positive voltage, a large increase in
current is required. When the voltage passes through zero,
the current should stop changing just for an instant. When
the voltage is large and negative, the current should be
decreasing quickly. These conditions can all be satisfied by
having the current vary like a negative cosine wave, when
the voltage follows a sine wave.
How does the current through the inductor depend on the
frequency and the inductance? If the frequency is raised,
there is less time to change the voltage. If the time interval
is reduced, the change in current is also reduced, so the
current is lower. The current is also reduced if the
inductance is increased.
As with the capacitor, this is usually put in terms of the
effective resistance of the inductor. This effective
resistance is known as the inductive reactance. This is
given by:

where L is the inductance of the coil (this depends on the

geometry of the coil and whether its got a ferromagnetic
core). The unit of inductance is the henry.
As with capacitive reactance, the voltage across the
inductor is given by:

Where does the energy go?

One of the main differences between resistors, capacitors,
and inductors in AC circuits is in what happens with the
electrical energy. With resistors, power is simply dissipated
as heat. In a capacitor, no energy is lost because the
capacitor alternately stores charge and then gives it back
again. In this case, energy is stored in the electric field
between the capacitor plates. The amount of energy stored
in a capacitor is given by:

In other words, there is energy associated with an electric

field. In general, the energy density (energy per unit
volume) in an electric field with no dielectric is:

With a dielectric, the energy density is multiplied by the

dielectric constant.
There is also no energy lost in an inductor, because energy
is alternately stored in the magnetic field and then given
back to the circuit. The energy stored in an inductor is:

Again, there is energy associated with the magnetic field.

The energy density in a magnetic field is:
RLC Circuits

Consider what happens when resistors, capacitors, and

inductors are combined in one circuit. If all three
components are present, the circuit is known as an RLC
circuit (or LRC). If only two components are present, it's
either an RC circuit, an RL circuit, or an LC circuit.
The overall resistance to the flow of current in an RLC
circuit is known as the impedance, symbolized by Z. The
impedance is found by combining the resistance, the
capacitive reactance, and the inductive reactance. Unlike a
simple series circuit with resistors, however, where the
resistances are directly added, in an RLC circuit the
resistance and reactances are added as vectors.
This is because of the phase relationships. In a circuit with
just a resistor, voltage and current are in phase. With only a
capacitor, current is 90° ahead of the voltage, and with just
an inductor the reverse is true, the voltage leads the current
by 90°. When all three components are combined into one
circuit, there has to be some compromise.
To figure out the overall effective resistance, as well as to
determine the phase between the voltage and current, the
impedance is calculated like this. The resistance R is drawn
along the +x-axis of an x-y coordinate system. The
inductive reactance is at 90° to this, and is drawn along the
+y-axis. The capacitive reactance is also at 90° to the
resistance, and is 180° different from the inductive
reactance, so it's drawn along the -y-axis. The impedance,
Z, is the sum of these vectors, and is given by:

The current and voltage in an RLC circuit are related by V

= IZ. The phase relationship between the current and
voltage can be found from the vector diagram: its the angle
between the impedance, Z, and the resistance, R. The angle
can be found from:

If the angle is positive, the voltage leads the current by that

angle. If the angle is negative, the voltage lags the currents.
The power dissipated in an RLC circuit is given by:

Note that all of this power is lost in the resistor; the

capacitor and inductor alternately store energy in electric
and magnetic fields and then give that energy back to the
circuit.
Back to the course note home page
AC inductor circuits
Inductors do not behave the same as resistors. Whereas
resistors simply oppose the flow of electrons through them
(by dropping a voltage directly proportional to the current),
inductors oppose changes in current through them, by
dropping a voltage directly proportional to the rate of
change of current. In accordance with Lenz's Law, this
induced voltage is always of such a polarity as to try to
maintain current at its present value. That is, if current is
increasing in magnitude, the induced voltage will "push
against" the electron flow; if current is decreasing, the
polarity will reverse and "push with" the electron flow to
oppose the decrease. This opposition to current change is
called reactance, rather than resistance.
Expressed mathematically, the relationship between the
voltage dropped across the inductor and rate of current
change through the inductor is as such:

