An introduction to electronics

Contents

1 Introduction 1
1.1 Electronics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
1.1.1 Branches of Electronics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
1.1.2 Electronic devices and components . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
1.1.3 History of electronic components . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
1.1.4 Types of circuits . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
1.1.5 Heat dissipation and thermal management . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
1.1.6 Noise . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
1.1.7 Electronics theory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
1.1.8 Electronics lab . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
1.1.9 Computer aided design (CAD) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
1.1.10 Construction methods . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
1.1.11 Degradation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
1.1.12 See also . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
1.1.13 References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
1.1.14 Further reading . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
1.1.15 External links . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
1.2 Voltage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
1.2.1 Definition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
1.2.2 Hydraulic analogy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
1.2.3 Applications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
1.2.4 Measuring instruments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
1.2.5 Typical voltages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
1.2.6 Galvani potential vs. electrochemical potential . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
1.2.7 See also . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
1.2.8 References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
1.2.9 External links . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
1.3 Electric current . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
1.3.1 Symbol . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
1.3.2 Conventions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
1.3.3 Ohm’s law . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
1.3.4 AC and DC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

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1.3.5 Occurrences . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
1.3.6 Current measurement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
1.3.7 Resistive heating . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
1.3.8 Electromagnetism . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
1.3.9 Conduction mechanisms in various media . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
1.3.10 Current density and Ohm’s law . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
1.3.11 Drift speed . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
1.3.12 See also . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
1.3.13 References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
1.3.14 External links . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
1.4 Frequency . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
1.4.1 Definitions and units . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
1.4.2 Measurement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
1.4.3 Frequency of waves . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
1.4.4 Examples . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
1.4.5 Period versus frequency . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
1.4.6 Other types of frequency . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
1.4.7 Frequency ranges . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
1.4.8 See also . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
1.4.9 References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
1.4.10 Further reading . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
1.4.11 External links . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
1.5 Direct current . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
1.5.1 Various definitions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
1.5.2 Circuits . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
1.5.3 Applications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
1.5.4 See also . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
1.5.5 References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
1.5.6 External links . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
1.6 Alternating current . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
1.6.1 Transmission, distribution, and domestic power supply . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
1.6.2 AC power supply frequencies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
1.6.3 Effects at high frequencies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
1.6.4 Mathematics of AC voltages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
1.6.5 History . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
1.6.6 See also . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
1.6.7 References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
1.6.8 Further reading . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
1.6.9 External links . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29

2 Electrical components 30
2.1 Active and passive components . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
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2.1.1 Thermodynamic passivity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30

2.1.2 Incremental passivity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
2.1.3 Other definitions of passivity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
2.1.4 Stability . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
2.1.5 Passive filter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
2.1.6 Notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
2.1.7 References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
2.1.8 Further reading . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
2.2 Resistor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
2.2.1 Electronic symbols and notation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
2.2.2 Theory of operation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
2.2.3 Nonideal properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
2.2.4 Fixed resistor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
2.2.5 Variable resistors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
2.2.6 Measurement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
2.2.7 Standards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
2.2.8 Resistor marking . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
2.2.9 Electrical and thermal noise . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
2.2.10 Failure modes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
2.2.11 See also . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
2.2.12 References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
2.2.13 External links . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
2.3 Capacitor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
2.3.1 History . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
2.3.2 Theory of operation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
2.3.3 Non-ideal behavior . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
2.3.4 Capacitor types . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
2.3.5 Capacitor markings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
2.3.6 Applications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
2.3.7 Hazards and safety . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
2.3.8 See also . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58
2.3.9 References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58
2.3.10 Bibliography . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
2.3.11 External links . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
2.4 Inductor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
2.4.1 Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
2.4.2 Applications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60
2.4.3 Inductor construction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
2.4.4 Types of inductor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62
2.4.5 Circuit theory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66
2.4.6 Q factor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67
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2.4.7 Inductance formulas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68

2.4.8 See also . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68
2.4.9 Notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68
2.4.10 References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69
2.4.11 External links . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69
2.5 Electrical impedance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69
2.5.1 Complex impedance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70
2.5.2 Ohm’s law . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70
2.5.3 Complex voltage and current . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70
2.5.4 Device examples . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71
2.5.5 Generalised s-plane impedance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73
2.5.6 Resistance vs reactance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73
2.5.7 Combining impedances . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74
2.5.8 Measurement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75
2.5.9 Variable impedance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75
2.5.10 See also . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75
2.5.11 References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75
2.5.12 External links . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76
2.6 Voltage source . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76
2.6.1 Ideal voltage sources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76
2.6.2 Comparison between voltage and current sources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76
2.6.3 References and notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77
2.6.4 See also . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77
2.7 Current source . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77
2.7.1 Background . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77
2.7.2 Implementations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78
2.7.3 Current and voltage source comparison . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82
2.7.4 See also . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83
2.7.5 References and notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83
2.7.6 Further reading . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83
2.7.7 External links . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83

3 Basic circuit laws 84

3.1 Kirchhoff’s circuit laws . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84
3.1.1 Kirchhoff’s current law (KCL) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84
3.1.2 Kirchhoff’s voltage law (KVL) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84
3.1.3 Limitations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85
3.1.4 Example . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85
3.1.5 See also . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86
3.1.6 References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86
3.2 Norton’s theorem . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86
3.2.1 Example of a Norton equivalent circuit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87
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3.2.2 Conversion to a Thévenin equivalent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88

3.2.3 Queueing theory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88
3.2.4 References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88
3.2.5 Bibliography . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88
3.2.6 External links . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88
3.3 Thévenin’s theorem . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89
3.3.1 Calculating the Thévenin equivalent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89
3.3.2 Conversion to a Norton equivalent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90
3.3.3 Practical limitations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90
3.3.4 A proof of the theorem . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90
3.3.5 See also . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90
3.3.6 References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90
3.3.7 Bibliography . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91
3.3.8 External links . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91

4 AC analysis 92
4.1 Phasor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92
4.1.1 Definition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92
4.1.2 Phasor arithmetic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93
4.1.3 Phasor diagrams . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95
4.1.4 Applications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95
4.1.5 See also . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96
4.1.6 Footnotes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96
4.1.7 References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96
4.1.8 Further reading . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96
4.1.9 External links . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96
4.2 Electric power . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96
4.2.1 Definition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97
4.2.2 Explanation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97
4.2.3 Electric power supply . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99
4.2.4 See also . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99
4.2.5 Notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100
4.2.6 References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100
4.2.7 External links . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100
4.3 RLC circuit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100
4.3.1 Basic concepts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100
4.3.2 Series RLC circuit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102
4.3.3 Parallel RLC circuit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105
4.3.4 Other configurations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106
4.3.5 History . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107
4.3.6 Applications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107
4.3.7 See also . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109
vi CONTENTS

4.3.8 References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110

4.3.9 Bibliography . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110
4.4 Low-pass filter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110
4.4.1 Examples . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110
4.4.2 Ideal and real filters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111
4.4.3 Continuous-time low-pass filters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111
4.4.4 Electronic low-pass filters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112
4.4.5 See also . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115
4.4.6 References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115
4.4.7 External links . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116
4.5 High-pass filter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116
4.5.1 First-order continuous-time implementation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116
4.5.2 Discrete-time realization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116
4.5.3 Applications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117
4.5.4 See also . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119
4.5.5 References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119
4.5.6 External links . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119
4.6 Band-pass filter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119
4.6.1 Description . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119
4.6.2 Q factor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 120
4.6.3 Applications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 120
4.6.4 See also . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 120
4.6.5 References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 120
4.6.6 External links . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 120

5 Basic devices 121

5.1 p–n junction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121
5.1.1 Properties of a p–n junction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121
5.1.2 Governing Equations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123
5.1.3 Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124
5.1.4 Non-rectifying junctions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124
5.1.5 See also . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124
5.1.6 References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124
5.1.7 Further reading . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125
5.1.8 External links . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125
5.2 Bipolar junction transistor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125
5.2.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125
5.2.2 Structure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126
5.2.3 Regions of operation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 128
5.2.4 History . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 130
5.2.5 Theory and modeling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131
5.2.6 Applications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135
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5.2.7 Vulnerabilities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135

5.2.8 See also . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135
5.2.9 Notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135
5.2.10 References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135
5.2.11 External links . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 136
5.3 Amplifier . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 136
5.3.1 Figures of merit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137
5.3.2 Amplifier types . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137
5.3.3 Classification of amplifier stages and systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 140
5.3.4 Power amplifier classes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 143
5.3.5 Implementation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 150
5.3.6 See also . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 152
5.3.7 References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 152
5.3.8 External links . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 152
5.4 Operational amplifier . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 153
5.4.1 Operation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 153
5.4.2 Op-amp characteristics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 154
5.4.3 Internal circuitry of 741-type op-amp . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 158
5.4.4 Classification . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 161
5.4.5 Applications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 161
5.4.6 Historical timeline . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 163
5.4.7 See also . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 166
5.4.8 Notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 166
5.4.9 References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 166
5.4.10 Further reading . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 167
5.4.11 External links . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 167

6 Digital circuits 168

6.1 Boolean algebra . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 168
6.1.1 History . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 168
6.1.2 Values . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 168
6.1.3 Operations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 169
6.1.4 Laws . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 169
6.1.5 Diagrammatic representations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 171
6.1.6 Boolean algebras . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 172
6.1.7 Axiomatizing Boolean algebra . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 174
6.1.8 Propositional logic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 175
6.1.9 Applications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 176
6.1.10 See also . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 178
6.1.11 References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 178
6.1.12 Further reading . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 179
6.1.13 External links . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 179
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6.2 Logic gate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 179

6.2.1 Electronic gates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 179
6.2.2 Symbols . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 180
6.2.3 Universal logic gates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 181
6.2.4 De Morgan equivalent symbols . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 181
6.2.5 Data storage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 182
6.2.6 Three-state logic gates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 182
6.2.7 History and development . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 182
6.2.8 Implementations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 182
6.2.9 See also . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 183
6.2.10 References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 183
6.2.11 Further reading . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 183
6.3 Karnaugh map . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 183
6.3.1 Example . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 184
6.3.2 Race hazards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 186
6.3.3 See also . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 187
6.3.4 References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 187
6.3.5 Further reading . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 187
6.3.6 External links . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 187
6.4 Finite-state machine . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 187
6.4.1 Example: a turnstile . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 188
6.4.2 Concepts and terminology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 189
6.4.3 Representations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 189
6.4.4 Usage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 190
6.4.5 Classification . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 190
6.4.6 Alternative semantics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 191
6.4.7 FSM logic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 192
6.4.8 Mathematical model . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 192
6.4.9 Optimization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 192
6.4.10 Implementation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 193
6.4.11 See also . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 193
6.4.12 References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 194
6.4.13 Further reading . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 194
6.4.14 External links . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 196
6.5 555 timer IC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 196
6.5.1 Design . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 196
6.5.2 Specifications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 199
6.5.3 Derivatives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 199
6.5.4 Example applications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 199
6.5.5 See also . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 199
6.5.6 References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 200
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6.5.7 Further reading . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 200

6.5.8 External links . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 200
6.6 Schmitt trigger . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 201
6.6.1 Invention . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 201
6.6.2 Implementation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 201
6.6.3 Applications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 206
6.6.4 See also . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 207
6.6.5 Notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 207
6.6.6 References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 207
6.6.7 External links . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 207
6.7 Shift register . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 207
6.7.1 Serial-in and Serial-out (SISO) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 208
6.7.2 Serial-in, parallel-out (SIPO) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 208
6.7.3 Parallel-in, Serial-out (PISO) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 208
6.7.4 Uses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 209
6.7.5 History . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 209
6.7.6 See also . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 209
6.7.7 References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 209
6.7.8 External links . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 209
6.8 Flip-flop . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 209
6.8.1 History . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 210
6.8.2 Implementation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 210
6.8.3 Flip-flop types . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 211
6.8.4 Timing considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 216
6.8.5 Generalizations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 217
6.8.6 See also . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 218
6.8.7 References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 218
6.8.8 External links . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 219

7 Text and image sources, contributors, and licenses 220

7.1 Text . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 220
7.2 Images . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 232
7.3 Content license . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 245
Chapter 1

Introduction

1.1 Electronics Electronics is distinct from electrical and electro-

mechanical science and technology, which deal with the
generation, distribution, switching, storage, and conver-
This article is about the technical field of electronics. For
sion of electrical energy to and from other energy forms
personal-use electronic devices, see consumer electron-
using wires, motors, generators, batteries, switches,
ics. For the scientific magazine, see Electronics (maga-
relays, transformers, resistors, and other passive com-
zine).
ponents. This distinction started around 1906 with the
Electronics is the science of how to control electric
invention by Lee De Forest of the triode, which made
electrical amplification of weak radio signals and audio
signals possible with a non-mechanical device. Until
1950 this field was called “radio technology” because its
principal application was the design and theory of radio
transmitters, receivers, and vacuum tubes.
Today, most electronic devices use semiconductor com-
ponents to perform electron control. The study of semi-
conductor devices and related technology is considered a
branch of solid-state physics, whereas the design and con-
struction of electronic circuits to solve practical problems
come under electronics engineering. This article focuses
on engineering aspects of electronics.

Surface mount electronic components 1.1.1 Branches of Electronics

Electronics has branches as follows:

energy, energy in which the electrons have a funda-
mental role. Electronics deals with electrical circuits 1.Digital electronics
that involve active electrical components such as vacuum 2.Analogue electronics
tubes, transistors, diodes and integrated circuits, and as-
3.Microelectronics
sociated passive electrical components and interconnec-
tion technologies. Commonly, electronic devices con- 4.Fuzzy electronics
tain circuitry consisting primarily or exclusively of ac- 5.Circuit Design
tive semiconductors supplemented with passive elements;
such a circuit is described as an electronic circuit. 6.Integrated circuit

The nonlinear behaviour of active components and their 7.Optoelectronics

ability to control electron flows makes amplification of 8.Semiconductor
weak signals possible, and electronics is widely used in
9.Semiconductor device
information processing, telecommunication, and signal
processing. The ability of electronic devices to act as
switches makes digital information processing possible.
Interconnection technologies such as circuit boards, elec-
1.1.2 Electronic devices and components
tronics packaging technology, and other varied forms of
communication infrastructure complete circuit function- Main article: Electronic component
ality and transform the mixed components into a regular
working system. An electronic component is any physical entity in an elec-

1
2 CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION

tors were almost exclusively used for computer logic and

peripherals.

1.1.4 Types of circuits

Circuits and components can be divided into two groups:

analog and digital. A particular device may consist of cir-
cuitry that has one or the other or a mix of the two types.

Analog circuits

Main article: Analog electronics

Electronics Technician performing a voltage check on a power Most analog electronic appliances, such as radio re-
circuit card in the air navigation equipment room aboard the air-
craft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN 72).

tronic system used to affect the electrons or their associ-

ated fields in a manner consistent with the intended func-
tion of the electronic system. Components are gener-
ally intended to be connected together, usually by be-
ing soldered to a printed circuit board (PCB), to create
an electronic circuit with a particular function (for ex-
ample an amplifier, radio receiver, or oscillator). Com-
ponents may be packaged singly, or in more complex
groups as integrated circuits. Some common electronic
components are capacitors, inductors, resistors, diodes,
transistors, etc. Components are often categorized as ac-
tive (e.g. transistors and thyristors) or passive (e.g. resis-
tors, diodes, inductors and capacitors).

1.1.3 History of electronic components

Further information: Timeline of electrical and elec-
tronic engineering
Hitachi J100 adjustable frequency drive chassis
Vacuum tubes (Thermionic valves) were one of the ear-
liest electronic components. They were almost solely re- ceivers, are constructed from combinations of a few types
sponsible for the electronics revolution of the first half of of basic circuits. Analog circuits use a continuous range
the Twentieth Century. They took electronics from parlor of voltage or current as opposed to discrete levels as in
tricks and gave us radio, television, phonographs, radar, digital circuits.
long distance telephony and much more. They played
a leading role in the field of microwave and high power The number of different analog circuits so far devised
transmission as well as television receivers until the mid- is huge, especially because a 'circuit' can be defined as
dle of the 1980s.[1] Since that time, solid state devices anything from a single component, to systems containing
have all but completely taken over. Vacuum tubes are still thousands of components.
used in some specialist applications such as high power Analog circuits are sometimes called linear circuits al-
RF amplifiers, cathode ray tubes, specialist audio equip- though many non-linear effects are used in analog circuits
ment, guitar amplifiers and some microwave devices. such as mixers, modulators, etc. Good examples of ana-
In April 1955 the IBM 608 was the first IBM product log circuits include vacuum tube and transistor amplifiers,
to use transistor circuits without any vacuum tubes and is operational amplifiers and oscillators.
believed to be the world’s first all-transistorized calculator One rarely finds modern circuits that are entirely analog.
to be manufactured for the commercial market.[2][3] The These days analog circuitry may use digital or even mi-
608 contained more than 3,000 germanium transistors. croprocessor techniques to improve performance. This
Thomas J. Watson Jr. ordered all future IBM products to type of circuit is usually called “mixed signal” rather than
use transistors in their design. From that time on transis- analog or digital.
1.1. ELECTRONICS 3

Sometimes it may be difficult to differentiate between • Application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC)

analog and digital circuits as they have elements of both
linear and non-linear operation. An example is the com-
• Digital signal processor (DSP)
parator which takes in a continuous range of voltage but
only outputs one of two levels as in a digital circuit. Sim-
ilarly, an overdriven transistor amplifier can take on the • Field-programmable gate array (FPGA)
characteristics of a controlled switch having essentially
two levels of output. In fact, many digital circuits are ac-
tually implemented as variations of analog circuits similar
to this example—after all, all aspects of the real physical
1.1.5 Heat dissipation and thermal man-
world are essentially analog, so digital effects are only re- agement
alized by constraining analog behavior.
Main article: Thermal management of electronic devices
and systems
Digital circuits

Main article: Digital electronics Heat generated by electronic circuitry must be dissipated
to prevent immediate failure and improve long term re-
liability. Heat dissipation is mostly achieved by passive
Digital circuits are electric circuits based on a number of conduction/convection. Means to achieve greater dissipa-
discrete voltage levels. Digital circuits are the most com- tion include heat sinks and fans for air cooling, and other
mon physical representation of Boolean algebra, and are forms of computer cooling such as water cooling. These
the basis of all digital computers. To most engineers, the techniques use convection, conduction, and radiation of
terms “digital circuit”, “digital system” and “logic” are in-heat energy.
terchangeable in the context of digital circuits. Most dig-
ital circuits use a binary system with two voltage levels
labeled “0” and “1”. Often logic “0” will be a lower volt-
age and referred to as “Low” while logic “1” is referred to 1.1.6 Noise
as “High”. However, some systems use the reverse def-
inition (“0” is “High”) or are current based. Quite often Main article: Electronic noise
the logic designer may reverse these definitions from one
circuit to the next as he sees fit to facilitate his design.
Electronic noise is defined[4] as unwanted disturbances
The definition of the levels as “0” or “1” is arbitrary.
superposed on a useful signal that tend to obscure its in-
Ternary (with three states) logic has been studied, and formation content. Noise is not the same as signal dis-
some prototype computers made. tortion caused by a circuit. Noise is associated with all
Computers, electronic clocks, and programmable logic electronic circuits. Noise may be electromagnetically or
controllers (used to control industrial processes) are con- thermally generated, which can be decreased by lowering
structed of digital circuits. Digital signal processors are the operating temperature of the circuit. Other types of
another example. noise, such as shot noise cannot be removed as they are
due to limitations in physical properties.
Building blocks:

• Logic gates
1.1.7 Electronics theory
• Adders
Main article: Mathematical methods in electronics
• Flip-flops
• Counters Mathematical methods are integral to the study of elec-
• Registers tronics. To become proficient in electronics it is also nec-
essary to become proficient in the mathematics of circuit
• Multiplexers analysis.

• Schmitt triggers Circuit analysis is the study of methods of solving gen-

erally linear systems for unknown variables such as the
voltage at a certain node or the current through a certain
Highly integrated devices:
branch of a network. A common analytical tool for this
is the SPICE circuit simulator.
• Microprocessors
Also important to electronics is the study and understand-
• Microcontrollers ing of electromagnetic field theory.
4 CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION

1.1.8 Electronics lab sides of electrical wiring, and nest inside of electronics;
they prefer DC to AC currents. This behavior is not well
Main article: Electronic circuit simulation understood by scientists. [5]

Due to the complex nature of electronics theory, labora-

1.1.12 See also
tory experimentation is an important part of the develop-
ment of electronic devices. These experiments are used • Atomtronics
to test or verify the engineer’s design and detect errors.
Historically, electronics labs have consisted of electron- • Audio engineering
ics devices and equipment located in a physical space, al-
though in more recent years the trend has been towards • Broadcast engineering
electronics lab simulation software, such as CircuitLogix,
• Computer engineering
Multisim, and PSpice.
• Electronic engineering
1.1.9 Computer aided design (CAD) • Electronics engineering technology

Main article: Electronic design automation • Index of electronics articles

• List of mechanical, electrical and electronic equip-

Today’s electronics engineers have the ability to design ment manufacturing companies by revenue
circuits using premanufactured building blocks such as
power supplies, semiconductors (i.e. semiconductor • Marine electronics
devices, such as transistors), and integrated circuits.
Electronic design automation software programs include • Power electronics
schematic capture programs and printed circuit board de- • Robotics
sign programs. Popular names in the EDA software world
are NI Multisim, Cadence (ORCAD), EAGLE PCB and
Schematic, Mentor (PADS PCB and LOGIC Schematic), 1.1.13 References
Altium (Protel), LabCentre Electronics (Proteus), gEDA,
KiCad and many others. [1] Sōgo Okamura (1994). History of Electron Tubes. IOS
Press. p. 5. ISBN 978-90-5199-145-1. Retrieved 5 De-
cember 2012.
1.1.10 Construction methods
[2] Bashe, Charles J. et al. (1986). IBM’s Early Computers.
Main article: Electronic packaging MIT. p. 386.

[3] Pugh, Emerson W.; Johnson, Lyle R.; Palmer, John H.

Many different methods of connecting components have (1991). IBM’s 360 and early 370 systems. MIT Press. p.
been used over the years. For instance, early electron- 34. ISBN 0-262-16123-0.
ics often used point to point wiring with components [4] IEEE Dictionary of Electrical and Electronics Terms
attached to wooden breadboards to construct circuits. ISBN 978-0-471-42806-0
Cordwood construction and wire wrap were other meth-
ods used. Most modern day electronics now use printed [5] Andrew R Hickey (May 15, 2008). "'Crazy' Ant Invasion
circuit boards made of materials such as FR4, or the Frying Computer Equipment”.
cheaper (and less hard-wearing) Synthetic Resin Bonded
Paper (SRBP, also known as Paxoline/Paxolin (trade
marks) and FR2) - characterised by its brown colour. 1.1.14 Further reading
Health and environmental concerns associated with elec-
• The Art of Electronics ISBN 978-0-521-37095-0
tronics assembly have gained increased attention in re-
cent years, especially for products destined to the Euro-
pean Union, with its Restriction of Hazardous Substances 1.1.15 External links
Directive (RoHS) and Waste Electrical and Electronic
Equipment Directive (WEEE), which went into force in • Electronics at DMOZ
July 2006.
• Navy 1998 Navy Electricity and Electronics Train-
ing Series (NEETS)
1.1.11 Degradation
• DOE 1998 Electrical Science, Fundamentals Hand-
Rasberry crazy ants have been known to consume the in- book, 4 vols.
1.2. VOLTAGE 5

• Vol. 1, Basic Electrical Theory, Basic DC

Theory
• Vol. 2, DC Circuits, Batteries, Generators,
Motors
• Vol. 3, Basic AC Theory, Basic AC Reac-
tive Components, Basic AC Power, Basic AC
Generators
• Vol. 4, AC Motors, Transformers, Test Instru-
ments & Measuring Devices, Electrical Distri-
bution Systems B

1.2 Voltage
A
“Potential difference” redirects here. For other uses, see
Potential.
In a static field, the work is independent of the path

Voltage , electric potential difference, or electric ten-

sion (denoted ∆V or ∆U and measured in units of electric 1.2.1 Definition
potential: volts, or joules per coulomb) is the electric en-
ergy charge difference of electric potential energy trans- Given two points in the space, called A and B, voltage
ported between two points.[1] Voltage is equal to the work is the difference of electric potentials between those two
done per unit of charge against a static electric field to points. From the definition of electric potential it follows
move the charge between two points. A voltage may rep- that:
resent either a source of energy (electromotive force), or ∫B
lost, used, or stored energy (potential drop). A voltmeter ∆VBA = VB − VA = − ⃗ · d⃗l −
E
( ∫ ) r0
can be used to measure the voltage (or potential differ- A ⃗
− r0 E · d⃗l
ence) between two points in a system; often a common
reference potential such as the ground of the system is
used as one of the points. Voltage can be caused by static ∫ r0 ∫ A ∫ A
electric fields, by electric current through a magnetic field, = ⃗ · d⃗l +
E ⃗ · d⃗l =
E ⃗ · d⃗l
E
by time-varying magnetic fields, or some combination of B r0 B
these three.[2][3]
Voltage is electric potential energy per unit charge, mea-
sured in joules per coulomb ( = volts). It is often re-
ferred to as “electric potential”, which then must be dis-
tinguished from electric potential energy by noting that
the “potential” is a “per-unit-charge” quantity. Like me-
chanical potential energy, the zero of potential can be
chosen at any point, so the difference in voltage is the
quantity which is physically meaningful. The difference
in voltage measured when moving from point A to point
B is equal to the work which would have to be done, per
unit charge, against the electric field to move the charge
from A to B. The voltage between the two ends of a path
is the total energy required to move a small electric charge
along that path, divided by the magnitude of the charge.
Mathematically this is expressed as the line integral of
the electric field and the time rate of change of magnetic
field along that path. In the general case, both a static
(unchanging) electric field and a dynamic (time-varying)
electromagnetic field must be included in determining the
voltage between two points.
The electric field around the rod exerts a force on the charged
pith ball, in an electroscope Historically this quantity has also been called “tension”[4]
and “pressure”. Pressure is now obsolete but tension
6 CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION

is still used, for example within the phrase "high ten- flow). (See "Electric power".)
sion" (HT) which is commonly used in thermionic valve
(vacuum tube) based electronics.
Voltage is defined so that negatively charged objects are 1.2.3 Applications
pulled towards higher voltages, while positively charged
objects are pulled towards lower voltages. Therefore, the
conventional current in a wire or resistor always flows
from higher voltage to lower voltage. Current can flow
from lower voltage to higher voltage, but only when a
source of energy is present to “push” it against the oppos-
ing electric field. For example, inside a battery, chemical
reactions provide the energy needed for current to flow
from the negative to the positive terminal.
The electric field is not the only factor determining
charge flow in a material, and different materials natu-
rally develop electric potential differences at equilibrium
(Galvani potentials). The electric potential of a mate-
rial is not even a well defined quantity, since it varies on
the subatomic scale. A more convenient definition of
'voltage' can be found instead in the concept of Fermi
level. In this case the voltage between two bodies is the
thermodynamic work required to move a unit of charge
between them. This definition is practical since a real
voltmeter actually measures this work, not differences in
electric potential.

1.2.2 Hydraulic analogy

Main article: Hydraulic analogy

A simple analogy for an electric circuit is water flowing

in a closed circuit of pipework, driven by a mechanical Working on high voltage power lines
pump. This can be called a “water circuit”. Potential dif-
ference between two points corresponds to the pressure Specifying a voltage measurement requires explicit or im-
difference between two points. If the pump creates a plicit specification of the points across which the voltage
pressure difference between two points, then water flow- is measured. When using a voltmeter to measure poten-
ing from one point to the other will be able to do work, tial difference, one electrical lead of the voltmeter must
such as driving a turbine. Similarly, work can be done be connected to the first point, one to the second point.
by an electric current driven by the potential difference
A common use of the term “voltage” is in describing the
provided by a battery. For example, the voltage provided
voltage dropped across an electrical device (such as a re-
by a sufficiently-charged automobile battery can “push”
sistor). The voltage drop across the device can be under-
a large current through the windings of an automobile’s
stood as the difference between measurements at each
starter motor. If the pump isn't working, it produces no
terminal of the device with respect to a common refer-
pressure difference, and the turbine will not rotate. Like-
ence point (or ground). The voltage drop is the differ-
wise, if the automobile’s battery is very weak or “dead”
ence between the two readings. Two points in an electric
(or “flat”), then it will not turn the starter motor.
circuit that are connected by an ideal conductor without
The hydraulic analogy is a useful way of understanding resistance and not within a changing magnetic field have
many electrical concepts. In such a system, the work done a voltage of zero. Any two points with the same potential
to move water is equal to the pressure multiplied by the may be connected by a conductor and no current will flow
volume of water moved. Similarly, in an electrical circuit, between them.
the work done to move electrons or other charge-carriers
is equal to “electrical pressure” multiplied by the quan-
tity of electrical charges moved. In relation to “flow”, Addition of voltages
the larger the “pressure difference” between two points
(potential difference or water pressure difference), the The voltage between A and C is the sum of the volt-
greater the flow between them (electric current or water age between A and B and the voltage between B and C.
1.2. VOLTAGE 7

The various voltages in a circuit can be computed using 1.2.6 Galvani potential vs. electrochemical
Kirchhoff’s circuit laws. potential
When talking about alternating current (AC) there is
a difference between instantaneous voltage and average Main articles: Galvani potential, Electrochemical poten-
voltage. Instantaneous voltages can be added for direct tial and Fermi level
current (DC) and AC, but average voltages can be mean-
ingfully added only when they apply to signals that all have Inside a conductive material, the energy of an electron
the same frequency and phase. is affected not only by the average electric potential, but
also by the specific thermal and atomic environment that
it is in. When a voltmeter is connected between two dif-
1.2.4 Measuring instruments ferent types of metal, it measures not the electrostatic po-
tential difference, but instead something else that is af-
fected by thermodynamics.[5] The quantity measured by a
voltmeter is the negative of difference of electrochemical
potential of electrons (Fermi level) divided by electron
charge, while the pure unadjusted electrostatic poten-
tial (not measurable with voltmeter) is sometimes called
Galvani potential. The terms “voltage” and “electric po-
tential” are a bit ambiguous in that, in practice, they can
refer to either of these in different contexts.

1.2.7 See also

• Alternating current (AC)

• Direct current (DC)

• Electric potential
Multimeter set to measure voltage
• Electric shock
Instruments for measuring voltages include the voltmeter,
the potentiometer, and the oscilloscope. The voltmeter • Electrical measurements
works by measuring the current through a fixed resistor,
• Electrochemical potential
which, according to Ohm’s Law, is proportional to the
voltage across the resistor. The potentiometer works by • Fermi level
balancing the unknown voltage against a known voltage in
a bridge circuit. The cathode-ray oscilloscope works by • High voltage
amplifying the voltage and using it to deflect an electron
beam from a straight path, so that the deflection of the • Mains electricity (an article about domestic power
beam is proportional to the voltage. supply voltages)

• Mains electricity by country (list of countries with

mains voltage and frequency)
1.2.5 Typical voltages
• Ohm’s law
Main article: Mains electricity § Choice of voltage
• Open-circuit voltage
A common voltage for flashlight batteries is 1.5 volts • Phantom voltage
(DC). A common voltage for automobile batteries is 12
volts (DC).
Common voltages supplied by power companies to con-
1.2.8 References
sumers are 110 to 120 volts (AC) and 220 to 240 volts [1] “Voltage”, Electrochemistry Encyclopedia
(AC). The voltage in electric power transmission lines
used to distribute electricity from power stations can be [2] Demetrius T. Paris and F. Kenneth Hurd, Basic Electro-
several hundred times greater than consumer voltages, magnetic Theory, McGraw-Hill, New York 1969, ISBN
typically 110 to 1200 kV (AC). 0-07-048470-8, pp. 512, 546

The voltage used in overhead lines to power railway loco- [3] P. Hammond, Electromagnetism for Engineers, p. 135,
motives is between 12 kV and 50 kV (AC). Pergamon Press 1969 OCLC 854336.
8 CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION

[4] “Tension”. CollinsLanguage. but modern practice often shortens this to simply current.
The I symbol was used by André-Marie Ampère, after
[5] Bagotskii, Vladimir Sergeevich (2006). Fundamentals of whom the unit of electric current is named, in formulating
electrochemistry. p. 22. ISBN 978-0-471-70058-6.
the eponymous Ampère’s force law, which he discovered
in 1820.[5] The notation travelled from France to Great
1.2.9 External links Britain, where it became standard, although at least one
journal did not change from using C to I until 1896.[6]
• Electrical voltage V, amperage I, resistivity R,
impedance Z, wattage P
1.3.2 Conventions
• Elementary explanation of voltage at NDT Resource
Center

Flow of positive charge

1.3 Electric current Flow of electrons

The electrons, the charge carriers in an electrical circuit, flow in

the opposite direction of the conventional electric current.

A simple electric circuit, where current is represented by the letter

i. The relationship between the voltage (V), resistance (R), and
current (I) is V=IR; this is known as Ohm’s Law.

An electric current is a flow of electric charge. In electric

circuits this charge is often carried by moving electrons in
a wire. It can also be carried by ions in an electrolyte, or
by both ions and electrons such as in a plasma.[1]
The SI unit for measuring an electric current is the
ampere, which is the flow of electric charge across a sur-
face at the rate of one coulomb per second. Electric cur-
rent is measured using a device called an ammeter.[2]
Electric currents cause Joule heating, which creates light
in incandescent light bulbs. They also create magnetic
fields, which are used in motors, inductors and generators.
The particles which carry the charge in an electric current
are called charge carriers. In metals, one or more elec-
trons from each atom are loosely bound to the atom, and
can move freely about within the metal. These conduction
electrons are the charge carriers in metal conductors.

1.3.1 Symbol
The conventional symbol for current is I, which origi-
nates from the French phrase intensité de courant, or in
English current intensity.[3][4] This phrase is frequently
used when discussing the value of an electric current, The symbol for a battery in a circuit diagram.
1.3. ELECTRIC CURRENT 9

In metals, which make up the wires and other conductors

in most electrical circuits, the positively charged atomic
V
nuclei are held in a fixed position, and the electrons are I=
free to move, carrying their charge from one place to an- R
other. In other materials, notably the semiconductors, the where I is the current through the conductor in units of
charge carriers can be positive or negative, depending on amperes, V is the potential difference measured across
the dopant used. Positive and negative charge carriers the conductor in units of volts, and R is the resistance of
may even be present at the same time, as happens in an the conductor in units of ohms. More specifically, Ohm’s
electrochemical cell. law states that the R in this relation is constant, indepen-
[9]
A flow of positive charges gives the same electric current, dent of the current.
and has the same effect in a circuit, as an equal flow of
negative charges in the opposite direction. Since current
can be the flow of either positive or negative charges, or 1.3.4 AC and DC
both, a convention is needed for the direction of current
that is independent of the type of charge carriers. The The abbreviations AC and DC are often used to mean
direction of conventional current is arbitrarily defined to simply alternating and direct, as when they modify cur-
[10][11]
be the same direction as positive charges flow. rent or voltage.

The consequence of this convention is that electrons, the

charge carriers in metal wires and most other parts of Direct current
electric circuits, flow in the opposite direction of conven-
tional current flow in an electrical circuit. Main article: Direct current

Direct current (DC) is the unidirectional flow of electric

Reference direction charge. Direct current is produced by sources such as
batteries, thermocouples, solar cells, and commutator-
Since the current in a wire or component can flow in either type electric machines of the dynamo type. Direct cur-
direction, when a variable I is defined to represent that rent may flow in a conductor such as a wire, but can also
current, the direction representing positive current must flow through semiconductors, insulators, or even through
be specified, usually by an arrow on the circuit schematic a vacuum as in electron or ion beams. The electric
diagram. This is called the reference direction of current I. charge flows in a constant direction, distinguishing it from
If the current flows in the opposite direction, the variable alternating current (AC). A term formerly used for direct
I has a negative value. current was galvanic current.[12]
When analyzing electrical circuits, the actual direction of
current through a specific circuit element is usually un- Alternating current
known. Consequently, the reference directions of cur-
rents are often assigned arbitrarily. When the circuit is Main article: Alternating current
solved, a negative value for the variable means that the
actual direction of current through that circuit element is
opposite that of the chosen reference direction. In elec- In alternating current (AC, also ac), the movement of
tronic circuits, the reference current directions are often electric charge periodically reverses direction. In direct
chosen so that all currents are toward ground. This of- current (DC, also dc), the flow of electric charge is only
ten corresponds to the actual current direction, because in one direction.
in many circuits the power supply voltage is positive with AC is the form of electric power delivered to businesses
respect to ground. and residences. The usual waveform of an AC power
circuit is a sine wave. Certain applications use different
waveforms, such as triangular or square waves. Audio
1.3.3 Ohm’s law and radio signals carried on electrical wires are also ex-
amples of alternating current. An important goal in
these applications is recovery of information encoded (or
Main article: Ohm’s law
modulated) onto the AC signal.

Ohm’s law states that the current through a conduc-

tor between two points is directly proportional to the 1.3.5 Occurrences
potential difference across the two points. Introducing
the constant of proportionality, the resistance,[7] one ar- Natural observable examples of electrical current include
rives at the usual mathematical equation that describes lightning, static electricity, and the solar wind, the source
this relationship:[8] of the polar auroras.
10 CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION

Man-made occurrences of electric current include the Electromagnet

flow of conduction electrons in metal wires such as the
overhead power lines that deliver electrical energy across
Main article: Electromagnet
long distances and the smaller wires within electrical and
Electric current produces a magnetic field. The magnetic
electronic equipment. Eddy currents are electric currents
that occur in conductors exposed to changing magnetic
fields. Similarly, electric currents occur, particularly in
the surface, of conductors exposed to electromagnetic
waves. When oscillating electric currents flow at the cor-
rect voltages within radio antennas, radio waves are gen-
erated.
In electronics, other forms of electric current include the
flow of electrons through resistors or through the vacuum
in a vacuum tube, the flow of ions inside a battery or a
neuron, and the flow of holes within a semiconductor.

1.3.6 Current measurement

Current can be measured using an ammeter.
At the circuit level, there are various techniques that can
be used to measure current:

• Shunt resistors[13]

• Hall effect current sensor transducers

According to Ampère’s law, an electric current produces a
• Transformers (however DC cannot be measured) magnetic field.

• Magnetoresistive field sensors[14]

field can be visualized as a pattern of circular field lines
surrounding the wire that persists as long as there is cur-
1.3.7 Resistive heating rent.
Main article: Joule heating Magnetism can also produce electric currents. When
a changing magnetic field is applied to a conductor, an
Electromotive force (EMF) is produced, and when there
Joule heating, also known as ohmic heating and resistive is a suitable path, this causes current.
heating, is the process by which the passage of an elec-
tric current through a conductor releases heat. It was first Electric current can be directly measured with a
studied by James Prescott Joule in 1841. Joule immersed galvanometer, but this method involves breaking the
a length of wire in a fixed mass of water and measured electrical circuit, which is sometimes inconvenient. Cur-
the temperature rise due to a known current through the rent can also be measured without breaking the circuit by
wire for a 30 minute period. By varying the current and detecting the magnetic field associated with the current.
the length of the wire he deduced that the heat produced Devices used for this include Hall effect sensors, current
was proportional to the square of the current multiplied clamps, current transformers, and Rogowski coils.
by the electrical resistance of the wire.

Q ∝ I 2R
Radio waves
This relationship is known as Joule’s First Law. The
SI unit of energy was subsequently named the joule and Main article: Radio waves
given the symbol J. The commonly known unit of power,
the watt, is equivalent to one joule per second.
When an electric current flows in a suitably shaped con-
ductor at radio frequencies radio waves can be generated.
1.3.8 Electromagnetism These travel at the speed of light and can cause electric
currents in distant conductors.
1.3. ELECTRIC CURRENT 11

1.3.9 Conduction mechanisms in various When a metal wire is connected across the two termi-
media nals of a DC voltage source such as a battery, the source
places an electric field across the conductor. The moment
Main article: Electrical conductivity contact is made, the free electrons of the conductor are
forced to drift toward the positive terminal under the in-
fluence of this field. The free electrons are therefore the
In metallic solids, electric charge flows by means of charge carrier in a typical solid conductor.
electrons, from lower to higher electrical potential. In
other media, any stream of charged objects (ions, for ex- For a steady flow of charge through a surface, the cur-
ample) may constitute an electric current. To provide a rent I (in amperes) can be calculated with the following
definition of current independent of the type of charge equation:
carriers, conventional current is defined to be in the same
direction as the flow of positive charges. So in metals
where the charge carriers (electrons) are negative, con- I = Q ,
ventional current is in the opposite direction as the elec- t
trons. In conductors where the charge carriers are posi- where Q is the electric charge transferred through the sur-
tive, conventional current is in the same direction as the face over a time t. If Q and t are measured in coulombs
charge carriers. and seconds respectively, I is in amperes.
In a vacuum, a beam of ions or electrons may be formed. More generally, electric current can be represented as the
In other conductive materials, the electric current is due rate at which charge flows through a given surface as:
to the flow of both positively and negatively charged parti-
cles at the same time. In still others, the current is entirely
due to positive charge flow. For example, the electric cur- dQ
rents in electrolytes are flows of positively and negatively I = dt .
charged ions. In a common lead-acid electrochemical
cell, electric currents are composed of positive hydrogen
Electrolytes
ions (protons) flowing in one direction, and negative sul-
fate ions flowing in the other. Electric currents in sparks
Main article: Conductivity (electrolytic)
or plasma are flows of electrons as well as positive and
negative ions. In ice and in certain solid electrolytes, the
electric current is entirely composed of flowing ions. Electric currents in electrolytes are flows of electrically
charged particles (ions). For example, if an electric field
is placed across a solution of Na+ and Cl− (and conditions
Metals are right) the sodium ions move towards the negative elec-
trode (cathode), while the chloride ions move towards the
positive electrode (anode). Reactions take place at both
A solid conductive metal contains mobile, or free elec-
electrode surfaces, absorbing each ion.
trons, which function as conduction electrons. These
electrons are bound to the metal lattice but no longer to Water-ice and certain solid electrolytes called proton con-
an individual atom. Metals are particularly conductive ductors contain positive hydrogen ions ("protons") that
because there are a large number of these free electrons, are mobile. In these materials, electric currents are com-
typically one per atom in the lattice. Even with no ex- posed of moving protons, as opposed to the moving elec-
ternal electric field applied, these electrons move about trons in metals.
randomly due to thermal energy but, on average, there is In certain electrolyte mixtures, brightly coloured ions are
zero net current within the metal. At room temperature, the moving electric charges. The slow progress of the
the average speed of these random motions is 106 me- colour makes the current visible.[16]
tres per second.[15] Given a surface through which a metal
wire passes, electrons move in both directions across the
surface at an equal rate. As George Gamow wrote in his Gases and plasmas
popular science book, One, Two, Three...Infinity (1947),
“The metallic substances differ from all other materials In air and other ordinary gases below the breakdown field,
by the fact that the outer shells of their atoms are bound the dominant source of electrical conduction is via rel-
rather loosely, and often let one of their electrons go free. atively few mobile ions produced by radioactive gases,
Thus the interior of a metal is filled up with a large num- ultraviolet light, or cosmic rays. Since the electrical
ber of unattached electrons that travel aimlessly around conductivity is low, gases are dielectrics or insulators.
like a crowd of displaced persons. When a metal wire However, once the applied electric field approaches the
is subjected to electric force applied on its opposite ends, breakdown value, free electrons become sufficiently ac-
these free electrons rush in the direction of the force, thus celerated by the electric field to create additional free
forming what we call an electric current.” electrons by colliding, and ionizing, neutral gas atoms or
12 CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION

molecules in a process called avalanche breakdown. The terized by the Meissner effect, the complete ejection of
breakdown process forms a plasma that contains enough magnetic field lines from the interior of the superconduc-
mobile electrons and positive ions to make it an electri- tor as it transitions into the superconducting state. The
cal conductor. In the process, it forms a light emitting occurrence of the Meissner effect indicates that super-
conductive path, such as a spark, arc or lightning. conductivity cannot be understood simply as the ideal-
Plasma is the state of matter where some of the electrons ization of perfect conductivity in classical physics.
in a gas are stripped or “ionized” from their molecules or
atoms. A plasma can be formed by high temperature, or
Semiconductor
by application of a high electric or alternating magnetic
field as noted above. Due to their lower mass, the elec-
Main article: Semiconductor
trons in a plasma accelerate more quickly in response to
an electric field than the heavier positive ions, and hence
carry the bulk of the current. The free ions recombine In a semiconductor it is sometimes useful to think of the
to create new chemical compounds (for example, break- current as due to the flow of positive "holes" (the mobile
ing atmospheric oxygen into single oxygen [O2 → 2O], positive charge carriers that are places where the semi-
which then recombine creating ozone [O3 ]).[17] conductor crystal is missing a valence electron). This is
the case in a p-type semiconductor. A semiconductor
has electrical conductivity intermediate in magnitude be-
Vacuum tween that of a conductor and an insulator. This means a
conductivity roughly in the range of 10−2 to 104 siemens
Since a "perfect vacuum" contains no charged particles, it per centimeter (S⋅cm−1 ).
normally behaves as a perfect insulator. However, metal
In the classic crystalline semiconductors, electrons can
electrode surfaces can cause a region of the vacuum to
have energies only within certain bands (i.e. ranges of
become conductive by injecting free electrons or ions
levels of energy). Energetically, these bands are located
through either field electron emission or thermionic emis-
between the energy of the ground state, the state in which
sion. Thermionic emission occurs when the thermal en-
electrons are tightly bound to the atomic nuclei of the ma-
ergy exceeds the metal’s work function, while field elec-
terial, and the free electron energy, the latter describing
tron emission occurs when the electric field at the surface
the energy required for an electron to escape entirely from
of the metal is high enough to cause tunneling, which
the material. The energy bands each correspond to a large
results in the ejection of free electrons from the metal
number of discrete quantum states of the electrons, and
into the vacuum. Externally heated electrodes are often
most of the states with low energy (closer to the nucleus)
used to generate an electron cloud as in the filament or
are occupied, up to a particular band called the valence
indirectly heated cathode of vacuum tubes. Cold elec-
band. Semiconductors and insulators are distinguished
trodes can also spontaneously produce electron clouds
from metals because the valence band in any given metal
via thermionic emission when small incandescent regions
is nearly filled with electrons under usual operating con-
(called cathode spots or anode spots) are formed. These
ditions, while very few (semiconductor) or virtually none
are incandescent regions of the electrode surface that are
(insulator) of them are available in the conduction band,
created by a localized high current. These regions may
the band immediately above the valence band.
be initiated by field electron emission, but are then sus-
tained by localized thermionic emission once a vacuum The ease of exciting electrons in the semiconductor from
arc forms. These small electron-emitting regions can the valence band to the conduction band depends on the
form quite rapidly, even explosively, on a metal surface band gap between the bands. The size of this energy band
subjected to a high electrical field. Vacuum tubes and gap serves as an arbitrary dividing line (roughly 4 eV)
sprytrons are some of the electronic switching and am- between semiconductors and insulators.
plifying devices based on vacuum conductivity. With covalent bonds, an electron moves by hopping to a
neighboring bond. The Pauli exclusion principle requires
that the electron be lifted into the higher anti-bonding
Superconductivity
state of that bond. For delocalized states, for example
in one dimension – that is in a nanowire, for every energy
Main article: Superconductivity there is a state with electrons flowing in one direction and
another state with the electrons flowing in the other. For
Superconductivity is a phenomenon of exactly zero a net current to flow, more states for one direction than
electrical resistance and expulsion of magnetic fields oc- for the other direction must be occupied. For this to oc-
curring in certain materials when cooled below a charac- cur, energy is required, as in the semiconductor the next
teristic critical temperature. It was discovered by Heike higher states lie above the band gap. Often this is stated
Kamerlingh Onnes on April 8, 1911 in Leiden. Like as: full bands do not contribute to the electrical conduc-
ferromagnetism and atomic spectral lines, superconduc- tivity. However, as a semiconductor’s temperature rises
tivity is a quantum mechanical phenomenon. It is charac- above absolute zero, there is more energy in the semi-
1.3. ELECTRIC CURRENT 13

conductor to spend on lattice vibration and on exciting In linear materials such as metals, and under low frequen-
electrons into the conduction band. The current-carrying cies, the current density across the conductor surface is
electrons in the conduction band are known as free elec- uniform. In such conditions, Ohm’s law states that the
trons, though they are often simply called electrons if that current is directly proportional to the potential difference
is clear in context. between two ends (across) of that metal (ideal) resistor
(or other ohmic device):

1.3.10 Current density and Ohm’s law

V
Main article: Current density I= ,
R
where I is the current, measured in amperes; V is the
Current density is a measure of the density of an electric potential difference, measured in volts; and R is the
current. It is defined as a vector whose magnitude is the resistance, measured in ohms. For alternating currents,
electric current per cross-sectional area. In SI units, the especially at higher frequencies, skin effect causes the
current density is measured in amperes per square metre. current to spread unevenly across the conductor cross-
section, with higher density near the surface, thus increas-
∫ ing the apparent resistance.
I= J⃗ · dA
⃗

1.3.11 Drift speed

where I is current in the conductor, J⃗ is the current
density, and dA ⃗ is the differential cross-sectional area
The mobile charged particles within a conductor move
vector. constantly in random directions, like the particles of a
The current density (current per unit area) J⃗ in mate- gas. To create a net flow of charge, the particles must
rials with finite resistance is directly proportional to the also move together with an average drift rate. Electrons
electric field E⃗ in the medium. The proportionality con- are the charge carriers in metals and they follow an erratic
stant is called the conductivity σ of the material, whose path, bouncing from atom to atom, but generally drifting
value depends on the material concerned and, in general, in the opposite direction of the electric field. The speed
is dependent on the temperature of the material: they drift at can be calculated from the equation:

J⃗ = σ E
⃗ I = nAvQ ,

The reciprocal of the conductivity σ of the material is where

called the resistivity ρ of the material and the above
equation, when written in terms of resistivity becomes: I is the electric current
n is number of charged particles per unit vol-
ume (or charge carrier density)
⃗
E
J⃗ = A is the cross-sectional area of the conductor
ρ
v is the drift velocity, and
⃗ = ρJ⃗
E Q is the charge on each particle.
Conduction in semiconductor devices may occur by a
combination of drift and diffusion, which is proportional Typically, electric charges in solids flow slowly. For ex-
to diffusion constant D and charge density αq . The cur- ample, in a copper wire of cross-section 0.5 mm2 , carry-
rent density is then: ing a current of 5 A, the drift velocity of the electrons is
on the order of a millimetre per second. To take a dif-
ferent example, in the near-vacuum inside a cathode ray
J = σE + Dq∇n, tube, the electrons travel in near-straight lines at about a
tenth of the speed of light.
with q being the elementary charge and n the electron Any accelerating electric charge, and therefore any
density. The carriers move in the direction of decreasing changing electric current, gives rise to an electromagnetic
concentration, so for electrons a positive current results wave that propagates at very high speed outside the sur-
for a positive density gradient. If the carriers are holes, face of the conductor. This speed is usually a significant
replace electron density n by the negative of the hole den- fraction of the speed of light, as can be deduced from
sity p . Maxwell’s Equations, and is therefore many times faster
In linear anisotropic materials, σ, ρ and D are tensors. than the drift velocity of the electrons. For example,
14 CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION

in AC power lines, the waves of electromagnetic energy [6] Electric Power, vol. 6, p. 411, 1894.
propagate through the space between the wires, moving
from a source to a distant load, even though the electrons [7] Consoliver, Earl L., and Mitchell, Grover I. (1920).
Automotive ignition systems. McGraw-Hill. p. 4.
in the wires only move back and forth over a tiny distance.
The ratio of the speed of the electromagnetic wave to the [8] Robert A. Millikan and E. S. Bishop (1917). Elements of
speed of light in free space is called the velocity factor, Electricity. American Technical Society. p. 54.
and depends on the electromagnetic properties of the con-
[9] Oliver Heaviside (1894). Electrical papers 1. Macmillan
ductor and the insulating materials surrounding it, and on and Co. p. 283. ISBN 0-8218-2840-1.
their shape and size.
The magnitudes (but, not the natures) of these three ve- [10] N. N. Bhargava and D. C. Kulshreshtha (1983). Basic
Electronics & Linear Circuits. Tata McGraw-Hill Educa-
locities can be illustrated by an analogy with the three
tion. p. 90. ISBN 978-0-07-451965-3.
similar velocities associated with gases.
[11] National Electric Light Association (1915). Electrical me-
• The low drift velocity of charge carriers is analogous terman’s handbook. Trow Press. p. 81.
to air motion; in other words, winds.
[12] Andrew J. Robinson, Lynn Snyder-Mackler (2007).
• The high speed of electromagnetic waves is roughly Clinical Electrophysiology: Electrotherapy and Electro-
analogous to the speed of sound in a gas (these waves physiologic Testing (3rd ed.). Lippincott Williams &
move through the medium much faster than any in- Wilkins. p. 10. ISBN 978-0-7817-4484-3.
dividual particles do) [13] What is a Current Sensor and How is it Used?. Fo-
cus.ti.com. Retrieved on 2011-12-22.
• The random motion of charges is analogous to heat –
the thermal velocity of randomly vibrating gas par- [14] Andreas P. Friedrich, Helmuth Lemme The Universal
ticles. Current Sensor. Sensorsmag.com (2000-05-01). Re-
trieved on 2011-12-22.

1.3.12 See also [15] “The Mechanism Of Conduction In Metals”, Think Quest.

• Current 3-vector [16] Rudolf Holze, Experimental Electrochemistry: A Labora-

tory Textbook, page 44, John Wiley & Sons, 2009 ISBN
• Direct current 3527310983.

• Electric shock [17] “Lab Note #106 Environmental Impact of Arc Suppres-
sion". Arc Suppression Technologies. April 2011. Re-
• Electrical measurements trieved March 15, 2012.
• History of electrical engineering
• Hydraulic analogy 1.3.14 External links
• International System of Quantities • Allaboutcircuits.com, a useful site introducing elec-
tricity and electronics
• SI electromagnetism units

1.3.13 References 1.4 Frequency

[1] Anthony C. Fischer-Cripps (2004). The electronics com-
panion. CRC Press. p. 13. ISBN 978-0-7503-1012-3. For other uses, see Frequency (disambiguation).
Frequency is the number of occurrences of a repeat-
[2] Lakatos, John; Oenoki, Keiji; Judez, Hector; Oenoki, ing event per unit time.[1] It is also referred to as tempo-
Kazushi; Hyun Kyu Cho (March 1998). “Learn Physics ral frequency, which emphasizes the contrast to spatial
Today!". Lima, Peru: Colegio Dr. Franklin D. Roosevelt. frequency and angular frequency. The period is the du-
Retrieved 2009-03-10. ration of time of one cycle in a repeating event, so the
[2]
[3] T. L. Lowe, John Rounce, Calculations for A-level Physics, period is the reciprocal of the frequency. For exam-
p. 2, Nelson Thornes, 2002 ISBN 0-7487-6748-7. ple, if a newborn baby’s heart beats at a frequency of 120
times a minute, its period – the interval between beats –
[4] Howard M. Berlin, Frank C. Getz, Principles of Electronic is half a second (60 seconds (i.e. a minute) divided by
Instrumentation and Measurement, p. 37, Merrill Pub.
120 beats). Frequency is an important parameter used in
Co., 1988 ISBN 0-675-20449-6.
science and engineering to specify the rate of oscillatory
[5] A-M Ampère, Recuil d'Observations Électro-dynamiques, and vibratory phenomena, such as mechanical vibrations,
p. 56, Paris: Chez Crochard Libraire 1822 (in French). audio (sound) signals, radio waves, and light.
1.4. FREQUENCY 15

related concept, angular frequency, is usually denoted by

the Greek letter ω (omega), which uses the SI unit radians
per second (rad/s).
For counts per unit of time, the SI unit for frequency is
hertz (Hz), named after the German physicist Heinrich
Hertz; 1 Hz means that an event repeats once per second.
A previous name for this unit was cycles per second (cps).
A traditional unit of measure used with rotating mechan-
ical devices is revolutions per minute, abbreviated r/min
or rpm. 60 r/min equals one hertz.[3]
The period, usually denoted by T, is the duration of one
cycle, and is the reciprocal of the frequency f:

1
T = .
f

The SI unit for period is the second.

Other than waves frequency related to occurrence of
something can be denoted by:
n
f= t
Where n is the number of times an event occurred and t
is the duration.
Frequency may also be denoted by the lowercase letter
Nu, ν (see e.g. Planck’s formula).

Three cyclically flashing lights, from lowest frequency (top) to

highest frequency (bottom). For each light, “f” is the frequency in
hertz (Hz) – meaning the number of times per second (i.e. cycles
1.4.2 Measurement
per second) that it flashes – while “T” is the flashes’ period in
seconds (s), meaning the number of seconds per cycle. Each T By counting
and f are reciprocal.
Calculating the frequency of a repeating event is accom-
plished by counting the number of times that event occurs
within a specific time period, then dividing the count by
the length of the time period. For example, if 71 events
occur within 15 seconds the frequency is:

71
As time elapses – represented here as a movement from left to f= ≈ 4.7 Hz
right, i.e. horizontally – the five sinusoidal waves shown vary 15 s
regularly (i.e. cycle), but at different rates. The red wave (top)
has the lowest frequency (i.e. varies at the slowest rate) while If the number of counts is not very large, it is more ac-
the purple wave (bottom) has the highest frequency (varies at the curate to measure the time interval for a predetermined
fastest rate). number of occurrences, rather than the number of occur-
rences within a specified time.[4] The latter method in-
troduces a random error into the count of between zero
1.4.1 Definitions and units and one count, so on average half a count. This is called
gating error and causes an average error in the calculated
For cyclical processes, such as rotation, oscillations, or frequency of Δf = 1/(2 Tm), or a fractional error of Δf
waves, frequency is defined as a number of cycles per / f = 1/(2 f Tm) where Tm is the timing interval and f
unit time. In physics and engineering disciplines, such as is the measured frequency. This error decreases with fre-
optics, acoustics, and radio, frequency is usually denoted quency, so it is a problem at low frequencies where the
by a Latin letter f or by the Greek letter ν (nu). Note, the number of counts N is small.
16 CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION

A modern frequency counter

tions, or sound waves, can be converted to a repetitive

electronic signal by transducers and the signal applied to
a frequency counter. Frequency counters can currently
cover the range up to about 100 GHz. This represents
the limit of direct counting methods; frequencies above
this must be measured by indirect methods.

Heterodyne methods
A resonant-reed frequency meter, an obsolete device
used from about 1900 to the 1940s for measuring the Above the range of frequency counters, frequencies of
frequency of alternating current. It consists of a strip of electromagnetic signals are often measured indirectly by
metal with reeds of graduated lengths, vibrated by an means of heterodyning (frequency conversion). A refer-
electromagnet. When the unknown frequency is applied ence signal of a known frequency near the unknown fre-
to the electromagnet, the reed which is resonant at that quency is mixed with the unknown frequency in a non-
frequency will vibrate with large amplitude, visible next linear mixing device such as a diode. This creates a
to the scale. heterodyne or “beat” signal at the difference between the
two frequencies. If the two signals are close together in
frequency the heterodyne is low enough to be measured
by a frequency counter. This process only measures the
By stroboscope
difference between the unknown frequency and the refer-
ence frequency, which must be determined by some other
An older method of measuring the frequency of rotating
method. To reach higher frequencies, several stages of
or vibrating objects is to use a stroboscope. This is an
heterodyning can be used. Current research is extend-
intense repetitively flashing light (strobe light) whose fre-
ing this method to infrared and light frequencies (optical
quency can be adjusted with a calibrated timing circuit.
heterodyne detection).
The strobe light is pointed at the rotating object and the
frequency adjusted up and down. When the frequency of
the strobe equals the frequency of the rotating or vibrating
object, the object completes one cycle of oscillation and 1.4.3 Frequency of waves
returns to its original position between the flashes of light,
so when illuminated by the strobe the object appears sta- For periodic waves in nondispersive media (that is, media
tionary. Then the frequency can be read from the cali- in which the wave speed is independent of frequency),
brated readout on the stroboscope. A downside of this frequency has an inverse relationship to the wavelength,
method is that an object rotating at an integer multiple of λ (lambda). Even in dispersive media, the frequency f of
the strobing frequency will also appear stationary. a sinusoidal wave is equal to the phase velocity v of the
wave divided by the wavelength λ of the wave:

By frequency counter
v
f= .
Higher frequencies are usually measured with a frequency λ
counter. This is an electronic instrument which mea-
In the special case of electromagnetic waves moving
sures the frequency of an applied repetitive electronic
through a vacuum, then v = c, where c is the speed of
signal and displays the result in hertz on a digital display.
light in a vacuum, and this expression becomes:
It uses digital logic to count the number of cycles dur-
ing a time interval established by a precision quartz time
base. Cyclic processes that are not electrical in nature, c
such as the rotation rate of a shaft, mechanical vibra- f= .
λ
1.4. FREQUENCY 17

When waves from a monochrome source travel from one Sound

medium to another, their frequency remains the same—
only their wavelength and speed change. Main article: Sound

Sound propagates as mechanical vibration waves of pres-

1.4.4 Examples sure and displacement, in air or other substances.[5] Fre-
quency is the property of sound that most determines
Light pitch.[6]
The frequencies an ear can hear are limited to a specific
range of frequencies. The audible frequency range for
humans is typically given as being between about 20 Hz
and 20,000 Hz (20 kHz), though the high frequency limit
usually reduces with age. Other species have different
hearing ranges. For example, some dog breeds can per-
ceive vibrations up to 60,000 Hz.[7]
In many media, such as air, the speed of sound is approx-
imately independent of frequency, so the wavelength of
the sound waves (distance between repetitions) is approx-
imately inversely proportional to frequency.

Complete spectrum of electromagnetic radiation with the visible

portion highlighted Line current

In Europe, Africa, Australia, Southern South America,

Main articles: Light and Electromagnetic radiation most of Asia, and Russia, the frequency of the alternating
current in household electrical outlets is 50 Hz (close to
Visible light is an electromagnetic wave, consisting of the tone G), whereas in North America and Northern
oscillating electric and magnetic fields traveling through South America, the frequency of the alternating current
space. The frequency of the wave determines its color: in household electrical outlets is 60 Hz (between the tones
4×1014 Hz is red light, 8×1014 Hz is violet light, and be- B♭ and B; that is, a minor third above the European fre-
tween these (in the range 4-8×1014 Hz) are all the other quency). The frequency of the 'hum' in an audio record-
colors of the rainbow. An electromagnetic wave can have ing can show where the recording was made, in countries
a frequency less than 4×1014 Hz, but it will be invisible using a European, or an American, grid frequency.
to the human eye; such waves are called infrared (IR)
radiation. At even lower frequency, the wave is called
a microwave, and at still lower frequencies it is called a 1.4.5 Period versus frequency
radio wave. Likewise, an electromagnetic wave can have
a frequency higher than 8×1014 Hz, but it will be invis- As a matter of convenience, longer and slower waves,
ible to the human eye; such waves are called ultraviolet such as ocean surface waves, tend to be described by wave
(UV) radiation. Even higher-frequency waves are called period rather than frequency. Short and fast waves, like
X-rays, and higher still are gamma rays. audio and radio, are usually described by their frequency
instead of period. These commonly used conversions are
All of these waves, from the lowest-frequency radio waves listed below:
to the highest-frequency gamma rays, are fundamentally
the same, and they are all called electromagnetic radia-
tion. They all travel through a vacuum at the same speed 1.4.6 Other types of frequency
(the speed of light), giving them wavelengths inversely
proportional to their frequencies. For other uses, see Frequency (disambiguation).