The expression di/dt is one from calculus, meaning the rate

of change of instantaneous current (i) over time, in amps
per second. The inductance (L) is in Henrys, and the
instantaneous voltage (e), of course, is in volts. Sometimes
you will find the rate of instantaneous voltage expressed as
"v" instead of "e" (v = L di/dt), but it means the exact same
thing. To show what happens with alternating current, let's
analyze a simple inductor circuit:
If we were to plot the current and voltage for this very
simple circuit, it would look something like this:

Remember, the voltage dropped across an inductor is a

reaction against the change in current through it. Therefore,
the instantaneous voltage is zero whenever the
instantaneous current is at a peak (zero change, or level
slope, on the current sine wave), and the instantaneous
voltage is at a peak wherever the instantaneous current is at
maximum change (the points of steepest slope on the
current wave, where it crosses the zero line). This results in
a voltage wave that is 90o out of phase with the current
wave. Looking at the graph, the voltage wave seems to
have a "head start" on the current wave; the voltage "leads"
the current, and the current "lags" behind the voltage.
Things get even more interesting when we plot the power
for this circuit:

Because instantaneous power is the product of the

instantaneous voltage and the instantaneous current (p=ie),
the power equals zero whenever the instantaneous current
or voltage is zero. Whenever the instantaneous current and
voltage are both positive (above the line), the power is
positive. As with the resistor example, the power is also
positive when the instantaneous current and voltage are
both negative (below the line). However, because the
current and voltage waves are 90o out of phase, there are
times when one is positive while the other is negative,
resulting in equally frequent occurrences of negative
instantaneous power.
But what does negative power mean? It means that the
inductor is releasing power back to the circuit, while a
positive power means that it is absorbing power from the
circuit. Since the positive and negative power cycles are
equal in magnitude and duration over time, the inductor
releases just as much power back to the circuit as it absorbs
over the span of a complete cycle. What this means in a
practical sense is that the reactance of an inductor
dissipates a net energy of zero, quite unlike the resistance
of a resistor, which dissipates energy in the form of heat.
Mind you, this is for perfect inductors only, which have no
wire resistance.
An inductor's opposition to change in current translates to
an opposition to alternating current in general, which is by
definition always changing in instantaneous magnitude and
direction. This opposition to alternating current is similar to
resistance, but different in that it always results in a phase
shift between current and voltage, and it dissipates zero
power. Because of the differences, it has a different name:
reactance. Reactance to AC is expressed in ohms, just like
resistance is, except that its mathematical symbol is X
instead of R. To be specific, reactance associate with an
inductor is usually symbolized by the capital letter X with a
letter L as a subscript, like this: XL.
Since inductors drop voltage in proportion to the rate of
current change, they will drop more voltage for faster-
changing currents, and less voltage for slower-changing
currents. What this means is that reactance in ohms for any
inductor is directly proportional to the frequency of the
alternating current. The exact formula for determining
reactance is as follows:

If we expose a 10 mH inductor to frequencies of 60, 120,

and 2500 Hz, it will manifest the following reactances:

For a 10 mH inductor:
Frequency (Hertz) Reactance (Ohms)
----------------------------------------
| 60 | 3.7699 |
|--------------------------------------|
| 120 | 7.5398 |
|--------------------------------------|
| 2500 | 157.0796 |
----------------------------------------