• Angular frequency ω is defined as the rate of change

c = fλ of angular displacement, θ, (during rotation), or the
rate of change of the phase of a sinusoidal wave-
where c is the speed of light (c in a vacuum, or less in form (e.g. in oscillations and waves), or as the rate
other media), f is the frequency and λ is the wavelength. of change of the argument to the sine function:
In dispersive media, such as glass, the speed depends
somewhat on frequency, so the wavelength is not quite
inversely proportional to frequency. y(t) = sin (θ(t)) = sin(ωt) = sin(2πf t)
18 CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION

• Critical band
dθ • Cumulative frequency analysis
= ω = 2πf
dt
• Cutoff frequency
Angular frequency is commonly measured in
• Downsampling
radians per second (rad/s) but, for discrete-
time signals, can also be expressed as radi- • Electronic filter
ans per sample time, which is a dimensionless
quantity. • Flashes Per Minute
• Frequency converter
• Spatial frequency is analogous to temporal fre-
quency, but the time axis is replaced by one or more • Frequency domain
spatial displacement axes. E.g.:
• Frequency distribution
• Frequency extender

y(t) = sin (θ(t, x)) = sin(ωt + kx) • Frequency grid

• Free spectral range
• Frequency deviation
dθ
=k
dx • Frequency spectrum

Wavenumber, k, sometimes means the spatial • Interaction frequency

frequency analogue of angular temporal fre-
• Musical acoustics
quency. In case of more than one spatial di-
mension, wavenumber is a vector quantity. • MVDDS dispute
• Natural frequency
1.4.7 Frequency ranges
• Negative frequency
The frequency range of a system is the range over which • Normalized frequency
it is considered to provide a useful level of signal with ac-
ceptable distortion characteristics. A listing of the upper • Passband
and lower limits of frequency limits for a system is not
useful without a criterion for what the range represents. • Periodicity (disambiguation)

Many systems are characterized by the range of frequen- • Piano key frequencies
cies to which they respond. Musical instruments produce
• Pink noise
different ranges of notes within the hearing range. The
electromagnetic spectrum can be divided into many dif- • Preselector
ferent ranges such as visible light, infrared or ultraviolet
radiation, radio waves, X-rays and so on, and each of • Power bandwidth
these ranges can in turn be divided into smaller ranges. A
• Range (music)
radio communications signal must occupy a range of fre-
quencies carrying most of its energy, called its bandwidth. • Radar signal characteristics
Allocation of radio frequency ranges to different uses is
a major function of radio spectrum allocation. • Radio window
• Scientific pitch notation
1.4.8 See also • Signaling (telecommunications)
• Absolute threshold of hearing • Spectral width
• Audible range • Spread spectrum
• Bandwidth extension • Spectral component
• Bass (sound) • Spectrum allocation
• Coherence bandwidth • Symbol rate
1.5. DIRECT CURRENT 19

• Transition band 1.5 Direct current

• Transverter
“LVDC” redirects here. For the computer, see Saturn
• Ultrasound Launch Vehicle Digital Computer.
Direct current (DC) is the unidirectional flow
• Upsampling

• Whistle register i,v pulsating

direct
• Wideband audio
variable
t
1.4.9 References alternating
[1] http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/frequency

[2] http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/period
Direct Current (red curve). The horizontal axis measures time;
[3] Davies, A. (1997). Handbook of Condition Monitoring: the vertical, current or voltage.
Techniques and Methodology. New York: Springer. ISBN
978-0-412-61320-3. of electric charge. Direct current is produced by
sources such as batteries, thermocouples, solar cells, and
[4] Bakshi, K.A.; A.V. Bakshi; U.A. Bakshi (2008).
Electronic Measurement Systems. US: Technical Publica-
commutator-type electric machines of the dynamo type.
tions. pp. 4–14. ISBN 978-81-8431-206-5. Direct current may flow in a conductor such as a wire, but
can also flow through semiconductors, insulators, or even
[5] http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/sound through a vacuum as in electron or ion beams. The elec-
tric current flows in a constant direction, distinguishing it
[6] Pilhofer, Michael (2007). Music Theory for Dummies. from alternating current (AC). A term formerly used for
For Dummies. p. 97. ISBN 9780470167946. this type of current was galvanic current.[1]
[7] Elert, Glenn; Timothy Condon (2003). “Frequency Range The abbreviations AC and DC are often used to mean
of Dog Hearing”. The Physics Factbook. Retrieved 2008- simply alternating and direct, as when they modify current
10-22. or voltage.[2][3]
Direct current may be obtained from an alternating cur-
rent supply by use of a current-switching arrangement
1.4.10 Further reading called a rectifier, which contains electronic elements (usu-
ally) or electromechanical elements (historically) that al-
• Giancoli, D.C. (1988). Physics for Scientists and
low current to flow only in one direction. Direct current
Engineers (2nd ed.). Prentice Hall. ISBN 0-13-
may be made into alternating current with an inverter or
669201-X.
a motor-generator set.
The first commercial electric power transmission (devel-
1.4.11 External links oped by Thomas Edison in the late nineteenth century)
used direct current. Because of the significant advantages
• Conversion: frequency to wavelength and back of alternating current over direct current in transforming
and transmission, electric power distribution is nearly all
• Conversion: period, cycle duration, periodic time to alternating current today. In the mid-1950s, high-voltage
frequency direct current transmission was developed, and is now an
option instead of long-distance high voltage alternating
• Keyboard frequencies = naming of notes - The En- current systems. For long distance underseas cables (e.g.
glish and American system versus the German sys- between countries, such as NorNed), this DC option is
tem the only technically feasible option. For applications re-
quiring direct current, such as third rail power systems,
• Teaching resource for 14-16yrs on sound including alternating current is distributed to a substation, which
frequency utilizes a rectifier to convert the power to direct current.
See War of Currents.
• A simple tutorial on how to build a frequency meter
Direct current is used to charge batteries, and in nearly
• Frequency - diracdelta.co.uk – JavaScript calcula- all electronic systems, as the power supply. Very large
tion. quantities of direct-current power are used in production
20 CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION

of aluminum and other electrochemical processes. Direct past value of any circuit voltage or current. This implies
current is used for some railway propulsion, especially in that the system of equations that represent a DC circuit do
urban areas. High-voltage direct current is used to trans- not involve integrals or derivatives with respect to time.
mit large amounts of power from remote generation sites If a capacitor or inductor is added to a DC circuit, the re-
or to interconnect alternating current power grids. sulting circuit is not, strictly speaking, a DC circuit. How-
ever, most such circuits have a DC solution. This solution
gives the circuit voltages and currents when the circuit is
1.5.1 Various definitions in DC steady state. Such a circuit is represented by a sys-
tem of differential equations. The solution to these equa-
tions usually contain a time varying or transient part as
Battery
ω
well as constant or steady state part. It is this steady state
part that is the DC solution. There are some circuits that
do not have a DC solution. Two simple examples are a
constant current source connected to a capacitor and a
t
constant voltage source connected to an inductor.
Half-wave rectification
ω In electronics, it is common to refer to a circuit that is
powered by a DC voltage source such as a battery or the
output of a DC power supply as a DC circuit even though
t what is meant is that the circuit is DC powered.
Full-wave rectification
ω

1.5.3 Applications

t Direct-current installations usually have different types of

sockets, connectors, switches, and fixtures, mostly due to
the low voltages used, from those suitable for alternat-
Types of direct current ing current. It is usually important with a direct-current
appliance not to reverse polarity unless the device has a
The term DC is used to refer to power systems that use diode bridge to correct for this (most battery-powered de-
only one polarity of voltage or current, and to refer to the vices do not).
constant, zero-frequency, or slowly varying local mean
value of a voltage or current.[4] For example, the volt-
age across a DC voltage source is constant as is the cur-
rent through a DC current source. The DC solution of
an electric circuit is the solution where all voltages and
currents are constant. It can be shown that any stationary
voltage or current waveform can be decomposed into a
sum of a DC component and a zero-mean time-varying
component; the DC component is defined to be the ex-
pected value, or the average value of the voltage or cur- This symbol is found on many electronic devices that either re-
rent over all time. quire or produce direct current.

Although DC stands for “direct current”, DC often refers

The Unicode code point for the direct current symbol,
to “constant polarity”. Under this definition, DC voltages
found in the Miscellaneous Technical block, is U+2393
can vary in time, as seen in the raw output of a rectifier
( ).
or the fluctuating voice signal on a telephone line.
DC is commonly found in many extra-low voltage ap-
Some forms of DC (such as that produced by a voltage
plications and some low-voltage applications, especially
regulator) have almost no variations in voltage, but may
where these are powered by batteries, which can pro-
still have variations in output power and current.
duce only DC, or solar power systems, since solar cells
can produce only DC. Most automotive applications use
1.5.2 Circuits DC, although the alternator is an AC device which uses a
rectifier to produce DC. Most electronic circuits require
A direct current circuit is an electrical circuit that consists a DC power supply. Applications using fuel cells (mix-
of any combination of constant voltage sources, constant ing hydrogen and oxygen together with a catalyst to pro-
current sources, and resistors. In this case, the circuit duce electricity and water as byproducts) also produce
voltages and currents are independent of time. A par- only DC.
ticular circuit voltage or current does not depend on the The vast majority of automotive applications use “12-
1.6. ALTERNATING CURRENT 21

volt” DC power; a few have a 6 V or a 42 V electrical 1.6 Alternating current

system.
Light aircraft electrical systems are typically 12 V or 28
V. i,v pulsating
Through the use of a DC-DC converter, high DC volt- direct
ages such as 48 V to 72 V DC can be stepped down to 36
variable
V, 24 V, 18 V, 12 V or 5 V to supply different loads. In
a telecommunications system operating at 48 V DC, it is t
generally more efficient to step voltage down to 12 V to alternating
24 V DC with a DC-DC converter and power equipment
loads directly at their native DC input voltages versus op-
erating a 48 V DC to 120 V AC inverter to provide power
to equipment.
Alternating current (green curve). The horizontal axis measures
Many telephones connect to a twisted pair of wires, and time; the vertical, current or voltage.
use a bias tee to internally separate the AC component of
In alternating current (AC), the flow of electric charge
the voltage between the two wires (the audio signal) from
the DC component of the voltage between the two wires periodically reverses direction, whereas in direct current
(used to power the phone). (DC, also dc), the flow of electric charge is only in one
direction. The abbreviations AC and DC are often used to
Telephone exchange communication equipment, such as
mean simply alternating and direct, as when they modify
DSLAM, uses standard −48 V DC power supply. The
current or voltage.[1][2]
negative polarity is achieved by grounding the positive
terminal of power supply system and the battery bank. AC is the form in which electric power is delivered to
This is done to prevent electrolysis depositions. businesses and residences. The usual waveform of an AC
power circuit is a sine wave. In certain applications, dif-
ferent waveforms are used, such as triangular or square
1.5.4 See also waves. Audio and radio signals carried on electrical wires
are also examples of alternating current. In these appli-
• Electric current cations, an important goal is often the recovery of infor-
• High voltage direct current power transmission. mation encoded (or modulated) onto the AC signal.

• Alternating current
1.6.1 Transmission, distribution, and do-
• DC offset mestic power supply
• Neutral direct-current telegraph system
Main articles: Electric power transmission and Electricity
distribution
1.5.5 References
AC voltage may be increased or decreased with a
[1] Andrew J. Robinson, Lynn Snyder-Mackler (2007).
Clinical Electrophysiology: Electrotherapy and Electro- transformer. Use of a higher voltage leads to significantly
physiologic Testing (3rd ed.). Lippincott Williams & more efficient transmission of power. The power losses (
Wilkins. p. 10. ISBN 978-0-7817-4484-3. PL ) in a conductor are a product of the square of the cur-
rent (I) and the resistance (R) of the conductor, described
[2] N. N. Bhargava and D. C. Kulshrishtha (1984). Basic by the formula
Electronics & Linear Circuits. Tata McGraw-Hill Educa-
tion. p. 90. ISBN 978-0-07-451965-3.

[3] National Electric Light Association (1915). Electrical me- PL = I 2 R .

terman’s handbook. Trow Press. p. 81.
This means that when transmitting a fixed power on a
[4] Roger S. Amos, Geoffrey William Arnold Dummer
given wire, if the current is doubled, the power loss will
(1999). Newnes Dictionary of Electronic (4th ed.).
Newnes. p. 83. ISBN 0-7506-4331-5. be four times greater.
The power transmitted is equal to the product of the cur-
rent and the voltage (assuming no phase difference); that
1.5.6 External links is,
• "AC/DC: What’s the Difference?".
• “DC And AC Supplies” (PDF). ITACA. PT = IV .
22 CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION

Thus, the same amount of power can be transmitted with generate the same phases with reverse polarity and so can
a lower current by increasing the voltage. It is therefore be simply wired together.
advantageous when transmitting large amounts of power In practice, higher “pole orders” are commonly used. For
to distribute the power with high voltages (often hundreds example, a 12-pole machine would have 36 coils (10°
of kilovolts). spacing). The advantage is that lower speeds can be used.
For example, a 2-pole machine running at 3600 rpm and
a 12-pole machine running at 600 rpm produce the same
frequency. This is much more practical for larger ma-
chines.
If the load on a three-phase system is balanced equally
among the phases, no current flows through the neutral
point. Even in the worst-case unbalanced (linear) load,
the neutral current will not exceed the highest of the phase
currents. Non-linear loads (e.g., computers) may require
an oversized neutral bus and neutral conductor in the up-
stream distribution panel to handle harmonics. Harmon-
ics can cause neutral conductor current levels to exceed
that of one or all phase conductors.
For three-phase at utilization voltages a four-wire sys-
High voltage transmission lines deliver power from electric gener- tem is often used. When stepping down three-phase, a
ation plants over long distances using alternating current. These transformer with a Delta (3-wire) primary and a Star (4-
lines are located in eastern Utah. wire, center-earthed) secondary is often used so there is
no need for a neutral on the supply side.
However, high voltages also have disadvantages, the main For smaller customers (just how small varies by coun-
one being the increased insulation required, and gener- try and age of the installation) only a single phase and
ally increased difficulty in their safe handling. In a power the neutral or two phases and the neutral are taken to the
plant, power is generated at a convenient voltage for the property. For larger installations all three phases and the
design of a generator, and then stepped up to a high volt- neutral are taken to the main distribution panel. From
age for transmission. Near the loads, the transmission the three-phase main panel, both single and three-phase
voltage is stepped down to the voltages used by equip- circuits may lead off.
ment. Consumer voltages vary depending on the country
and size of load, but generally motors and lighting are Three-wire single-phase systems, with a single center-
built to use up to a few hundred volts between phases. tapped transformer giving two live conductors, is a com-
mon distribution scheme for residential and small com-
The utilization voltage delivered to equipment such as mercial buildings in North America. This arrangement is
lighting and motor loads is standardized, with an allow- sometimes incorrectly referred to as “two phase”. A sim-
able range of voltage over which equipment is expected to ilar method is used for a different reason on construction
operate. Standard power utilization voltages and percent- sites in the UK. Small power tools and lighting are sup-
age tolerance vary in the different mains power systems posed to be supplied by a local center-tapped transformer
found in the world. with a voltage of 55 V between each power conductor and
Modern high-voltage direct-current (HVDC) electric earth. This significantly reduces the risk of electric shock
power transmission systems contrast with the more com- in the event that one of the live conductors becomes ex-
mon alternating-current systems as a means for the effi- posed through an equipment fault whilst still allowing a
cient bulk transmission of electrical power over long dis- reasonable voltage of 110 V between the two conductors
tances. HVDC systems, however, tend to be more expen- for running the tools.
sive and less efficient over shorter distances than trans- A third wire, called the bond (or earth) wire, is of-
formers. Transmission with high voltage direct current ten connected between non-current-carrying metal enclo-
was not feasible when Edison, Westinghouse and Tesla sures and earth ground. This conductor provides protec-
were designing their power systems, since there was then tion from electric shock due to accidental contact of cir-
no way to economically convert AC power to DC and cuit conductors with the metal chassis of portable appli-
back again at the necessary voltages. ances and tools. Bonding all non-current-carrying metal
Three-phase electrical generation is very common. The parts into one complete system ensures there is always
simplest case is three separate coils in the generator stator a low electrical impedance path to ground sufficient to
that are physically offset by an angle of 120° to each carry any fault current for as long as it takes for the sys-
other. Three current waveforms are produced that are tem to clear the fault. This low impedance path allows
equal in magnitude and 120° out of phase to each other. the maximum amount of fault current, causing the over-
If coils are added opposite to these (60° spacing), they current protection device (breakers, fuses) to trip or burn
1.6. ALTERNATING CURRENT 23

out as quickly as possible, bringing the electrical system of electricity toward the center of materials with high
to a safe state. All bond wires are bonded to ground at the conductivity. This phenomenon is called skin effect.
main service panel, as is the Neutral/Identified conductor At very high frequencies the current no longer flows in
if present. the wire, but effectively flows on the surface of the wire,
within a thickness of a few skin depths. The skin depth
is the thickness at which the current density is reduced
1.6.2 AC power supply frequencies by 63%. Even at relatively low frequencies used for
power transmission (50–60 Hz), non-uniform distribu-
Further information: Mains power around the world tion of current still occurs in sufficiently thick conductors.
For example, the skin depth of a copper conductor is ap-
The frequency of the electrical system varies by country proximately 8.57 mm at 60 Hz, so high current conduc-
and sometimes within a country; most electric power is tors are usually hollow to reduce their mass and cost.
generated at either 50 or 60 hertz. Some countries have a Since the current tends to flow in the periphery of con-
mixture of 50 Hz and 60 Hz supplies, notably electricity ductors, the effective cross-section of the conductor is
power transmission in Japan. reduced. This increases the effective AC resistance of
A low frequency eases the design of electric motors, par- the conductor, since resistance is inversely proportional
ticularly for hoisting, crushing and rolling applications, to the cross-sectional area. The AC resistance often is
and commutator-type traction motors for applications many times higher than the DC resistance, causing a
such as railways. However, low frequency also causes no- much higher energy loss due to ohmic heating (also called
2
ticeable flicker in arc lamps and incandescent light bulbs. I R loss).
The use of lower frequencies also provided the advantage
of lower impedance losses, which are proportional to fre-
Techniques for reducing AC resistance
quency. The original Niagara Falls generators were built
to produce 25 Hz power, as a compromise between low
For low to medium frequencies, conductors can be di-
frequency for traction and heavy induction motors, while
vided into stranded wires, each insulated from one other,
still allowing incandescent lighting to operate (although
and the relative positions of individual strands specially
with noticeable flicker). Most of the 25 Hz residential
arranged within the conductor bundle. Wire constructed
and commercial customers for Niagara Falls power were
using this technique is called Litz wire. This measure
converted to 60 Hz by the late 1950s, although some 25
helps to partially mitigate skin effect by forcing more
Hz industrial customers still existed as of the start of the
equal current throughout the total cross section of the
21st century. 16.7 Hz power (formerly 16 2/3 Hz) is still
stranded conductors. Litz wire is used for making high-Q
used in some European rail systems, such as in Austria,
inductors, reducing losses in flexible conductors carrying
Germany, Norway, Sweden and Switzerland.
very high currents at lower frequencies, and in the wind-
Off-shore, military, textile industry, marine, aircraft, and ings of devices carrying higher radio frequency current
spacecraft applications sometimes use 400 Hz, for ben- (up to hundreds of kilohertz), such as switch-mode power
efits of reduced weight of apparatus or higher motor supplies and radio frequency transformers.
speeds.
Computer mainframe systems are often powered by 415 Techniques for reducing radiation loss As written
Hz, using customer-supplied 35 or 70 KVA motor- above, an alternating current is made of electric charge
generator sets.[3] Smaller mainframes may have an inter- under periodic acceleration, which causes radiation of
nal 415 Hz M-G set. In any case, the input to the M-G electromagnetic waves. Energy that is radiated is lost.
set is the local customary voltage and frequency, variously Depending on the frequency, different techniques are
200 (Japan), 208, 240 (North America), 380, 400 or 415 used to minimize the loss due to radiation.
(Europe) volts, and variously 50 or 60 Hz.

Twisted pairs At frequencies up to about 1 GHz, pairs

1.6.3 Effects at high frequencies of wires are twisted together in a cable, forming a twisted
pair. This reduces losses from electromagnetic radiation
Main article: Skin effect and inductive coupling. A twisted pair must be used with
a balanced signalling system, so that the two wires carry
equal but opposite currents. Each wire in a twisted pair
A direct current flows uniformly throughout the cross- radiates a signal, but it is effectively cancelled by radiation
section of a uniform wire. An alternating current of any from the other wire, resulting in almost no radiation loss.
frequency is forced away from the wire’s center, toward
its outer surface. This is because the acceleration of an
electric charge in an alternating current produces waves Coaxial cables Coaxial cables are commonly used at
of electromagnetic radiation that cancel the propagation audio frequencies and above for convenience. A coax-
24 CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION

ial cable has a conductive wire inside a conductive tube, 1

separated by a dielectric layer. The current flowing on
the inner conductor is equal and opposite to the current 0.5
flowing on the inner surface of the tube. The electromag-
netic field is thus completely contained within the tube,
0
and (ideally) no energy is lost to radiation or coupling
outside the tube. Coaxial cables have acceptably small
losses for frequencies up to about 5 GHz. For microwave -0.5

frequencies greater than 5 GHz, the losses (due mainly to

the electrical resistance of the central conductor) become -1
too large, making waveguides a more efficient medium 0 90 180 270 360

for transmitting energy. Coaxial cables with an air rather

than solid dielectric are preferred as they transmit power A sine wave, over one cycle (360°). The dashed line represents
with lower loss. the root mean square (RMS) value at about 0.707

Waveguides Waveguides are similar to coax cables, as where

both consist of tubes, with the biggest difference being
that the waveguide has no inner conductor. Waveguides • Vpeak is the peak voltage (unit: volt),
can have any arbitrary cross section, but rectangular cross
sections are the most common. Because waveguides do • ω is the angular frequency (unit: radians per second)
not have an inner conductor to carry a return current, • The angular frequency is related to the phys-
waveguides cannot deliver energy by means of an electric ical frequency, f (unit = hertz), which repre-
current, but rather by means of a guided electromagnetic sents the number of cycles per second, by the
field. Although surface currents do flow on the inner walls equation ω = 2πf .
of the waveguides, those surface currents do not carry
power. Power is carried by the guided electromagnetic • t is the time (unit: second).
fields. The surface currents are set up by the guided elec-
tromagnetic fields and have the effect of keeping the fields The peak-to-peak value of an AC voltage is defined as the
inside the waveguide and preventing leakage of the fields difference between its positive peak and its negative peak.
to the space outside the waveguide. Since the maximum value of sin(x) is +1 and the mini-
Waveguides have dimensions comparable to the mum value is −1, an AC voltage swings between +Vpeak
wavelength of the alternating current to be transmitted, and −V peak . The peak-to-peak voltage, usually written

so they are only feasible at microwave frequencies. as V pp or VP−P , is therefore Vpeak − (−Vpeak ) = 2Vpeak .
In addition to this mechanical feasibility, electrical
resistance of the non-ideal metals forming the walls Power
of the waveguide cause dissipation of power (surface
currents flowing on lossy conductors dissipate power). Main article: AC power
At higher frequencies, the power lost to this dissipation
becomes unacceptably large.
The relationship between voltage and the power delivered
is
Fiber optics At frequencies greater than 200 GHz,
2
waveguide dimensions become impractically small, and p(t) = v R(t) where R represents a load resis-
the ohmic losses in the waveguide walls become large. In- tance.
stead, fiber optics, which are a form of dielectric waveg-
uides, can be used. For such frequencies, the concepts of Rather than using instantaneous power, p(t) , it is more
voltages and currents are no longer used. practical to use a time averaged power (where the aver-
aging is performed over any integer number of cycles).
1.6.4 Mathematics of AC voltages Therefore, AC voltage is often expressed as a root mean
square (RMS) value, written as Vrms , because
Alternating currents are accompanied (or caused) by al-
ternating voltages. An AC voltage v can be described
V 2 rms
mathematically as a function of time by the following Ptime averaged = .
equation: R

Power oscillation v(t) = Vpeak sin(ωt)

v(t) Vpeak
v(t) = Vpeak · sin(ωt) i(t) = R = R sin(ωt)
1.6. ALTERNATING CURRENT 25

(Vpeak )2
P (t) = v(t) i(t) = R sin2 (ωt) 1.6.5 History

By the following trigonometric identity, the power oscil- The first alternator to produce alternating current was a
lation is double frequency of the voltage. dynamo electric generator based on Michael Faraday's
principles constructed by the French instrument maker
Hippolyte Pixii in 1832.[4] Pixii later added a commutator
1 − cos 2x to his device to produce the (then) more commonly used
sin2 x =
2 direct current. The earliest recorded practical application
of alternating current is by Guillaume Duchenne, inventor
Root mean square and developer of electrotherapy. In 1855, he announced
that AC was superior to direct current for electrothera-
For a sinusoidal voltage: peutic triggering of muscle contractions.[5]
Alternating current technology had first developed in Eu-
√ rope due to the work of Guillaume Duchenne (1850s),
∫
1 T The Hungarian Ganz Works (1870s), Sebastian Ziani de
Vrms = [Vpk sin(ωt + ϕ)]2 dt
T 0 Ferranti (1880s), Lucien Gaulard, and Galileo Ferraris.
√
∫ T In 1876, Russian engineer Pavel Yablochkov invented a
1
= Vpk [1 − cos(2ωt + 2ϕ)]dt lighting system based on a set of induction coils where
2T 0
√ the primary windings were connected to a source of
∫ T
1 AC. The secondary windings could be connected to sev-
= Vpk dt eral 'electric candles’ (arc lamps) of his own design.[6][7]
2T 0
The coils Yablochkov employed functioned essentially as
Vpk
= √ transformers.[6]
2
√ In 1878, the Ganz factory, Budapest, Hungary, began
The factor 2 is called the crest factor, which varies for manufacturing equipment for electric lighting and, by
different waveforms. 1883, had installed over fifty systems in Austria-Hungary.
Their AC systems used arc and incandescent lamps, gen-
• For a triangle waveform centered about zero erators, and other equipment.[8]
A power transformer developed by Lucien Gaulard and
Vpeak
Vrms = √ . John Dixon Gibbs was demonstrated in London in 1881,
3 and attracted the interest of Westinghouse. They also ex-
• For a square waveform centered about zero hibited the invention in Turin in 1884.

Vrms = Vpeak .
DC distribution systems
• For an arbitrary periodic waveform v(t) of period T
: During the initial years of electricity distribution, Edi-
√ son’s direct current was the standard for the United States,
∫
1 T and Edison did not want to lose all his patent royalties.[9]
Vrms = [v(t)]2 dt. Direct current worked well with incandescent lamps,
T 0
which were the principal load of the day, and with mo-
tors. Direct-current systems could be directly used with
Example storage batteries, providing valuable load-leveling and
backup power during interruptions of generator opera-
To illustrate these concepts, consider a 230 V AC mains tion. Direct-current generators could be easily paralleled,
supply used in many countries around the world. It is so allowing economical operation by using smaller machines
called because its root mean square value is 230 V. This during periods of light load and improving reliability. At
means that the time-averaged power delivered is equiva- the introduction of Edison’s system, no practical AC mo-
lent to the power delivered by a DC voltage of 230 V. To tor was available. Edison had invented a meter to allow
determine the peak voltage (amplitude), we can rearrange customers to be billed for energy proportional to con-
the above equation to: sumption, but this meter worked only with direct current.
The principal drawback of direct-current distribution was
√ that customer loads, distribution and generation were all
Vpeak = 2 Vrms .
at the same voltage. Generally, it was uneconomical to
√
For 230 V AC, the peak voltage Vpeak is therefore 230V × 2 use a high voltage for transmission and reduce it for cus-
, which is about 325 V. tomer uses. Even with the Edison 3-wire system (placing
26 CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION

two 110-volt customer loads in series on a 220-volt sup-

ply), the high cost of conductors required generation to be
close to customer loads, otherwise losses made the system
uneconomical to operate.

Transformers

Alternating current systems can use transformers to

change voltage from low to high level and back, allowing
generation and consumption at low voltages but transmis-
sion, possibly over great distances, at high voltage, with
savings in the cost of conductors and energy losses. The Hungarian “ZBD” Team (Károly Zipernowsky, Ottó Bláthy,
Miksa Déri). They were the inventors of the first high efficiency,
A bipolar open-core power transformer developed by closed core shunt connection transformer. The three also in-
Lucien Gaulard and John Dixon Gibbs was demon- vented the modern power distribution system: Instead of for-
strated in London in 1881, and attracted the interest of mer series connection they connect transformers that supply the
Westinghouse. They also exhibited the invention in Turin appliances in parallel to the main line.Blathy invented the AC
in 1884. However these early induction coils with open Wattmeter, and they invented the essential Constant Voltage Gen-
magnetic circuits are inefficient at transferring power to erator.
loads. Until about 1880, the paradigm for AC power
transmission from a high voltage supply to a low voltage
load was a series circuit. Open-core transformers with a the Ganz factory, had determined that open-core devices
ratio near 1:1 were connected with their primaries in se- were impracticable, as they were incapable of reliably
ries to allow use of a high voltage for transmission while regulating voltage.[11] In their joint 1885 patent applica-
presenting a low voltage to the lamps. The inherent flaw tions for novel transformers (later called ZBD transform-
in this method was that turning off a single lamp (or other ers), they described two designs with closed magnetic cir-
electric device) affected the voltage supplied to all others cuits where copper windings were either a) wound around
on the same circuit. Many adjustable transformer designs iron wire ring core or b) surrounded by iron wire core.[10]
were introduced to compensate for this problematic char- In both designs, the magnetic flux linking the primary
acteristic of the series circuit, including those employing and secondary windings traveled almost entirely within
methods of adjusting the core or bypassing the magnetic the confines of the iron core, with no intentional path
flux around part of a coil.[10] through air (see Toroidal cores below). The new trans-
The direct current systems did not have these drawbacks, formers were 3.4 times more efficient than the open-core
giving it significant advantages over early AC systems. bipolar devices of Gaulard and Gibbs.[12]
The Ganz factory in 1884 shipped the world’s first five
high-efficiency AC transformers.[13] This first unit had
Pioneers been manufactured to the following specifications: 1,400
W, 40 Hz, 120:72 V, 11.6:19.4 A, ratio 1.67:1, one-
phase, shell form.[13]
The ZBD patents included two other major interrelated
innovations: one concerning the use of parallel con-
nected, instead of series connected, utilization loads, the
other concerning the ability to have high turns ratio trans-
formers such that the supply network voltage could be
much higher (initially 1,400 to 2,000 V) than the volt-
age of utilization loads (100 V initially preferred).[14][15]
When employed in parallel connected electric distribu-
tion systems, closed-core transformers finally made it
technically and economically feasible to provide elec-
tric power for lighting in homes, businesses and public
spaces.[16][17]
The other essential milestone was the introduction of
[18]
The prototype of ZBD. transformer is on display at the Széchenyi 'voltage source, voltage intensive' (VSVI) systems’ by
István Memorial Exhibition, Nagycenk, Hungary the invention of constant voltage generators in 1885.[19]
Ottó Bláthy also invented the first AC electricity me-
[20][21][22][23]
In the autumn of 1884, Károly Zipernowsky, Ottó Bláthy ter.
and Miksa Déri (ZBD), three engineers associated with The AC power systems was developed and adopted
1.6. ALTERNATING CURRENT 27

rapidly after 1886 due to its ability to distribute electric- practical devices to transfer AC power efficiently be-
ity efficiently over long distances, overcoming the limi- tween isolated circuits. Using pairs of coils wound on a
tations of the direct current system. In 1886, the ZBD common iron core, his design, called an induction coil,
engineers designed, and the Ganz factory supplied elec- was an early (1885) transformer. Stanley also worked
trical equipment for, the world’s first power station that on engineering and adapting European designs such as
used AC generators to power a parallel connected com- the Gaulard and Gibbs transformer for US entrepreneur
mon electrical network, the steam-powered Rome-Cerchi George Westinghouse who started building AC systems
power plant.[24] The reliability of the AC technology re- in 1886. The spread of Westinghouse and other AC sys-
ceived impetus after the Ganz Works electrified a large tems triggered a push back in late 1887 by Thomas Edison
European metropolis: Rome in 1886.[24] (a proponent of direct current) who attempted to discredit
alternating current as too dangerous in a public campaign
called the "War of Currents".
In 1888 alternating current systems gained further viabil-
ity with introduction of a functional AC motor, some-
thing these systems had lacked up till then. The de-
sign, an induction motor, was independently invented by
Galileo Ferraris and Nikola Tesla (with Tesla’s design be-
ing licensed by Westinghouse in the US). This design was
further developed into the modern practical three-phase
form by Mikhail Dolivo-Dobrovolsky and Charles Eu-
gene Lancelot Brown.[28]
The Ames Hydroelectric Generating Plant (spring of
1891) and the original Niagara Falls Adams Power Plant
(August 25, 1895) were among the first hydroelectric
The city lights of Prince George, British Columbia viewed in a AC-power plants. The first commercial power plant in
motion blurred exposure. The AC blinking causes the lines to be the United States using three-phase alternating current
dotted rather than continuous. was the hydroelectric Mill Creek No. 1 Hydroelectric
Plant near Redlands, California, in 1893 designed by
Almirian Decker. Decker’s design incorporated 10,000-
volt three-phase transmission and established the stan-
dards for the complete system of generation, transmission
and motors used today.
The Jaruga Hydroelectric Power Plant in Croatia was set
in operation on 28 August 1895. The two generators (42
Hz, 550 kW each) and the transformers were produced
and installed by the Hungarian company Ganz. The trans-
mission line from the power plant to the City of Šibenik
was 11.5 kilometers (7.1 mi) long on wooden towers, and
the municipal distribution grid 3000 V/110 V included
six transforming stations.
Alternating current circuit theory developed rapidly in the
latter part of the 19th and early 20th century. Notable
Westinghouse Early AC System 1887
contributors to the theoretical basis of alternating current
(US patent 373035)
calculations include Charles Steinmetz, Oliver Heaviside,
and many others.[29][30] Calculations in unbalanced three-
In the UK Sebastian de Ferranti, who had been devel-
phase systems were simplified by the symmetrical com-
oping AC generators and transformers in London since
ponents methods discussed by Charles Legeyt Fortescue
1882, redesigned the AC system at the Grosvenor Gallery
in 1918.
power station in 1886 for the London Electric Supply
Corporation (LESCo) including alternators of his own
design and transformer designs similar to Gaulard and
Gibbs.[25] In 1890 he designed their power station at 1.6.6 See also
Deptford[26] and converted the Grosvenor Gallery station
across the Thames into an electrical substation, showing • AC power
the way to integrate older plants into a universal AC sup-
• Direct current
ply system.[27]
In the US William Stanley, Jr. designed one of the first • Electric current
28 CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION

• Electrical wiring [14] “Hungarian Inventors and Their Inventions”. Institute for
Developing Alternative Energy in Latin America. Re-
• Heavy-duty power plugs trieved Mar 3, 2012.

• Hertz [15] “Bláthy, Ottó Titusz”. Budapest University of Technology

and Economics, National Technical Information Centre
• Mains power systems and Library. Retrieved Feb 29, 2012.

• AC power plugs and sockets [16] “Bláthy, Ottó Titusz (1860 - 1939)". Hungarian Patent
Office. Retrieved Jan 29, 2004.
• Utility frequency
[17] Zipernowsky, K.; Déri, M.; Bláthy, O.T. “Induction Coil”
• War of Currents (PDF). U.S. Patent 352 105, issued Nov. 2, 1886. Re-
trieved July 8, 2009.
• AC/DC receiver design
[18] American Society for Engineering Education. Confer-
ence - 1995: Annual Conference Proceedings, Volume 2,
1.6.7 References (PAGE: 1848)

[19] Thomas Parke Hughes: Networks of Power: Electrifica-

[1] N. N. Bhargava and D. C. Kulshreshtha (1983). Basic tion in Western Society, 1880-1930 (PAGE: 96)
Electronics & Linear Circuits. Tata McGraw-Hill Educa-
tion. p. 90. ISBN 978-0-07-451965-3. [20] Eugenii Katz. “Blathy”. People.clarkson.edu. Archived
from the original on June 25, 2008. Retrieved 2009-08-
[2] National Electric Light Association (1915). Electrical me- 04.
terman’s handbook. Trow Press. p. 81.
[21] Ricks, G.W.D. (March 1896). “Electricity Supply Me-
[3] The largest capacity first-generation Amdahl (470V) re- ters”. Journal of the Institution of Electrical Engineers 25
quired two 70 KVA M-G sets (120): 57–77. doi:10.1049/jiee-1.1896.0005. Student
paper read on January 24, 1896 at the Students’ Meeting.
[4] Pixii Machine invented by Hippolyte Pixii, National High
Magnetic Field Laboratory [22] The Electrician, Volume 50. 1923
[5] Licht, Sidney Herman., “History of Electrotherapy”, in [23] Official gazette of the United States Patent Office: Volume
Therapeutic Electricity and Ultraviolet Radiation, 2nd 50. (1890)
ed., ed. Sidney Licht, New Haven: E. Licht, 1967, Pp.
1-70. [24] “Ottó Bláthy, Miksa Déri, Károly Zipernowsky”. IEC
Techline. Retrieved Apr 16, 2010.
[6] “Stanley Transformer”. Los Alamos National Laboratory;
University of Florida. Retrieved Jan 9, 2009. [25] Hughes, Thomas P. (1993). Networks of Power: Electri-
fication in Western Society, 1880-1930. Baltimore: The
[7] De Fonveille, W. (Jan 22, 1880). “Gas and Johns Hopkins University Press. p. 98. ISBN 0-8018-
Electricity in Paris”. Nature 21 (534): 283. 2873-2
Bibcode:1880Natur..21..282D. doi:10.1038/021282b0.
[26] Ferranti Timeline – Museum of Science and Industry (Ac-
Retrieved Jan 9, 2009.
cessed 22-02-2012)
[8] Hughes, Thomas P. (1993). Networks of Power: Electri-
[27] Hughes, Thomas P. (1993). Networks of Power: Electri-
fication in Western Society, 1880-1930. Baltimore: The
fication in Western Society, 1880-1930. Baltimore: The
Johns Hopkins University Press. p. 96. ISBN 0-8018-
Johns Hopkins University Press. p. 208. ISBN 0-8018-
2873-2. Retrieved Sep 9, 2009.
2873-2
[9] McNichol, Tom (2006). AC/DC: the savage tale of the [28] Arnold Heertje, Mark Perlman Evolving Technology and
first standards war. John Wiley and Sons. p. 80. ISBN Market Structure: Studies in Schumpeterian Economics,
978-0-7879-8267-6. page 138
[10] Uppenborn, F. J. (1889). History of the Transformer. [29] I. Grattan-Guinness, History and Philosophy of the Math-
London: E. & F. N. Spon. pp. 35–41. ematical Sciences - 2003, Page 1229
[11] Hughes, p. 95 [30] Jeff Suzuki, Mathematics in Historical Context - 2009,
page 329
[12] Jeszenszky, Sándor. “Electrostatics and Electrodynam-
ics at Pest University in the Mid-19th Century” (PDF).
University of Pavia. Retrieved Mar 3, 2012.
1.6.8 Further reading
[13] Halacsy, A. A.; Von Fuchs, G. H. (April 1961).
“Transformer Invented 75 Years Ago”. IEEE Transactions • Willam A. Meyers, History and Reflections on the
of the American Institute of Electrical Engineers 80 (3): Way Things Were: Mill Creek Power Plant – Making
121–125. doi:10.1109/AIEEPAS.1961.4500994. Re- History with AC, IEEE Power Engineering Review,
trieved Feb 29, 2012. February 1997, pages 22–24
1.6. ALTERNATING CURRENT 29

1.6.9 External links

• "Alternating Current". Interactive Java tutorial ex-
plaining alternating current. (National High Mag-
netic Field Laboratory)
• "AC/DC: What’s the Difference?". Edison’s Miracle
of Light, American Experience. (PBS)
• "AC/DC: Inside the AC Generator". Edison’s Miracle
of Light, American Experience. (PBS)
• Kuphaldt, Tony R., "Lessons In Electric Circuits :
Volume II - AC". March 8, 2003. (Design Science
License)

• Nave, C. R., "Alternating Current Circuits Concepts".

HyperPhysics.

• "Alternating Current (AC)". Magnetic Particle In-

spection, Nondestructive Testing Encyclopedia.
• "Alternating current". Analog Process Control Ser-
vices.
• Hiob, Eric, "An Application of Trigonometry and
Vectors to Alternating Current". British Columbia
Institute of Technology, 2004.

• "Introduction to alternating current and transform-

ers". Integrated Publishing.

• "Wind Energy Reference Manual Part 4: Electricity".

Danish Wind Industry Association, 2003.

• Chan. Keelin, "Alternating current Tools". JC

Physics, 2002.

• Williams, Trip “Kingpin”, "Understanding Alternat-

ing Current, Some more power concepts".

• "Table of Voltage, Frequency, TV Broadcasting sys-

tem, Radio Broadcasting, by Country".

• Professor Mark Csele’s tour of the 25 Hz Rankine

generating station

• 50/60 hertz information

• AC circuits Animations and explanations of vector
(phasor) representation of RLC circuits

• Blalock, Thomas J., "The Frequency Changer Era:

Interconnecting Systems of Varying Cycles". The
history of various frequencies and interconversion
schemes in the US at the beginning of the 20th cen-
tury
• (Italian) Generating an AC voltage. Interactive.
Chapter 2

Electrical components

2.1 Active and passive components energy EA as:

Passivity is a property of engineering systems, used in ∫ T

a variety of engineering disciplines, but most commonly EA (x) = sup −⟨v(t), i(t)⟩ dt
found in analog electronics and control systems. A pas- x→T ≥0 0
sive component, depending on field, may be either a
component that consumes (but does not produce) energy where the notation supx→T≥₀ indicates that the
(thermodynamic passivity), or a component that is inca- supremum is taken over all T ≥ 0 and all admissible
pable of power gain (incremental passivity). pairs {v(·), i(·)} with the fixed initial state x (e.g., all
voltage–current trajectories for a given initial condition
A component that is not passive is called an active com- of the system). A system is considered passive if EA
ponent. An electronic circuit consisting entirely of pas- is finite for all initial states x. Otherwise, the system is
sive components is called a passive circuit (and has the considered active. Roughly speaking, the inner product
same properties as a passive component). Used out-of- ⟨v(t), i(t)⟩ is the instantaneous power (e.g., the product
context and without a qualifier, the term passive is am- of voltage and current), and EA is the upper bound on
biguous. Typically, analog designers use this term to re- the integral of the instantaneous power (i.e., energy).
fer to incrementally passive components and systems, This upper bound (taken over all T ≥ 0) is the available
while control systems engineers will use this to refer to energy in the system for the particular initial condition x.
thermodynamically passive ones. If, for all possible initial states of the system, the energy
Systems for which the small signal model is not passive available is finite, then the system is called passive.
are sometimes called locally active (e.g. transistors and
tunnel diodes). Systems that can generate power about a
time-variant unperturbed state are often called parametri-
2.1.2 Incremental passivity
[1]
cally active (e.g. certain types of nonlinear capacitors).
In circuit design, informally, passive components refer
to ones that are not capable of power gain; this means
2.1.1 Thermodynamic passivity they cannot amplify signals. Under this definition, pas-
sive components include capacitors, inductors, resistors,
In control systems and circuit network theory, a pas- diodes, transformers, voltage sources, and current
sive component or circuit is one that consumes energy, sources. They exclude devices like transistors, vacuum
but does not produce energy. Under this methodology, tubes, relays, tunnel diodes, and glow tubes. Formally, for
voltage and current sources are considered active, while a memoryless two-terminal element, this means that the
resistors, capacitors, inductors, transistors, tunnel diodes, current–voltage characteristic is monotonically increas-
metamaterials and other dissipative and energy-neutral ing. For this reason, control systems and circuit net-
components are considered passive. Circuit designers work theorists refer to these devices as locally passive,
will sometimes refer to this class of components as dissi- incrementally passive, increasing, monotone increasing,
pative, or thermodynamically passive. or monotonic. It is not clear how this definition would be
formalized to multiport devices with memory – as a prac-
While many books give definitions for passivity, many of tical matter, circuit designers use this term informally, so
these contain subtle errors in how initial conditions are it may not be necessary to formalize it.[nb 1]
treated (and, occasionally, the definitions do not gener-
alize to all types of nonlinear time-varying systems with This term is used colloquially in a number of other con-
memory). Below is a correct, formal definition, taken texts:
from Wyatt et al.[2] (which also explains the problems
with many other definitions). Given an n-port R with a • A passive USB to PS/2 adapter consists of wires,
state representation S, and initial state x, define available and potentially resistors and similar passive (in both

30
2.1. ACTIVE AND PASSIVE COMPONENTS 31

the incremental and thermodynamic sense) compo- cases, passive filters are composed of just the four ba-
nents. An active USB to PS/2 adapter consists of sic linear elements – resistors, capacitors, inductors, and
logic to translate signals (active in the incremental transformers. More complex passive filters may involve
sense) nonlinear elements, or more complex linear elements,
such as transmission lines.
• A passive mixer consists of just resistors (incremen-
tally passive), whereas an active mixer includes com-
ponents capable of gain (active).

• In audio work one can also find both (incrementally)

passive and active converters between balanced and
unbalanced lines. A passive bal/unbal converter is
generally just a transformer along with, of course,
the requisite connectors, while an active one typi-
cally consists of a differential drive or an instrumen-
tation amplifier.