In the reactance equation, the term "2πf" (everything on the

right-hand side except the L) has a special meaning unto
itself. It is the number of radians per second that the
alternating current is "rotating" at, if you imagine one cycle
of AC to represent a full circle's rotation. A radian is a unit
of angular measurement: there are 2π radians in one full
circle, just as there are 360o in a full circle. If the alternator
producing the AC is a double-pole unit, it will produce one
cycle for every full turn of shaft rotation, which is every 2π
radians, or 360o. If this constant of 2π is multiplied by
frequency in Hertz (cycles per second), the result will be a
figure in radians per second, known as the angular velocity
of the AC system.
Angular velocity may be represented by the expression 2πf,
or it may be represented by its own symbol, the lower-case
Greek letter Omega, which appears similar to our Roman
lower-case "w": ω. Thus, the reactance formula XL = 2πfL
could also be written as XL = ωL.
It must be understood that this "angular velocity" is an
expression of how rapidly the AC waveforms are cycling, a
full cycle being equal to 2π radians. It is not necessarily
representative of the actual shaft speed of the alternator
producing the AC. If the alternator has more than two
poles, the angular velocity will be a multiple of the shaft
speed. For this reason, ω is sometimes expressed in units of
electrical radians per second rather than (plain) radians per
second, so as to distinguish it from mechanical motion.
Any way we express the angular velocity of the system, it
is apparent that it is directly proportional to reactance in an
inductor. As the frequency (or alternator shaft speed) is
increased in an AC system, an inductor will offer greater
opposition to the passage of current, and visa-versa.
Alternating current in a simple inductive circuit is equal to
the voltage (in volts) divided by the inductive reactance (in
ohms), just as either alternating or direct current in a simple
resistive circuit is equal to the voltage (in volts) divided by
the resistance (in ohms). An example circuit is shown here:
However, we need to keep in mind that voltage and current
are not in phase here. As was shown earlier, the voltage has
a phase shift of +90o with respect to the current. If we
represent these phase angles of voltage and current
mathematically in the form of complex numbers, we find
that an inductor's opposition to current has a phase angle,
too:
Mathematically, we say that the phase angle of an
inductor's opposition to current is 90o, meaning that an
inductor's opposition to current is a positive imaginary
quantity. This phase angle of reactive opposition to current
becomes critically important in circuit analysis, especially
for complex AC circuits where reactance and resistance
interact. It will prove beneficial to represent any
component's opposition to current in terms of complex
numbers rather than scalar quantities of resistance and
reactance.
 • REVIEW:
• Inductive reactance is the opposition that an inductor
offers to alternating current due to its phase-shifted
storage and release of energy in its magnetic field.
Reactance is symbolized by the capital letter "X" and
is measured in ohms just like resistance (R).
• Inductive reactance can be calculated using this
formula: XL = 2πfL
• The angular velocity of an AC circuit is another way
of expressing its frequency, in units of electrical
radians per second instead of cycles per second. It is
symbolized by the lower-case Greek letter "omega," or
ω.
• Inductive reactance increases with increasing
frequency. In other words, the higher the frequency,
the more it opposes the AC flow of electrons.

Series resistor-inductor circuits

In the previous section, we explored what would happen in
simple resistor-only and inductor-only AC circuits. Now
we will mix the two components together in series form
and investigate the effects.
Take this circuit as an example to work with:
The resistor will offer 5 Ω of resistance to AC current
regardless of frequency, while the inductor will offer
3.7699 Ω of reactance to AC current at 60 Hz. Because the
resistor's resistance is a real number (5 Ω ∠ 0o, or 5 + j0
Ω), and the inductor's reactance is an imaginary number
(3.7699 Ω ∠ 90o, or 0 + j3.7699 Ω), the combined effect of
the two components will be an opposition to current equal
to the complex sum of the two numbers. This combined
opposition will be a vector combination of resistance and
reactance. In order to express this opposition succinctly, we
need a more comprehensive term for opposition to current
than either resistance or reactance alone. This term is called
impedance, its symbol is Z, and it is also expressed in the
unit of ohms, just like resistance and reactance. In the
above example, the total circuit impedance is:

Impedance is related to voltage and current just as you

might expect, in a manner similar to resistance in Ohm's
Law:
In fact, this is a far more comprehensive form of Ohm's
Law than what was taught in DC electronics (E=IR), just as
impedance is a far more comprehensive expression of
opposition to the flow of electrons than resistance is. Any
resistance and any reactance, separately or in combination
(series/parallel), can be and should be represented as a
single impedance in an AC circuit.
To calculate current in the above circuit, we first need to
give a phase angle reference for the voltage source, which
is generally assumed to be zero. (The phase angles of
resistive and inductive impedance are always 0o and +90o,
respectively, regardless of the given phase angles for
voltage or current).

As with the purely inductive circuit, the current wave lags

behind the voltage wave (of the source), although this time
the lag is not as great: only 37.016o as opposed to a full 90o
as was the case in the purely inductive circuit.
For the resistor and the inductor, the phase relationships
between voltage and current haven't changed. Across
voltage across the resistor is in phase (0o shift) with the
current through it; and the voltage across the inductor is
+90o out of phase with the current going through it. We can
verify this mathematically:

The voltage across the resistor has the exact same phase
angle as the current through it, telling us that E and I are in
phase (for the resistor only).
The voltage across the inductor has a phase angle of
52.984o, while the current through the inductor has a phase
angle of -37.016o, a difference of exactly 90o between the
two. This tells us that E and I are still 90o out of phase (for
the inductor only).
We can also mathematically prove that these complex
values add together to make the total voltage, just as
Kirchhoff's Voltage Law would predict:

Let's check the validity of our calculations with SPICE:

ac r-l circuit
v1 1 0 ac 10 sin
r1 1 2 5
l1 2 0 10m
.ac lin 1 60 60
.print ac v(1,2) v(2,0) i(v1)
.print ac vp(1,2) vp(2,0) ip(v1)
.end

freq v(1,2) v(2) i(v1)

6.000E+01 7.985E+00 6.020E+00 1.597E+00

freq vp(1,2) vp(2) ip(v1)

6.000E+01 -3.702E+01 5.298E+01 1.430E+02

Note that just as with DC circuits, SPICE outputs current

figures as though they were negative (180o out of phase)
with the supply voltage. Instead of a phase angle of
-37.016o, we get a current phase angle of 143o (-37o + 180o).
This is merely an idiosyncrasy of SPICE and does not
represent anything significant in the circuit simulation
itself. Note how both the resistor and inductor voltage
phase readings match our calculations (-37.02o and 52.98o,
respectively), just as we expected them to.
With all these figures to keep track of for even such a
simple circuit as this, it would be beneficial for us to use
the "table" method. Applying a table to this simple series
resistor-inductor circuit would proceed as such. First, draw
up a table for E/I/Z figures and insert all component values
in these terms (in other words, don't insert actual resistance
or inductance values in Ohms and Henrys, respectively,
into the table; rather, convert them into complex figures of
impedance and write those in):

Although it isn't necessary, I find it helpful to write both

the rectangular and polar forms of each quantity in the
table. If you are using a calculator that has the ability to
perform complex arithmetic without the need for
conversion between rectangular and polar forms, then this
extra documentation is completely unnecessary. However,
if you are forced to perform complex arithmetic "longhand"
(addition and subtraction in rectangular form, and
multiplication and division in polar form), writing each
quantity in both forms will be useful indeed.
Now that our "given" figures are inserted into their
respective locations in the table, we can proceed just as
with DC: determine the total impedance from the individual
impedances. Since this is a series circuit, we know that
opposition to electron flow (resistance or impedance) adds
to form the total opposition:

Now that we know total voltage and total impedance, we

can apply Ohm's Law (I=E/Z) to determine total current:
Just as with DC, the total current in a series AC circuit is
shared equally by all components. This is still true because
in a series circuit there is only a single path for electrons to
flow, therefore the rate of their flow must uniform
throughout. Consequently, we can transfer the figures for
current into the columns for the resistor and inductor alike:

Now all that's left to figure is the voltage drop across the
resistor and inductor, respectively. This is done through the
use of Ohm's Law (E=IZ), applied vertically in each
column of the table:
And with that, our table is complete. The exact same rules
we applied in the analysis of DC circuits apply to AC
circuits as well, with the caveat that all quantities must be
represented and calculated in complex rather than scalar
form. So long as phase shift is properly represented in our
calculations, there is no fundamental difference in how we
approach basic AC circuit analysis versus DC.
Now is a good time to review the relationship between
these calculated figures and readings given by actual
instrument measurements of voltage and current. The
figures here that directly relate to real-life measurements
are those in polar notation, not rectangular! In other words,
if you were to connect a voltmeter across the resistor in this
circuit, it would indicate 7.9847 volts, not 6.3756 (real
rectangular) or 4.8071 (imaginary rectangular) volts. To
describe this in graphical terms, measurement instruments
simply tell you how long the vector is for that particular
quantity (voltage or current).
Rectangular notation, while convenient for arithmetical
addition and subtraction, is a more abstract form of notation
than polar in relation to real-world measurements. As I
stated before, I will indicate both polar and rectangular
forms of each quantity in my AC circuit tables simply for
convenience of mathematical calculation. This is not
absolutely necessary, but may be helpful for those
following along without the benefit of an advanced
calculator. If we were restrict ourselves to the use of only
one form of notation, the best choice would be polar,
because it is the only one that can be directly correlated to
real measurements.
• REVIEW:
• Impedance is the total measure of opposition to
electric current and is the complex (vector) sum of
("real") resistance and ("imaginary") reactance. It is
symbolized by the letter "Z" and measured in ohms,
just like resistance (R) and reactance (X).
• Impedances (Z) are managed just like resistances (R)
in series circuit analysis: series impedances add to
form the total impedance. Just be sure to perform all
calculations in complex (not scalar) form! ZTotal = Z1 +
Z 2 + . . . Zn
• A purely resistive impedance will always have a phase
angle of exactly 0o (ZR = R Ω ∠ 0o).
• A purely inductive impedance will always have a
phase angle of exactly +90o (ZL = XL Ω ∠ 90o).
• Ohm's Law for AC circuits: E = IZ ; I = E/Z ; Z = E/I
• When resistors and inductors are mixed together in
circuits, the total impedance will have a phase angle
somewhere between 0o and +90o. The circuit current
will have a phase angle somewhere between 0o and
-90o.
• Series AC circuits exhibit the same fundamental
properties as series DC circuits: current is uniform
throughout the circuit, voltage drops add to form the
total voltage, and impedances add to form the total
impedance.