2.1.3 Other definitions of passivity Television signal splitter consisting of a passive high-pass filter
(left) and a passive low-pass filter (right). The antenna is con-
nected to the screw terminals to the left of center.
In some very informal settings, passivity may refer to the
simplicity of the device, although this definition is now al-
most universally considered incorrect. Here, devices like A passive filter has several advantages over an active filter:
diodes would be considered active,[3] and only very sim-
• Guaranteed stability
ple devices like capacitors, inductors, and resistors are
considered passive. In some cases, the term "linear ele- • Scale better to large signals (tens of amperes, hun-
ment" may be a more appropriate term than “passive de- dreds of volts), where active devices are often im-
vice.” In other cases, "solid state device" may be a more practical
appropriate term than “active device.”
• No power supply needed
• Often less expensive in discrete designs (unless large
2.1.4 Stability coils are required)
• For linear filters, potentially greater linearity de-
Passivity, in most cases, can be used to demonstrate that
pending on components required
passive circuits will be stable under specific criteria. Note
that this only works if only one of the above definitions of
They are commonly used in speaker crossover design (due
passivity is used – if components from the two are mixed,
to the moderately large voltages and currents, and the
the systems may be unstable under any criteria. In addi-
lack of easy access to a power supply), filters in power
tion, passive circuits will not necessarily be stable under
distribution networks (due to the large voltages and cur-
all stability criteria. For instance, a resonant series LC
rents), power supply bypassing (due to low cost, and in
circuit will have unbounded voltage output for a bounded
some cases, power requirements), as well as a variety of
voltage input, but will be stable in the sense of Lyapunov,
discrete and home brew circuits (for low-cost and sim-
and given bounded energy input will have bounded energy
plicity). Passive filters are uncommon in monolithic in-
output.
tegrated circuit design, where active devices are inexpen-
Passivity is frequently used in control systems to design sive compared to resistors and capacitors, and inductors
stable control systems or to show stability in control sys- are prohibitively expensive. Passive filters are still found,
tems. This is especially important in the design of large, however, in hybrid integrated circuits. Indeed, it may be
complex control systems (e.g. stability of airplanes). Pas- the desire to incorporate a passive filter that leads the de-
sivity is also used in some areas of circuit design, espe- signer to use the hybrid format.
cially filter design.

2.1.6 Notes
2.1.5 Passive filter [1] This is probably formalized in one of the extensions to
Duffin’s Theorem. One of the extensions may state that
A passive filter is a kind of electronic filter that is made if the small signal model is thermodynamically passive,
only from passive components – in contrast to an active under some conditions, the overall system will be incre-
filter, it does not require an external power source (be- mentally passive, and therefore, stable. This needs to be
yond the signal). Since most filters are linear, in most verified.
32 CHAPTER 2. ELECTRICAL COMPONENTS

2.1.7 References
[1] Tellegen’s Theorem and Electrical Networks. Penfield,
Spence, and Duinker. MIT Press, 1970. pg 24-25.

[2] Wyatt Jr., John L.; Chua, Leon O.; Gannett, Joel
W.; Göknar, Izzet C.; Green, Douglas N. (January
1981). “Energy Concepts in the State-Space Theory
of Nonlinear n-Ports: Part I—Passivity”. IEEE Trans-
actions on Circuits and Systems. CAS-28 (1): 48–61.
doi:10.1109/TCS.1981.1084907.

[3] Young EC, passive, The Penguin Dictionary of Electronics,

2nd ed, ISBN 0-14-051187-3
Axial-lead resistors on tape. The component is cut from the tape
during assembly and the part is inserted into the board.
2.1.8 Further reading
• Khalil, Hassan (2001). Nonlinear Systems (3rd Edi- circuits resistors are used to limit current flow, to adjust
tion). Prentice Hall. ISBN 0-13-067389-7.—Very signal levels, bias active elements, terminate transmission
readable introductory discussion on passivity in con- lines among other uses. High-power resistors that can dis-
trol systems. sipate many watts of electrical power as heat may be used
as part of motor controls, in power distribution systems,
• Chua, Leon; Desoer, Charles; Kuh, Ernest (1987). or as test loads for generators. Fixed resistors have resis-
Linear and Nonlinear Circuits. McGraw–Hill Com- tances that only change slightly with temperature, time or
panies. ISBN 0-07-010898-6.—Good collection of operating voltage. Variable resistors can be used to ad-
passive stability theorems, but restricted to memo- just circuit elements (such as a volume control or a lamp
ryless one-ports. Readable and formal. dimmer), or as sensing devices for heat, light, humidity,
force, or chemical activity.
• Desoer, Charles; Kuh, Ernest (1969). Basic Cir-
cuit Theory. McGraw–Hill Education. ISBN 0- Resistors are common elements of electrical networks
07-085183-2.—Somewhat less readable than Chua, and electronic circuits and are ubiquitous in electronic
and more limited in scope and formality of theo- equipment. Practical resistors as discrete components
rems. can be composed of various compounds and forms. Re-
sistors are also implemented within integrated circuits.
• Cruz, Jose; Van Valkenberg, M.E. (1974). Signals
The electrical function of a resistor is specified by its
in Linear Circuits. Houghton Mifflin. ISBN 0-395-
resistance: common commercial resistors are manufac-
16971-2. —Gives a definition of passivity for mul-
tured over a range of more than nine orders of magni-
tiports (in contrast to the above), but the overall dis-
tude. The nominal value of the resistance will fall within
cussion of passivity is quite limited.
a manufacturing tolerance.
• Wyatt, J.L.; Chua, L.O.; Gannett, J.; Göknar,
I.C.; Green, D. (1978). Foundations of Nonlinear
Network Theory, Part I: Passivity. Memorandum
2.2.1 Electronic symbols and notation
UCB/ERL M78/76, Electronics Research Labora-
Main article: Electronic symbol
tory, University of California, Berkeley.
Wyatt, J.L.; Chua, L.O.; Gannett, J.; Göknar, I.C.;
Green, D. (1980). Foundations of Nonlinear Net- Two typical schematic diagram symbols are as follows;
work Theory, Part II: Losslessness. Memorandum
UCB/ERL M80/3, Electronics Research Labora- • (a) resistor, (b) rheostat (variable resistor), and (c)
tory, University of California, Berkeley. potentiometer
— A pair of memos that have good discussions of
• IEC resistor symbol
passivity.
The notation to state a resistor’s value in a circuit diagram
varies, too. The European notation BS 1852 avoids using
2.2 Resistor a decimal separator, and replaces the decimal separator
with the SI prefix symbol for the particular value. For ex-
A resistor is a passive two-terminal electrical component ample, 8k2 in a circuit diagram indicates a resistor value
that implements electrical resistance as a circuit element. of 8.2 kΩ. Additional zeros imply tighter tolerance, for
Resistors act to reduce current flow, and, at the same time, example 15M0. When the value can be expressed with-
act to lower voltage levels within circuits. In electronic out the need for an SI prefix, an 'R' is used instead of the
2.2. RESISTOR 33

decimal separator. For example, 1R2 indicates 1.2 Ω, Series and parallel resistors
and 18R indicates 18 Ω. The use of a SI prefix symbol or
the letter 'R' circumvents the problem that decimal sep- Main article: Series and parallel circuits
arators tend to 'disappear' when photocopying a printed
circuit diagram. The total resistance of resistors connected in series is the
sum of their individual resistance values.
2.2.2 Theory of operation

Higher

Lower
pressure
pressure
R1 R2 Rn
Req = R1 + R2 + · · · + Rn .
Hair
in pipe
The total resistance of resistors connected in parallel is
the reciprocal of the sum of the reciprocals of the indi-
Small R Same flow Large R vidual resistors.

The hydraulic analogy compares electric current flowing through

circuits to water flowing through pipes. When a pipe (left) is
filled with hair (right), it takes a larger pressure to achieve the
same flow of water. Pushing electric current through a large re-
sistance is like pushing water through a pipe clogged with hair:

R1 R2 Rn
It requires a larger push (voltage drop) to drive the same flow
(electric current).[1]

Ohm’s law

Main article: Ohm’s law

1
Req = 1
R1 + 1
R2 + ··· + 1
Rn .

The behavior of an ideal resistor is dictated by the rela- So, for example, a 10 ohm resistor connected in paral-
tionship specified by Ohm’s law: lel with a 5 ohm resistor and a 15 ohm resistor will pro-
duce the inverse of 1/10+1/5+1/15 ohms of resistance,
or 1/(.1+.2+.067)=2.725 ohms.
V = I · R. A resistor network that is a combination of parallel and
series connections can be broken up into smaller parts
Ohm’s law states that the voltage (V) across a resistor is that are either one or the other. Some complex networks
proportional to the current (I), where the constant of pro- of resistors cannot be resolved in this manner, requiring
portionality is the resistance (R). For example, if a 300 more sophisticated circuit analysis. Generally, the Y-Δ
ohm resistor is attached across the terminals of a 12 volt transform, or matrix methods can be used to solve such
battery, then a current of 12 / 300 = 0.04 amperes flows problems.[2][3][4]
through that resistor.
Practical resistors also have some inductance and
Power dissipation
capacitance which will also affect the relation between
voltage and current in alternating current circuits. At any instant of time, the power P (watts) consumed by
The ohm (symbol: Ω) is the SI unit of electrical resis- a resistor of resistance R (ohms) is calculated as: P =
2
tance, named after Georg Simon Ohm. An ohm is equiv- I 2 R = IV = VR where V (volts) is the voltage across
alent to a volt per ampere. Since resistors are specified the resistor and I (amps) is the current flowing through
and manufactured over a very large range of values, the it. Using Ohm’s law, the two other forms can be de-
derived units of milliohm (1 mΩ = 10−3 Ω), kilohm (1 rived. This power is converted into heat which must be
kΩ = 103 Ω), and megohm (1 MΩ = 106 Ω) are also in dissipated by the resistor’s package before its temperature
common usage. rises excessively.
34 CHAPTER 2. ELECTRICAL COMPONENTS

Resistors are rated according to their maximum power specified individually for a particular family of resistors
dissipation. Most discrete resistors in solid-state elec- manufactured using a particular technology.[5] A family
tronic systems absorb much less than a watt of electri- of discrete resistors is also characterized according to its
cal power and require no attention to their power rating. form factor, that is, the size of the device and the position
Such resistors in their discrete form, including most of of its leads (or terminals) which is relevant in the practical
the packages detailed below, are typically rated as 1/10, manufacturing of circuits using them.
1/8, or 1/4 watt. Practical resistors are also specified as having a maximum
power rating which must exceed the anticipated power
dissipation of that resistor in a particular circuit: this is
mainly of concern in power electronics applications. Re-
sistors with higher power ratings are physically larger and
may require heat sinks. In a high-voltage circuit, attention
must sometimes be paid to the rated maximum working
voltage of the resistor. While there is no minimum work-
ing voltage for a given resistor, failure to account for a
resistor’s maximum rating may cause the resistor to in-
An aluminium-housed power resistor rated for 50 W when heat- cinerate when current is run through it.
sinked

Resistors required to dissipate substantial amounts of 2.2.4 Fixed resistor

power, particularly used in power supplies, power con-
version circuits, and power amplifiers, are generally re-
ferred to as power resistors; this designation is loosely ap-
plied to resistors with power ratings of 1 watt or greater.
Power resistors are physically larger and may not use the
preferred values, color codes, and external packages de-
scribed below.
If the average power dissipated by a resistor is more than
its power rating, damage to the resistor may occur, per-
manently altering its resistance; this is distinct from the A single in line (SIL) resistor package with 8 individual, 47 ohm
reversible change in resistance due to its temperature co- resistors. One end of each resistor is connected to a separate pin
and the other ends are all connected together to the remaining
efficient when it warms. Excessive power dissipation may
(common) pin – pin 1, at the end identified by the white dot.
raise the temperature of the resistor to a point where it can
burn the circuit board or adjacent components, or even
cause a fire. There are flameproof resistors that fail (open
circuit) before they overheat dangerously. Lead arrangements

Since poor air circulation, high altitude, or high operating

temperatures may occur, resistors may be specified with
higher rated dissipation than will be experienced in ser-
vice.
All resistors have a maximum voltage rating; this may
limit the power dissipation for higher resistance values.

2.2.3 Nonideal properties

Practical resistors have a series inductance and a small

parallel capacitance; these specifications can be important
in high-frequency applications. In a low-noise amplifier
or pre-amp, the noise characteristics of a resistor may be
an issue. Resistors with wire leads for through-hole mounting
The temperature coefficient of the resistance may also be Through-hole components typically have “leads” (pro-
of concern in some precision applications. nounced to rhyme with “reeds”) leaving the body “axi-
The unwanted inductance, excess noise, and tempera- ally,” that is, on a line parallel with the part’s longest axis.
ture coefficient are mainly dependent on the technology Others have leads coming off their body “radially” in-
used in manufacturing the resistor. They are not normally stead. Other components may be SMT (surface mount
2.2. RESISTOR 35

technology), while high power resistors may have one of Carbon pile
their leads designed into the heat sink.
A carbon pile resistor is made of a stack of carbon disks
compressed between two metal contact plates. Adjusting
the clamping pressure changes the resistance between the
plates. These resistors are used when an adjustable load
Carbon composition
is required, for example in testing automotive batteries or
radio transmitters. A carbon pile resistor can also be used
as a speed control for small motors in household appli-
ances (sewing machines, hand-held mixers) with ratings
up to a few hundred watts.[8] A carbon pile resistor can
be incorporated in automatic voltage regulators for gen-
erators, where the carbon pile controls the field current
to maintain relatively constant voltage.[9] The principle is
also applied in the carbon microphone.

Carbon film

Three carbon composition resistors in a 1960s valve (vacuum

tube) radio

Carbon composition resistors consist of a solid cylindri-

cal resistive element with embedded wire leads or metal
end caps to which the lead wires are attached. The body
of the resistor is protected with paint or plastic. Early
20th-century carbon composition resistors had uninsu- Carbon film resistor with exposed carbon spiral (Tesla TR-212 1
lated bodies; the lead wires were wrapped around the ends kΩ)
of the resistance element rod and soldered. The com-
pleted resistor was painted for color-coding of its value.
A carbon film is deposited on an insulating substrate,
The resistive element is made from a mixture of finely and a helix is cut in it to create a long, narrow resis-
ground (powdered) carbon and an insulating material tive path. Varying shapes, coupled with the resistivity
(usually ceramic). A resin holds the mixture together. of amorphous carbon (ranging from 500 to 800 μΩ m),
The resistance is determined by the ratio of the fill ma- can provide a wide range of resistance values. Compared
terial (the powdered ceramic) to the carbon. Higher to carbon composition they feature low noise, because
concentrations of carbon— a good conductor— result of the precise distribution of the pure graphite without
in lower resistance. Carbon composition resistors were binding.[10] Carbon film resistors feature a power rating
commonly used in the 1960s and earlier, but are not range of 0.125 W to 5 W at 70 °C. Resistances available
so popular for general use now as other types have bet- range from 1 ohm to 10 megohm. The carbon film resis-
ter specifications, such as tolerance, voltage dependence, tor has an operating temperature range of −55 °C to 155
and stress (carbon composition resistors will change value °C. It has 200 to 600 volts maximum working voltage
when stressed with over-voltages). Moreover, if internal range. Special carbon film resistors are used in applica-
moisture content (from exposure for some length of time tions requiring high pulse stability.[7]
to a humid environment) is significant, soldering heat will
create a non-reversible change in resistance value. Car-
bon composition resistors have poor stability with time
and were consequently factory sorted to, at best, only 5% Printed carbon resistor
tolerance.[6] These resistors, however, if never subjected
to overvoltage nor overheating were remarkably reliable Carbon composition resistors can be printed directly onto
considering the component’s size.[7] printed circuit board (PCB) substrates as part of the PCB
Carbon composition resistors are still available, but com- manufacturing process. Although this technique is more
paratively quite costly. Values ranged from fractions of common on hybrid PCB modules, it can also be used on
an ohm to 22 megohms. Due to their high price, these re- standard fibreglass PCBs. Tolerances are typically quite
sistors are no longer used in most applications. However, large, and can be in the order of 30%. A typical applica-
they are used in power supplies and welding controls.[7] tion would be non-critical pull-up resistors.
36 CHAPTER 2. ELECTRICAL COMPONENTS

7), nickel chromium (NiCr), or bismuth iridate (Bi

2Ir
2O
7).
The resistance of both thin and thick film resistors af-
ter manufacture is not highly accurate; they are usually
trimmed to an accurate value by abrasive or laser trim-
ming. Thin film resistors are usually specified with toler-
ances of 0.1, 0.2, 0.5, or 1%, and with temperature co-
efficients of 5 to 25 ppm/K. They also have much lower
A carbon resistor printed directly onto the SMD pads on a PCB.
noise levels, on the level of 10–100 times less than thick
Inside a 1989 vintage Psion II Organiser film resistors.
Thick film resistors may use the same conductive ceram-
ics, but they are mixed with sintered (powdered) glass
and a carrier liquid so that the composite can be screen-
printed. This composite of glass and conductive ceramic
(cermet) material is then fused (baked) in an oven at about
850 °C.
Thick film resistors, when first manufactured, had toler-
ances of 5%, but standard tolerances have improved to
2% or 1% in the last few decades. Temperature coef-
ficients of thick film resistors are high, typically ±200 or
±250 ppm/K; a 40 kelvin (70 °F) temperature change can
Laser Trimmed Precision Thin Film Resistor Network from
change the resistance by 1%.
Fluke, used in the Keithley DMM7510 multimeter. Ceramic Thin film resistors are usually far more expensive than
backed with glass hermetic seal cover. thick film resistors. For example, SMD thin film resis-
tors, with 0.5% tolerances, and with 25 ppm/K tempera-
ture coefficients, when bought in full size reel quantities,
Thick and thin film are about twice the cost of 1%, 250 ppm/K thick film
resistors.
Thick film resistors became popular during the 1970s,
and most SMD (surface mount device) resistors today are
of this type. The resistive element of thick films is 1000
times thicker than thin films,[11] but the principal differ-
Metal film
ence is how the film is applied to the cylinder (axial resis-
tors) or the surface (SMD resistors).
A common type of axial-leaded resistor today is the
Thin film resistors are made by sputtering (a method of metal-film resistor. Metal Electrode Leadless Face
vacuum deposition) the resistive material onto an insulat-
(MELF) resistors often use the same technology, and
ing substrate. The film is then etched in a similar manner are also cylindrically shaped but are designed for surface
to the old (subtractive) process for making printed cir-
mounting. Note that other types of resistors (e.g., carbon
cuit boards; that is, the surface is coated with a photo- composition) are also available in MELF packages.
sensitive material, then covered by a pattern film, irradi-
ated with ultraviolet light, and then the exposed photo- Metal film resistors are usually coated with nickel
sensitive coating is developed, and underlying thin film is chromium (NiCr), but might be coated with any of the
etched away. cermet materials listed above for thin film resistors. Un-
like thin film resistors, the material may be applied using
Thick film resistors are manufactured using screen and different techniques than sputtering (though this is one of
stencil printing processes.[7] the techniques). Also, unlike thin-film resistors, the resis-
Because the time during which the sputtering is per- tance value is determined by cutting a helix through the
formed can be controlled, the thickness of the thin film coating rather than by etching. (This is similar to the way
can be accurately controlled. The type of material is carbon resistors are made.) The result is a reasonable tol-
also usually different consisting of one or more ceramic erance (0.5%, 1%, or 2%) and a temperature coefficient
(cermet) conductors such as tantalum nitride (TaN), that is generally between 50 and 100 ppm/K.[12] Metal
ruthenium oxide (RuO film resistors possess good noise characteristics and low
2), lead oxide (PbO), bismuth ruthenate (Bi non-linearity due to a low voltage coefficient. Also bene-
2Ru ficial are their tight tolerance, low temperature coefficient
2O and long-term stability.[7]
2.2. RESISTOR 37

Metal oxide film such resistors are sometimes described as “cement” resis-
tors, though they do not actually contain any traditional
Metal-oxide film resistors are made of metal oxides such cement. The aluminum-cased types are designed to be
as tin oxide. This results in a higher operating tempera- attached to a heat sink to dissipate the heat; the rated
ture and greater stability/reliability than Metal film. They power is dependent on being used with a suitable heat
are used in applications with high endurance demands. sink, e.g., a 50 W power rated resistor will overheat at a
fraction of the power dissipation if not used with a heat
sink. Large wirewound resistors may be rated for 1,000
Wire wound watts or more.
Because wirewound resistors are coils they have more un-
desirable inductance than other types of resistor, although
winding the wire in sections with alternately reversed di-
rection can minimize inductance. Other techniques em-
ploy bifilar winding, or a flat thin former (to reduce cross-
section area of the coil). For the most demanding circuits,
resistors with Ayrton-Perry winding are used.
Applications of wirewound resistors are similar to those
of composition resistors with the exception of the high
frequency. The high frequency response of wirewound
resistors is substantially worse than that of a composition
resistor.[7]

High-power wire wound resistors used for dynamic braking on

Foil resistor
an electric railway car. Such resistors may dissipate many kilo-
watts for an extended length of time.
The primary resistance element of a foil resistor is a spe-
cial alloy foil several micrometers thick. Since their in-
troduction in the 1960s, foil resistors have had the best
precision and stability of any resistor available. One of
the important parameters influencing stability is the tem-
perature coefficient of resistance (TCR). The TCR of foil
resistors is extremely low, and has been further improved
over the years. One range of ultra-precision foil resistors
offers a TCR of 0.14 ppm/°C, tolerance ±0.005%, long-
term stability (1 year) 25 ppm, (3 years) 50 ppm (further
improved 5-fold by hermetic sealing), stability under load
(2000 hours) 0.03%, thermal EMF 0.1 μV/°C, noise −42
dB, voltage coefficient 0.1 ppm/V, inductance 0.08 μH,
capacitance 0.5 pF.[13]
Types of windings in wire resistors:
1. common
2. bifilar Ammeter shunts
3. common on a thin former
4. Ayrton-Perry An ammeter shunt is a special type of current-sensing
resistor, having four terminals and a value in milliohms
Wirewound resistors are commonly made by winding a or even micro-ohms. Current-measuring instruments, by
metal wire, usually nichrome, around a ceramic, plastic, themselves, can usually accept only limited currents. To
or fiberglass core. The ends of the wire are soldered or measure high currents, the current passes through the
welded to two caps or rings, attached to the ends of the shunt across which the voltage drop is measured and in-
core. The assembly is protected with a layer of paint, terpreted as current. A typical shunt consists of two solid
molded plastic, or an enamel coating baked at high tem- metal blocks, sometimes brass, mounted on an insulat-
perature. These resistors are designed to withstand un- ing base. Between the blocks, and soldered or brazed to
usually high temperatures of up to 450 °C.[7] Wire leads them, are one or more strips of low temperature coef-
in low power wirewound resistors are usually between 0.6 ficient of resistance (TCR) manganin alloy. Large bolts
and 0.8 mm in diameter and tinned for ease of solder- threaded into the blocks make the current connections,
ing. For higher power wirewound resistors, either a ce- while much smaller screws provide volt meter connec-
ramic outer case or an aluminum outer case on top of tions. Shunts are rated by full-scale current, and often
an insulating layer is used – if the outer case is ceramic, have a voltage drop of 50 mV at rated current. Such me-
38 CHAPTER 2. ELECTRICAL COMPONENTS

ters are adapted to the shunt full current rating by using a potentiometer because it can be connected as an ad-
an appropriately marked dial face; no change need to be justable voltage divider to provide a variable potential at
made to the other parts of the meter. the terminal connected to the tapping point. A volume
control for an audio device is a common use of a poten-
tiometer.
Grid resistor
Accurate, high-resolution panel-mounted potentiometers
In heavy-duty industrial high-current applications, a grid have resistance elements typically wirewound on a heli-
resistor is a large convection-cooled lattice of stamped cal mandrel, although some include a conductive-plastic
metal alloy strips connected in rows between two elec- resistance coating over the wire to improve resolution.
trodes. Such industrial grade resistors can be as large These typically offer ten turns of their shafts to cover
as a refrigerator; some designs can handle over 500 am- their full range. They are usually set with dials that in-
peres of current, with a range of resistances extending clude a simple turns counter and a graduated dial. Elec-
lower than 0.04 ohms. They are used in applications such tronic analog computers used them in quantity for setting
as dynamic braking and load banking for locomotives coefficients, and delayed-sweep oscilloscopes of recent
and trams, neutral grounding for industrial AC distribu- decades included one on their panels.
tion, control loads for cranes and heavy equipment, load
testing of generators and harmonic filtering for electric
Resistance decade boxes
substations.[14][15]
The term grid resistor is sometimes used to describe a
resistor of any type connected to the control grid of a
vacuum tube. This is not a resistor technology; it is an
electronic circuit topology.