Parallel resistor-inductor circuits

Let's take the same components for our series example
circuit and connect them in parallel:

Because the power source has the same frequency as the

series example circuit, and the resistor and inductor both
have the same values of resistance and inductance,
respectively, they must also have the same values of
impedance. So, we can begin our analysis table with the
same "given" values:

The only difference in our analysis technique this time is

that we will apply the rules of parallel circuits instead of
the rules for series circuits. The approach is fundamentally
the same as for DC. We know that voltage is shared
uniformly by all components in a parallel circuit, so we can
transfer the figure of total voltage (10 volts ∠ 0o) to all
components columns:
Now we can apply Ohm's Law (I=E/Z) vertically to two
columns of the table, calculating current through the
resistor and current through the inductor:

Just as with DC circuits, branch currents in a parallel AC

circuit add to form the total current (Kirchhoff's Current
Law still holds true for AC as it did for DC):
Finally, total impedance can be calculated by using Ohm's
Law (Z=E/I) vertically in the "Total" column. Incidentally,
parallel impedance can also be calculated by using a
reciprocal formula identical to that used in calculating
parallel resistances.

The only problem with using this formula is that it typically

involves a lot of calculator keystrokes to carry out. And if
you're determined to run through a formula like this
"longhand," be prepared for a very large amount of work!
But, just as with DC circuits, we often have multiple
options in calculating the quantities in our analysis tables,
and this example is no different. No matter which way you
calculate total impedance (Ohm's Law or the reciprocal
formula), you will arrive at the same figure:
 • REVIEW:
• Impedances (Z) are managed just like resistances (R)
in parallel circuit analysis: parallel impedances
diminish to form the total impedance, using the
reciprocal formula. Just be sure to perform all
calculations in complex (not scalar) form! ZTotal = 1/
(1/Z1 + 1/Z2 + . . . 1/Zn)
• Ohm's Law for AC circuits: E = IZ ; I = E/Z ; Z = E/I
• When resistors and inductors are mixed together in
parallel circuits (just as in series circuits), the total
impedance will have a phase angle somewhere
between 0o and +90o. The circuit current will have a
phase angle somewhere between 0o and -90o.
These problems are eliminated in the brushless motor. In
this motor, the mechanical "rotating switch" or
commutator/brushgear assembly is replaced by an external
electronic switch synchronised to the motor's position.
Brushless motors are typically 85-90% efficient whereas
DC motors with brushgear are typically 10% less efficient.
Midway between ordinary DC motors and stepper motors
lies the realm of the brushless DC motor. Built in a fashion
very similar to stepper motors, these often use a permanent
magnet external rotor, three phases of driving coils, one or
more Hall effect devices to sense the position of the rotor,
and the associated drive electronics. The coils are activated,
one phase after the other, by the drive electronics as cued
by the signals from the Hall effect sensors. In effect, they
act as three-phase synchronous motors containing their own
variable frequency drive electronics. A specialized class of
brushless DC motor controllers utilize EMF feedback
through the main phase connections instead of Hall effect
sensors to determine position and velocity. These motors
are used extensively in electric radio-controlled vehicles.
Brushless DC motors are commonly used where precise
speed control is necessary, computer disk drives or in video
cassette recorders the spindles within CD, CD-ROM (etc.)
drives, and mechanisms within office products such as fans,
laser printers and photocopiers. They have several
advantages over conventional motors:
• Compared to AC fans using shaded-pole motors, they
are very efficient, running much cooler than the
equivalent AC motors. This cool operation leads to
much-improved life of the fan's bearings.
• Without a commutator to wear out, the life of a DC
brushless motor can be significantly longer compared
to a DC motor using brushes and a commutator.
 Commutation also tends to cause a great deal of
electrical and RF noise; without a commutator or
brushes, a brushless motor may be used in electrically
sensitive devices like audio equipment or computers.
• The same Hall effect devices that provide the
commutation can also provide a convenient
tachometer signal for closed-loop control (servo-
controlled) applications. In fans, the tachometer signal
can be used to derive a "fan okay" signal.
• The motor can be easily synchronized to an internal or
external clock, leading to precise speed control.
Modern DC brushless motors range in power from a
fraction of a watt to many kilowatts. Larger brushless
motors up to about 100 kW rating are used in electric
vehicles. They also find significant use in high-
performance electric model aircraft
Current transformers