Special varieties

• Cermet
• Phenolic
• Tantalum
• Water resistor

Resistance decade box “KURBELWIDERSTAND”, made in for-

2.2.5 Variable resistors mer East Germany.

Adjustable resistors
A resistance decade box or resistor substitution box is
A resistor may have one or more fixed tapping points so a unit containing resistors of many values, with one or
that the resistance can be changed by moving the connect- more mechanical switches which allow any one of vari-
ing wires to different terminals. Some wirewound power ous discrete resistances offered by the box to be dialed
resistors have a tapping point that can slide along the re- in. Usually the resistance is accurate to high precision,
sistance element, allowing a larger or smaller part of the ranging from laboratory/calibration grade accuracy of 20
resistance to be used. parts per million, to field grade at 1%. Inexpensive boxes
with lesser accuracy are also available. All types offer a
Where continuous adjustment of the resistance value dur- convenient way of selecting and quickly changing a resis-
ing operation of equipment is required, the sliding resis- tance in laboratory, experimental and development work
tance tap can be connected to a knob accessible to an op- without needing to attach resistors one by one, or even
erator. Such a device is called a rheostat and has two stock each value. The range of resistance provided, the
terminals. maximum resolution, and the accuracy characterize the
box. For example, one box offers resistances from 0 to
Potentiometers 100 megohms, maximum resolution 0.1 ohm, accuracy
0.1%.[16]
Main article: Potentiometer
Special devices
A potentiometer or pot is a three-terminal resistor with a
continuously adjustable tapping point controlled by rota- There are various devices whose resistance changes with
tion of a shaft or knob or by a linear slider. It is called various quantities. The resistance of NTC thermistors
2.2. RESISTOR 39

exhibit a strong negative temperature coefficient, mak- connections are only to sense the voltage drop. The re-
ing them useful for measuring temperatures. Since their sistance is again calculated using Ohm’s Law as the mea-
resistance can be large until they are allowed to heat up sured voltage divided by the applied current.
due to the passage of current, they are also commonly
used to prevent excessive current surges when equipment
is powered on. Similarly, the resistance of a humistor 2.2.7 Standards
varies with humidity. One sort of photodetector, the
photoresistor, has a resistance which varies with illumi- Production resistors
nation.
Resistor characteristics are quantified and reported using
The strain gauge, invented by Edward E. Simmons and various national standards. In the US, MIL-STD-202[17]
Arthur C. Ruge in 1938, is a type of resistor that changes contains the relevant test methods to which other stan-
value with applied strain. A single resistor may be used, dards refer.
or a pair (half bridge), or four resistors connected in a
Wheatstone bridge configuration. The strain resistor is There are various standards specifying properties of re-
bonded with adhesive to an object that will be subjected sistors for use in equipment:
to mechanical strain. With the strain gauge and a filter,
amplifier, and analog/digital converter, the strain on an • BS 1852
object can be measured.
• EIA-RS-279
A related but more recent invention uses a Quantum Tun-
nelling Composite to sense mechanical stress. It passes a • MIL-PRF-26
current whose magnitude can vary by a factor of 1012 in
• MIL-PRF-39007 (Fixed Power, established reliabil-
response to changes in applied pressure.
ity)
• MIL-PRF-55342 (Surface-mount thick and thin
2.2.6 Measurement film)
• MIL-PRF-914
The value of a resistor can be measured with an
ohmmeter, which may be one function of a multimeter. • MIL-R-11 STANDARD CANCELED
Usually, probes on the ends of test leads connect to the
resistor. A simple ohmmeter may apply a voltage from • MIL-R-39017 (Fixed, General Purpose, Estab-
a battery across the unknown resistor (with an internal lished Reliability)
resistor of a known value in series) producing a current
• MIL-PRF-32159 (zero ohm jumpers)
which drives a meter movement. The current, in ac-
cordance with Ohm’s law, is inversely proportional to • UL 1412 (fusing and temperature limited resistors)
the sum of the internal resistance and the resistor being [18]
tested, resulting in an analog meter scale which is very
non-linear, calibrated from infinity to 0 ohms. A digital There are other United States military procurement MIL-
multimeter, using active electronics, may instead pass a R- standards.
specified current through the test resistance. The voltage
generated across the test resistance in that case is linearly
proportional to its resistance, which is measured and dis- Resistance standards
played. In either case the low-resistance ranges of the
meter pass much more current through the test leads than The primary standard for resistance, the “mercury ohm”
do high-resistance ranges, in order for the voltages present was initially defined in 1884 in as a column of mercury
to be at reasonable levels (generally below 10 volts) but 106.3 cm long and 1 square millimeter in cross-section,
still measurable. at 0 degrees Celsius. Difficulties in precisely measuring
Measuring low-value resistors, such as fractional-ohm re- the physical constants to replicate this standard result in
sistors, with acceptable accuracy requires four-terminal variations of as much as 30 ppm. From 1900 the mer-
connections. One pair of terminals applies a known, cal- cury ohm was replaced with a precision machined plate
ibrated current to the resistor, while the other pair senses of manganin.[19] Since 1990 the international resistance
the voltage drop across the resistor. Some laboratory standard has been based on the quantized Hall effect dis-
quality ohmmeters, especially milliohmmeters, and even covered by Klaus von Klitzing, for which he won the No-
some of the better digital multimeters sense using four bel Prize in Physics in 1985.[20]
input terminals for this purpose, which may be used with Resistors of extremely high precision are manufactured
special test leads. Each of the two so-called Kelvin clips for calibration and laboratory use. They may have four
has a pair of jaws insulated from each other. One side of terminals, using one pair to carry an operating current and
each clip applies the measuring current, while the other the other pair to measure the voltage drop; this eliminates
40 CHAPTER 2. ELECTRICAL COMPONENTS

errors caused by voltage drops across the lead resistances, each value is greater than its predecessor by a fixed multi-
because no charge flows through voltage sensing leads. It plier or percentage, chosen to match the tolerance of the
is important in small value resistors (100–0.0001 ohm) range. For example, for a tolerance of ±20% it makes
where lead resistance is significant or even comparable sense to have each resistor about 1.5 times its predeces-
with respect to resistance standard value.[21] sor, covering a decade in 6 values. In practice the factor
used is 1.4678, giving values of 1.47, 2.15, 3.16, 4.64,
6.81, 10 for the 1–10-decade (a decade is a range in-
2.2.8 Resistor marking creasing by a factor of 10; 0.1–1 and 10–100 are other
examples); these are rounded in practice to 1.5, 2.2, 3.3,
Main article: Electronic color code 4.7, 6.8, 10; followed, by 15, 22, 33, … and preceded
by … 0.47, 0.68, 1. This scheme has been adopted as
the E6 series of the IEC 60063 preferred number values.
Most axial resistors use a pattern of colored stripes to in-
There are also E12, E24, E48, E96 and E192 series for
dicate resistance, which also indicate tolerance, and may
components of progressively finer resolution, with 12, 24,
also be extended to show temperature coefficient and reli-
96, and 192 different values within each decade. The ac-
ability class. Cases are usually tan, brown, blue, or green,
tual values used are in the IEC 60063 lists of preferred
though other colors are occasionally found such as dark
numbers.
red or dark gray. The power rating is not usually marked
and is deduced from the size. A resistor of 100 ohms ±20% would be expected to have a
value between 80 and 120 ohms; its E6 neighbors are 68
The color bands of the carbon resistors can be three, four,
(54–82) and 150 (120–180) ohms. A sensible spacing,
five or, six bands. The first two bands represent first two
E6 is used for ±20% components; E12 for ±10%; E24
digits to measure their value in ohms. The third band of
for ±5%; E48 for ±2%, E96 for ±1%; E192 for ±0.5% or
a three- or four-banded resistor represents multiplier; a
better. Resistors are manufactured in values from a few
fourth band denotes tolerance (which if absent, denotes
milliohms to about a gigaohm in IEC60063 ranges ap-
±20%). For five and six color-banded resistors, the third
propriate for their tolerance. Manufacturers may sort re-
band is a third digit, fourth band multiplier and fifth is
sistors into tolerance-classes based on measurement. Ac-
tolerance. The sixth band represents temperature co-
cordingly a selection of 100 ohms resistors with a toler-
efficient in a six-banded resistor.
ance of ±10%, might not lie just around 100 ohm (but no
Surface-mount resistors are marked numerically, if they more than 10% off) as one would expect (a bell-curve),
are big enough to permit marking; more-recent small but rather be in two groups – either between 5 to 10% too
sizes are impractical to mark. high or 5 to 10% too low (but not closer to 100 ohm than
Early 20th century resistors, essentially uninsulated, were that) because any resistors the factory had measured as
dipped in paint to cover their entire body for color- being less than 5% off would have been marked and sold
coding. A second color of paint was applied to one end as resistors with only ±5% tolerance or better. When de-
of the element, and a color dot (or band) in the middle signing a circuit, this may become a consideration.
provided the third digit. The rule was “body, tip, dot”, Earlier power wirewound resistors, such as brown
providing two significant digits for value and the deci- vitreous-enameled types, however, were made with a dif-
mal multiplier, in that sequence. Default tolerance was ferent system of preferred values, such as some of those
±20%. Closer-tolerance resistors had silver (±10%) or mentioned in the first sentence of this section.
gold-colored (±5%) paint on the other end.

SMT resistors
Preferred values
Surface mounted resistors are printed with numerical
See also: Preferred number § E series
values in a code related to that used on axial resistors.
Standard-tolerance surface-mount technology (SMT) re-
Early resistors were made in more or less arbitrary round sistors are marked with a three-digit code, in which the
numbers; a series might have 100, 125, 150, 200, 300, first two digits are the first two significant digits of the
etc. Resistors as manufactured are subject to a certain value and the third digit is the power of ten (the number
percentage tolerance, and it makes sense to manufacture of zeroes). For example:
values that correlate with the tolerance, so that the ac-
tual value of a resistor overlaps slightly with its neigh- Resistances less than 100 ohms are written: 100, 220,
bors. Wider spacing leaves gaps; narrower spacing in- 470. The final zero represents ten to the power zero,
creases manufacturing and inventory costs to provide re- which is 1. For example:
sistors that are more or less interchangeable. Sometimes these values are marked as 10 or 22 to prevent
A logical scheme is to produce resistors in a range of a mistake.
values which increase in a geometric progression, so that Resistances less than 10 ohms have 'R' to indicate the po-
2.2. RESISTOR 41

larger than the theoretical prediction and that increase is

typically frequency-dependent. Excess noise of a practi-
cal resistor is observed only when current flows through it.
This is specified in unit of μV/V/decade – μV of noise per
volt applied across the resistor per decade of frequency.
The μV/V/decade value is frequently given in dB so that
a resistor with a noise index of 0 dB will exhibit 1 μV
(rms) of excess noise for each volt across the resistor in
each frequency decade. Excess noise is thus an example
of 1/f noise. Thick-film and carbon composition resistors
generate more excess noise than other types at low fre-
quencies. Wire-wound and thin-film resistors are often
used for their better noise characteristics. Carbon com-
position resistors can exhibit a noise index of 0 dB while
bulk metal foil resistors may have a noise index of −40
dB, usually making the excess noise of metal foil resistors
This image shows four surface-mount resistors (the component insignificant.[23] Thin film surface mount resistors typi-
at the upper left is a capacitor) including two zero-ohm resistors. cally have lower noise and better thermal stability than
Zero-ohm links are often used instead of wire links, so that they thick film surface mount resistors. Excess noise is also
can be inserted by a resistor-inserting machine. Their resistance
size-dependent: in general excess noise is reduced as the
is non-zero but negligible.
physical size of a resistor is increased (or multiple resis-
tors are used in parallel), as the independently fluctuating
sition of the decimal point (radix point). For example: resistances of smaller components will tend to average
out.
Precision resistors are marked with a four-digit code, in
which the first three digits are the significant figures and While not an example of “noise” per se, a resistor may act
the fourth is the power of ten. For example: as a thermocouple, producing a small DC voltage differ-
ential across it due to the thermoelectric effect if its ends
000 and 0000 sometimes appear as values on surface-
are at different temperatures. This induced DC voltage
mount zero-ohm links, since these have (approximately)
can degrade the precision of instrumentation amplifiers
zero resistance.
in particular. Such voltages appear in the junctions of the
More recent surface-mount resistors are too small, phys- resistor leads with the circuit board and with the resistor
ically, to permit practical markings to be applied. body. Common metal film resistors show such an effect
at a magnitude of about 20 µV/°C. Some carbon compo-
sition resistors can exhibit thermoelectric offsets as high
Industrial type designation
as 400 µV/°C, whereas specially constructed resistors can
reduce this number to 0.05 µV/°C. In applications where
Format: [two letters]<space>[resistance value (three
the thermoelectric effect may become important, care has
digit)]<nospace>[tolerance code(numerical – one digit)]
[22] to be taken to mount the resistors horizontally to avoid
temperature gradients and to mind the air flow over the
board.[24]

2.2.9 Electrical and thermal noise

2.2.10 Failure modes
Main article: Noise (electronics)
The failure rate of resistors in a properly designed circuit
is low compared to other electronic components such as
In amplifying faint signals, it is often necessary to mini- semiconductors and electrolytic capacitors. Damage to
mize electronic noise, particularly in the first stage of am- resistors most often occurs due to overheating when the
plification. As a dissipative element, even an ideal resistor average power delivered to it (as computed above) greatly
will naturally produce a randomly fluctuating voltage or exceeds its ability to dissipate heat (specified by the resis-
“noise” across its terminals. This Johnson–Nyquist noise tor’s power rating). This may be due to a fault external to
is a fundamental noise source which depends only upon the circuit, but is frequently caused by the failure of an-
the temperature and resistance of the resistor, and is pre- other component (such as a transistor that shorts out) in
dicted by the fluctuation–dissipation theorem. Using a the circuit connected to the resistor. Operating a resistor
larger value of resistance produces a larger voltage noise, too close to its power rating can limit the resistor’s lifes-
whereas with a smaller value of resistance there will be pan or cause a significant change in its resistance. A safe
more current noise, at a given temperature. design generally uses overrated resistors in power appli-
The thermal noise of a practical resistor may also be cations to avoid this danger.
42 CHAPTER 2. ELECTRICAL COMPONENTS

Low-power thin-film resistors can be damaged by long- • piezoresistor

term high-voltage stress, even below maximum specified
voltage and below maximum power rating. This is often • Circuit design
the case for the startup resistors feeding the SMPS inte-
grated circuit. • Dummy load
When overheated, carbon-film resistors may decrease or • Electrical impedance
increase in resistance.[25] Carbon film and composition
resistors can fail (open circuit) if running close to their • Iron-hydrogen resistor
maximum dissipation. This is also possible but less likely • Shot noise
with metal film and wirewound resistors.
• Trimmer (electronics)
There can also be failure of resistors due to mechanical
stress and adverse environmental factors including hu-
midity. If not enclosed, wirewound resistors can corrode. 2.2.12 References
Surface mount resistors have been known to fail due to
the ingress of sulfur into the internal makeup of the re- [1] Douglas Wilhelm Harder. “Resistors: A Motor with a
Constant Force (Force Source)". Department of Electri-
sistor. This sulfur chemically reacts with the silver layer
cal and Computer Engineering, University of Waterloo.
to produce non-conductive silver sulfide. The resistor’s Retrieved 9 November 2014.
impedance goes to infinity. Sulfur resistant and anti-
corrosive resistors are sold into automotive, industrial, [2] Farago, PS, An Introduction to Linear Network Analysis,
and military applications. ASTM B809 is an industry pp. 18–21, The English Universities Press Ltd, 1961.
standard that tests a part’s susceptibility to sulfur. [3] F Y Wu (2004). “Theory of resistor networks: The
An alternative failure mode can be encountered where two-point resistance”. Journal of Physics A: Mathemat-
large value resistors are used (hundreds of kilohms and ical and General 37 (26): 6653. doi:10.1088/0305-
higher). Resistors are not only specified with a maximum 4470/37/26/004.
power dissipation, but also for a maximum voltage drop. [4] Fa Yueh Wu; Chen Ning Yang (15 March 2009). Exactly
Exceeding this voltage will cause the resistor to degrade Solved Models: A Journey in Statistical Mechanics : Se-
slowly reducing in resistance. The voltage dropped across lected Papers with Commentaries (1963–2008). World
large value resistors can be exceeded before the power Scientific. pp. 489–. ISBN 978-981-281-388-6. Re-
dissipation reaches its limiting value. Since the maximum trieved 14 May 2012.
voltage specified for commonly encountered resistors is a
[5] A family of resistors may also be characterized according
few hundred volts, this is a problem only in applications to its critical resistance. Applying a constant voltage across
where these voltages are encountered. resistors in that family below the critical resistance will
Variable resistors can also degrade in a different man- exceed the maximum power rating first; resistances larger
ner, typically involving poor contact between the wiper than the critical resistance will fail first from exceeding
and the body of the resistance. This may be due to dirt the maximum voltage rating. See Wendy Middleton; Mac
E. Van Valkenburg (2002). Reference data for engineers:
or corrosion and is typically perceived as “crackling” as
radio, electronics, computer, and communications (9 ed.).
the contact resistance fluctuates; this is especially noticed Newnes. pp. 5–10. ISBN 0-7506-7291-9.
as the device is adjusted. This is similar to crackling
caused by poor contact in switches, and like switches, [6] James H. Harter, Paul Y. Lin, Essentials of electric circuits,
potentiometers are to some extent self-cleaning: running pp. 96–97, Reston Publishing Company, 1982 ISBN 0-
the wiper across the resistance may improve the contact. 8359-1767-3.
Potentiometers which are seldom adjusted, especially in [7] Vishay Beyschlag Basics of Linear Fixed Resistors Appli-
dirty or harsh environments, are most likely to develop cation Note, Document Number 28771, 2008.
this problem. When self-cleaning of the contact is in-
sufficient, improvement can usually be obtained through [8] C. G. Morris (ed) Academic Press Dictionary of Science
the use of contact cleaner (also known as “tuner cleaner”) and Technology, Gulf Professional Publishing, 1992 ISBN
0122004000, page 360
spray. The crackling noise associated with turning the
shaft of a dirty potentiometer in an audio circuit (such as [9] Principles of automotive vehicles United States. Dept. of
the volume control) is greatly accentuated when an unde- the Army, 1985 page 13-13
sired DC voltage is present, often indicating the failure of
[10] “Carbon Film Resistor”. The Resistorguide. Retrieved 10
a DC blocking capacitor in the circuit.
March 2013.

[11] “Thick Film and Thin Film” (PDF). Digi-Key (SEI). Re-
2.2.11 See also trieved 23 July 2011.

[12] Kenneth A. Kuhn. “Measuring the Temperature Coeffi-

• thermistor cient of a Resistor” (PDF). Retrieved 2010-03-18.
2.3. CAPACITOR 43

[13] “Alpha Electronics Corp. Metal Foil Resistors”. Alpha- 2.3 Capacitor
elec.co.jp. Retrieved 2008-09-22.

[14] Milwaukee Resistor Corporation. ''Grid Resistors: High This article is about the electronic component. For the
Power/High Current''. Milwaukeeresistor.com. Retrieved physical phenomenon, see capacitance. For an overview
on 2012-05-14. of various kinds of capacitors, see types of capacitor.
“Capacitive” redirects here. For the term used when re-
[15] Avtron Loadbank. ''Grid Resistors’'. Avtron.com. Re- ferring to touchscreens, see capacitive sensing.
trieved on 2012-05-14.
A capacitor (originally known as a condenser) is a
[16] “Decade Box – Resistance Decade Boxes”. Ietlabs.com.
Retrieved 2008-09-22.

[17] “Test method standard: electronic and electrical compo-

nent parts” (PDF). Department of Defense.

[18] http://ulstandardsinfonet.ul.com/scopes/scopes.asp?fn=
1412.html

[19] Stability of Double-Walled Manganin Resistors.

NIST.gov

[20] Klaus von Klitzing The Quantized Hall Effect. Nobel lec-
ture, December 9, 1985. nobelprize.org

[21] “Standard Resistance Unit Type 4737B”. Tinsley.co.uk.

Retrieved 2008-09-22.
Miniature low-voltage capacitors (next to a cm ruler)
[22] A. K. Maini Electronics and Communications Simplified,
9th ed., Khanna Publications (India)

[23] Audio Noise Reduction Through the Use of Bulk Metal Foil
Resistors – “Hear the Difference” (PDF)., Application note
AN0003, Vishay Intertechnology Inc, 12 July 2005.