Current transformers used in metering equipment for three-

phase 400 ampere electricity supply
A current transformer is a type of "instrument
transformer" that is designed to provide a current in its
secondary which is accurately proportional to the current
flowing in its primary.
Current transformers are commonly used in metering and
protective relaying to facilitate the measurement of large
currents and isolation of high voltage systems which would
be difficult to measure more directly.
Current transformers are often constructed by passing a
single primary turn (either an insulated cable or an
uninsulated conductor (copper or aluminum are typical in
electric utility applications) through a well-insulated
toroidal core wrapped with many turns of wire. Current
transformers (CTs) are used extensively in the electrical
power industry for monitoring of the power grid. The CT is
described by its current ratio from primary to secondary.
Common secondaries are 1 or 5 amperes. The secondary
winding can be single ratio or multi ratio, with five taps
being common for multi ratio CTs. Typically, the
secondary connection points are labeled as X1, X2 and so
on. The multi ratio CTs are typically used for current
matching in current differential protective relaying
applications. Often, multiple CTs will be installed as a
"stack" for various uses (for example, protection devices
and revenue metering may use separate CTs). For a three-
stacked CT application, the secondary winding connection
points are typically labeled Xn, Yn, Zn.
Specially constructed "wideband current transformers" are
also used (usually with an oscilloscope) to measure
waveforms of high frequency or pulsed currents. One type
of specially constructed wideband transformer provides a
voltage output that is proportional to the measured current.
Another type (called a Rogowski coil) requires an external
integrator in order to provide a voltage output that is
proportional to the measured current.
Care must be taken that the secondary of a current
transformer is not disconnected from its load while current
is flowing in the primary, as this will produce a
dangerously high voltage across the open secondary.
[edit]
Voltage transformers
Voltage transformers (also called potential transformers)
are another type of instrument transformer. They are used
by the electricity supply industry to accurately measure
high voltages for metering and protective relay purposes.
They are designed to present negligible load to the voltage
being measured and to have a precise turns ratio to
accurately step down dangerously high voltages so that
metering and protective relay equipment can be operated at
a lower, and safer, potential.
This safer voltage is typically 66 to 120 volts phase to
ground. 69 volts phase to ground is equivalent to 120 volts
phase to phase (69√3) which is required by some protective
relays.
The transformer winding connection points are typically
labled as H1, H2 (sometimes H0 if it is internaly grounded)
and X1, X2, and sometimes an X3 may be present. X3
allows the tapping of 120 volts and 69 volts from the same
winding. In other applications a Y winding (Y1, Y2, Y3)
may also be available on the same voltage transformer, and
is identical to the X winding but electrically isolated. The H
windings (sometimes called high side or primary) are
connected to the high voltage and the X and Y windings
(sometimes called low side or secondary) to the metering or
protective relay. The high side (primary) may be connected
phase to ground or phase to phase. The low side
(secondary) is usually phase to ground.
The nomenclature (H1, X1, Y1, etc.) are often referred to
as polarity. This applies to current transformers as well.
This should not to be confused with polarity as found on
DC sources, but as a reference for proper phase relationship
between other AC sources, voltage and current. This is
important for proper operation of protective relays and
revenue metering