[24] Walt Jung. “Chapter 7 – Hardware and Housekeeping

Techniques” (PDF). Op Amp Applications Handbook. p.
7.11. ISBN 0-7506-7844-5.

[25] “Electronic components – resistors”. Inspector’s Techni-

cal Guide. US Food and Drug Administration. 1978-01-
16. Archived from the original on 2008-04-03. Retrieved
2008-06-11.

2.2.13 External links

A typical electrolytic capacitor
• 4-terminal resistors – How ultra-precise resistors
work
passive two-terminal electrical component used to store
• Beginner’s guide to potentiometers, including de- energy electrostatically in an electric field. The forms of
scription of different tapers practical capacitors vary widely, but all contain at least
two electrical conductors (plates) separated by a dielectric
• Color Coded Resistance Calculator – archived with (i.e. insulator). The conductors can be thin films, foils
WayBack Machine or sintered beads of metal or conductive electrolyte, etc.
The nonconducting dielectric acts to increase the capaci-
• Resistor Types – Does It Matter? tor’s charge capacity. A dielectric can be glass, ceramic,
• Standard Resistors & Capacitor Values That Indus- plastic film, air, vacuum, paper, mica, oxide layer etc.
try Manufactures Capacitors are widely used as parts of electrical circuits
in many common electrical devices. Unlike a resistor, an
• Ask The Applications Engineer – Difference be- ideal capacitor does not dissipate energy. Instead, a ca-
tween types of resistors pacitor stores energy in the form of an electrostatic field
between its plates.
• Resistors and their uses
When there is a potential difference across the conductors
• Thick film resistors and heaters (e.g., when a capacitor is attached across a battery), an
44 CHAPTER 2. ELECTRICAL COMPONENTS

of power supplies. In resonant circuits they tune radios

to particular frequencies. In electric power transmission
systems, they stabilize voltage and power flow.[1]

2.3.1 History

4 electrolytic capacitors of different voltages and capacitance

Solid electrolyte, resin-dipped 10 μF 35 V tantalum capacitors.

The + sign indicates the positive lead.
Battery of four Leyden jars in Museum Boerhaave, Leiden, the
Netherlands
electric field develops across the dielectric, causing posi-
tive charge +Q to collect on one plate and negative charge In October 1745, Ewald Georg von Kleist of Pomerania,
−Q to collect on the other plate. If a battery has been Germany, found that charge could be stored by connect-
attached to a capacitor for a sufficient amount of time, ing a high-voltage electrostatic generator by a wire to a
no current can flow through the capacitor. However, if volume of water in a hand-held glass jar.[2] Von Kleist’s
a time-varying voltage is applied across the leads of the hand and the water acted as conductors, and the jar as a
capacitor, a displacement current can flow. dielectric (although details of the mechanism were incor-
rectly identified at the time). Von Kleist found that touch-
An ideal capacitor is characterized by a single constant
ing the wire resulted in a powerful spark, much more
value for its capacitance. Capacitance is expressed as the painful than that obtained from an electrostatic machine.
ratio of the electric charge Q on each conductor to the
The following year, the Dutch physicist Pieter van Muss-
potential difference V between them. The SI unit of ca- chenbroek invented a similar capacitor, which was named
pacitance is the farad (F), which is equal to one coulomb the Leyden jar, after the University of Leiden where he
per volt (1 C/V). Typical capacitance values range from worked.[3] He also was impressed by the power of the
about 1 pF (10−12 F) to about 1 mF (10−3 F). shock he received, writing, “I would not take a second
The capacitance is greater when there is a narrower sepa- shock for the kingdom of France.”[4]
ration between conductors and when the conductors have Daniel Gralath was the first to combine several jars in
a larger surface area. In practice, the dielectric between parallel into a “battery” to increase the charge storage ca-
the plates passes a small amount of leakage current and pacity. Benjamin Franklin investigated the Leyden jar
also has an electric field strength limit, known as the and came to the conclusion that the charge was stored on
breakdown voltage. The conductors and leads introduce the glass, not in the water as others had assumed. He also
an undesired inductance and resistance. adopted the term “battery”,[5][6] (denoting the increasing
Capacitors are widely used in electronic circuits for of power with a row of similar units as in a battery of can-
blocking direct current while allowing alternating current non), subsequently applied to clusters of electrochemical
to pass. In analog filter networks, they smooth the output cells.[7] Leyden jars were later made by coating the inside
2.3. CAPACITOR 45

and outside of jars with metal foil, leaving a space at the

mouth to prevent arcing between the foils. The earliest
unit of capacitance was the jar, equivalent to about 1.11
nanofarads.[8]
Leyden jars or more powerful devices employing flat glass
plates alternating with foil conductors were used exclu-
sively up until about 1900, when the invention of wireless
(radio) created a demand for standard capacitors, and
the steady move to higher frequencies required capacitors
with lower inductance. More compact construction meth-
ods began to be used, such as a flexible dielectric sheet
(like oiled paper) sandwiched between sheets of metal
foil, rolled or folded into a small package.
Early capacitors were also known as condensers, a term
that is still occasionally used today, particularly in high
power applications, like automotive systems. The term A simple demonstration of a parallel-plate capacitor
was first used for this purpose by Alessandro Volta in
1782, with reference to the device’s ability to store a
higher density of electric charge than a normal isolated called the dielectric. In simpler terms, the dielectric is
conductor.[9] just an electrical insulator. Examples of dielectric media
are glass, air, paper, vacuum, and even a semiconductor
depletion region chemically identical to the conductors.
A capacitor is assumed to be self-contained and isolated,
2.3.2 Theory of operation with no net electric charge and no influence from any ex-
ternal electric field. The conductors thus hold equal and
opposite charges on their facing surfaces,[11] and the di-
Main article: Capacitance
electric develops an electric field. In SI units, a capaci-
tance of one farad means that one coulomb of charge on
each conductor causes a voltage of one volt across the
Overview device.[12]
An ideal capacitor is wholly characterized by a constant
capacitance C, defined as the ratio of charge ±Q on each
Charge -+
-+
-+
-+
conductor to the voltage V between them:[10]
-+ -+
+Q -+
-+
-+
-+
-Q Q
-+ -+ C=
V
-+ -+
-+
-+
-+
-+
dielectric Because the conductors (or plates) are close together, the
-+ -+
opposite charges on the conductors attract one another
-+ -+ due to their electric fields, allowing the capacitor to store
-+ -+ more charge for a given voltage than if the conductors
-+ -+ were separated, giving the capacitor a large capacitance.
Electric -+
-+
-+
-+ Plate Sometimes charge build-up affects the capacitor mechan-
-+ -+ ically, causing its capacitance to vary. In this case, capac-
field E -+
-+
-+
-+
area A itance is defined in terms of incremental changes:
-+ -+

dQ
Plate separation d
C=
dV

Charge separation in a parallel-plate capacitor causes an internal Hydraulic analogy

electric field. A dielectric (orange) reduces the field and increases
the capacitance. In the hydraulic analogy, charge carriers flowing through
a wire are analogous to water flowing through a pipe. A
A capacitor consists of two conductors separated by a capacitor is like a rubber membrane sealed inside a pipe.
non-conductive region.[10] The non-conductive region is Water molecules cannot pass through the membrane, but
46 CHAPTER 2. ELECTRICAL COMPONENTS

∫ Q ∫ Q
q 1 Q2 1 1
W = V (q)dq = dq = = CV 2 = V Q
0 0 C 2 C 2 2
Here Q is the charge stored in the capacitor, V is the volt-
In the hydraulic analogy, a capacitor is analogous to a rub-
age across the capacitor, and C is the capacitance.
ber membrane sealed inside a pipe. This animation illustrates
a membrane being repeatedly stretched and un-stretched by the In the case of a fluctuating voltage V(t), the stored energy
flow of water, which is analogous to a capacitor being repeatedly also fluctuates and hence power must flow into or out of
charged and discharged by the flow of charge. the capacitor. This power can be found by taking the time
derivative of the stored energy:
some water can move by stretching the membrane. The
analogy clarifies a few aspects of capacitors: ( )
dW d 1 dV
P = = CV 2 = CV (t)
dt dt 2 dt
• The current alters the charge on a capacitor, just as
the flow of water changes the position of the mem-
brane. More specifically, the effect of an electric Current–voltage relation
current is to increase the charge of one plate of the
capacitor, and decrease the charge of the other plate The current I(t) through any component in an electric cir-
by an equal amount. This is just as when water cuit is defined as the rate of flow of a charge Q(t) passing
flow moves the rubber membrane, it increases the through it, but actual charges—electrons—cannot pass
amount of water on one side of the membrane, and through the dielectric layer of a capacitor. Rather, one
decreases the amount of water on the other side. electron accumulates on the negative plate for each one
that leaves the positive plate, resulting in an electron de-
• The more a capacitor is charged, the larger its voltage pletion and consequent positive charge on one electrode
drop; i.e., the more it “pushes back” against the that is equal and opposite to the accumulated negative
charging current. This is analogous to the fact charge on the other. Thus the charge on the electrodes
that the more a membrane is stretched, the more it is equal to the integral of the current as well as propor-
pushes back on the water. tional to the voltage, as discussed above. As with any
antiderivative, a constant of integration is added to repre-
• Charge can flow “through” a capacitor even though sent the initial voltage V(t 0 ). This is the integral form of
no individual electron can get from one side to the the capacitor equation:[14]
other. This is analogous to the fact that water can
flow through the pipe even though no water molecule
can pass through the rubber membrane. Of course, ∫
Q(t) 1 t
the flow cannot continue in the same direction for- V (t) = C = C I(τ )dτ + V (t0 )
t0
ever; the capacitor will experience dielectric break-
down, and analogously the membrane will eventu- Taking the derivative of this and multiplying by C yields
ally break. the derivative form:[15]
• The capacitance describes how much charge can
be stored on one plate of a capacitor for a given dQ(t) dV (t)
“push” (voltage drop). A very stretchy, flexible I(t) = =C
dt dt
membrane corresponds to a higher capacitance than
a stiff membrane. The dual of the capacitor is the inductor, which stores en-
ergy in a magnetic field rather than an electric field. Its
• A charged-up capacitor is storing potential energy, current-voltage relation is obtained by exchanging current
analogously to a stretched membrane. and voltage in the capacitor equations and replacing C
with the inductance L.
Energy of electric field
DC circuits
Work must be done by an external influence to “move”
charge between the conductors in a capacitor. When the See also: RC circuit
external influence is removed, the charge separation per- A series circuit containing only a resistor, a capacitor, a
sists in the electric field and energy is stored to be released switch and a constant DC source of voltage V 0 is known
when the charge is allowed to return to its equilibrium as a charging circuit.[16] If the capacitor is initially un-
position. The work done in establishing the electric field, charged while the switch is open, and the switch is closed
and hence the amount of energy stored, is[13] at t0 , it follows from Kirchhoff’s voltage law that
2.3. CAPACITOR 47

R X=−
ωC
1
=−
1
2πf C
1 j j
=− =−
VC
Z=
V0 C jωC ωC 2πf C
where j is the imaginary unit and ω is the angular fre-
quency of the sinusoidal signal. The −j phase indicates
that the AC voltage V = ZI lags the AC current by 90°:
the positive current phase corresponds to increasing volt-
age as the capacitor charges; zero current corresponds to
A simple resistor-capacitor circuit demonstrates charging of a ca- instantaneous constant voltage, etc.
pacitor.
Impedance decreases with increasing capacitance and in-
creasing frequency. This implies that a higher-frequency
signal or a larger capacitor results in a lower voltage am-
∫ t plitude per current amplitude—an AC “short circuit” or
1 AC coupling. Conversely, for very low frequencies, the
V0 = vresistor (t) + vcapacitor (t) = i(t)R + i(τ )dτ
C t0 reactance will be high, so that a capacitor is nearly an
open circuit in AC analysis—those frequencies have been
Taking the derivative and multiplying by C, gives a first- “filtered out”.
order differential equation:
Capacitors are different from resistors and inductors in
that the impedance is inversely proportional to the defin-
di(t) ing characteristic; i.e., capacitance.
RC + i(t) = 0
dt A capacitor connected to a sinusoidal voltage source will
cause a displacement current to flow through it. In the
At t = 0, the voltage across the capacitor is zero and the
case that the voltage source is V0 cos(ωt), the displace-
voltage across the resistor is V0 . The initial current is then
ment current can be expressed as:
I(0) =V 0 /R. With this assumption, solving the differential
equation yields
dV
I=C = −ωCV0 sin(ωt)
dt
V0 − τt
I(t) = e 0 At sin(ωt) = −1, the capacitor has a maximum (or peak)
R( ) current whereby I0 = ωCV0 . The ratio of peak voltage to
V (t) = V0 1 − e− τ0
t
peak current is due to capacitive reactance (denoted XC).
V0 V0 1
XC = I0 = ωCV0 = ωC
where τ0 = RC is the time constant of the system. As the
capacitor reaches equilibrium with the source voltage, the XC approaches zero as ω approaches infinity. If XC
voltages across the resistor and the current through the en- approaches 0, the capacitor resembles a short wire that
tire circuit decay exponentially. The case of discharging a strongly passes current at high frequencies. XC ap-
charged capacitor likewise demonstrates exponential de- proaches infinity as ω approaches zero. If XC approaches
cay, but with the initial capacitor voltage replacing V 0 infinity, the capacitor resembles an open circuit that
and the final voltage being zero. poorly passes low frequencies.
The current of the capacitor may be expressed in the
form of cosines to better compare with the voltage of the
AC circuits source:

See also: reactance (electronics) and electrical impedance

§ Deriving the device-specific impedances I = −I0 sin(ωt) = I0 cos(ωt + 90◦ )
In this situation, the current is out of phase with the volt-
Impedance, the vector sum of reactance and resistance,
age by +π/2 radians or +90 degrees (i.e., the current will
describes the phase difference and the ratio of amplitudes
lead the voltage by 90°).
between sinusoidally varying voltage and sinusoidally
varying current at a given frequency. Fourier analysis
allows any signal to be constructed from a spectrum of Laplace circuit analysis (s-domain)
frequencies, whence the circuit’s reaction to the various
frequencies may be found. The reactance and impedance When using the Laplace transform in circuit analysis, the
of a capacitor are respectively impedance of an ideal capacitor with no initial charge is
48 CHAPTER 2. ELECTRICAL COMPONENTS

represented in the s domain by: A parallel plate capacitor can only store a finite amount
of energy before dielectric breakdown occurs. The ca-
pacitor’s dielectric material has a dielectric strength U
1 which sets the capacitor’s breakdown voltage at V = V
Z(s) =
sC = U d. The maximum energy that the capacitor can store
where is therefore

• C is the capacitance, and 1 1 εA 1

E= CV 2 = (Ud d)2 = εAdUd2
2 2 d 2
• s is the complex frequency.
We see that the maximum energy is a function of di-
electric volume, permittivity, and dielectric strength per
Parallel-plate model distance. So increasing the plate area while decreasing
the separation between the plates while maintaining the
same volume has no change on the amount of energy the
Conductive plates capacitor can store. Care must be taken when increas-
ing the plate separation so that the above assumption of
the distance between plates being much smaller than the
A area of the plates is still valid for these equations to be
d accurate. In addition, these equations assume that the
electric field is entirely concentrated in the dielectric be-
tween the plates. In reality there are fringing fields out-
side the dielectric, for example between the sides of the
capacitor plates, which will increase the effective capac-
itance of the capacitor. This could be seen as a form of
parasitic capacitance. For some simple capacitor geome-
Dielectric tries this additional capacitance term can be calculated
analytically.[17] It becomes negligibly small when the ra-
tio of plate area to separation is large.
Dielectric is placed between two conducting plates, each of area
A and with a separation of d

The simplest capacitor consists of two parallel conduc-

tive plates separated by a dielectric (such as air) with
permittivity ε . The model may also be used to make
qualitative predictions for other device geometries. The
plates are considered to extend uniformly over an area A C1 C2 Cn
and a charge density ±ρ = ±Q/A exists on their surface.
Assuming that the width of the plates is much greater than
their separation d, the electric field near the centre of the
device will be uniform with the magnitude E = ρ/ε. The
voltage is defined as the line integral of the electric field Several capacitors in parallel
between the plates

Networks
∫ d ∫ d
ρ ρd Qd
V = E dz = dz = = See also: Series and parallel circuits
0 0 ε ε εA
Solving this for C = Q/V reveals that capacitance in-
creases with area of the plates, and decreases as separa- For capacitors in parallel Capacitors in a parallel con-
tion between plates increases. figuration each have the same applied voltage. Their
capacitances add up. Charge is apportioned among
them by size. Using the schematic diagram to visu-
εA alize parallel plates, it is apparent that each capacitor
C=
d contributes to the total surface area.
The capacitance is therefore greatest in devices made
from materials with a high permittivity, large plate area,
and small distance between plates. Ceq = C1 + C2 + · · · + Cn
2.3. CAPACITOR 49

For capacitors in series Note: This is only correct if all capacitance

values are equal.

The power transferred in this arrangement is:

C1 C2 Cn
1 1
P = · Avolts (Afarads + Bfarads )
Several capacitors in series R n+1

Connected in series, the schematic diagram re- 2.3.3 Non-ideal behavior

veals that the separation distance, not the plate
area, adds up. The capacitors each store instan- Capacitors deviate from the ideal capacitor equation in a
taneous charge build-up equal to that of every number of ways. Some of these, such as leakage current
other capacitor in the series. The total voltage and parasitic effects are linear, or can be assumed to be
difference from end to end is apportioned to linear, and can be dealt with by adding virtual compo-
each capacitor according to the inverse of its nents to the equivalent circuit of the capacitor. The usual
capacitance. The entire series acts as a capac- methods of network analysis can then be applied. In other
itor smaller than any of its components. cases, such as with breakdown voltage, the effect is non-
linear and normal (i.e., linear) network analysis cannot be
used, the effect must be dealt with separately. There is yet
1 1 1 1 another group, which may be linear but invalidate the as-
= + + ··· + sumption in the analysis that capacitance is a constant.
Ceq C1 C2 Cn
Such an example is temperature dependence. Finally,
combined parasitic effects such as inherent inductance,
Capacitors are combined in series to achieve
resistance, or dielectric losses can exhibit non-uniform
a higher working voltage, for example for
behavior at variable frequencies of operation.
smoothing a high voltage power supply. The
voltage ratings, which are based on plate sep-
aration, add up, if capacitance and leakage Breakdown voltage
currents for each capacitor are identical. In
such an application, on occasion, series strings Main article: Breakdown voltage
are connected in parallel, forming a matrix.
The goal is to maximize the energy storage of
the network without overloading any capaci- Above a particular electric field, known as the dielectric
tor. For high-energy storage with capacitors in strength Eds, the dielectric in a capacitor becomes con-
series, some safety considerations must be ap- ductive. The voltage at which this occurs is called the
plied to ensure one capacitor failing and leak- breakdown voltage of the device, and is given by the prod-
ing current will not apply too much voltage to uct of the dielectric strength and the separation between
the other series capacitors. the conductors,[18]

Series connection is also sometimes used

to adapt polarized electrolytic capacitors for Vbd = Eds d
bipolar AC use. See electrolytic capaci-
tor#Designing for reverse bias. The maximum energy that can be stored safely in a capac-
itor is limited by the breakdown voltage. Due to the scal-
Voltage distribution in parallel-to-series networks. ing of capacitance and breakdown voltage with dielectric
To model the distribution of voltages from a single thickness, all capacitors made with a particular dielectric
charged capacitor (A) connected in parallel to a have approximately equal maximum energy density,[19]to
chain of capacitors in series (B ) : the extent that the dielectric dominates their volume.
n
For air dielectric capacitors the breakdown field strength
is of the order 2 to 5 MV/m; for mica the breakdown is
( ) 100 to 300 MV/m; for oil, 15 to 25 MV/m; it can be much
1
(volts)Aeq = A 1 − less when other materials are used for the dielectric.[20]
n+1
( ) The dielectric is used in very thin layers and so abso-
A 1 lute breakdown voltage of capacitors is limited. Typical
(volts)B1..n = 1−
n n+1 ratings for capacitors used for general electronics appli-
A−B =0 cations range from a few volts to 1 kV. As the voltage
50 CHAPTER 2. ELECTRICAL COMPONENTS

increases, the dielectric must be thicker, making high- becomes significant. As the reactance becomes negli-
voltage capacitors larger per capacitance than those rated gible, power dissipation approaches PRMS = VRMS²
for lower voltages. The breakdown voltage is critically /RESR.
affected by factors such as the geometry of the capaci- Similarly to ESR, the capacitor’s leads add equivalent se-
tor conductive parts; sharp edges or points increase the ries inductance or ESL to the component. This is usually
electric field strength at that point and can lead to a local significant only at relatively high frequencies. As induc-
breakdown. Once this starts to happen, the breakdown tive reactance is positive and increases with frequency,
quickly tracks through the dielectric until it reaches the above a certain frequency capacitance will be canceled
opposite plate, leaving carbon behind and causing a short
by inductance. High-frequency engineering involves ac-
(or relatively low resistance) circuit. The results can be counting for the inductance of all connections and com-
explosive as the short in the capacitor draws current from
ponents.
the surrounding circuitry and dissipates the energy.[21]
If the conductors are separated by a material with a small
The usual breakdown route is that the field strength be- conductivity rather than a perfect dielectric, then a small
comes large enough to pull electrons in the dielectric from leakage current flows directly between them. The capaci-
their atoms thus causing conduction. Other scenarios are tor therefore has a finite parallel resistance,[12] and slowly
possible, such as impurities in the dielectric, and, if the discharges over time (time may vary greatly depending on
dielectric is of a crystalline nature, imperfections in the the capacitor material and quality).
crystal structure can result in an avalanche breakdown as
seen in semi-conductor devices. Breakdown voltage is
also affected by pressure, humidity and temperature.[22] Q factor

The quality factor (or Q) of a capacitor is the ratio of

Equivalent circuit its reactance to its resistance at a given frequency, and is
a measure of its efficiency. The higher the Q factor of
the capacitor, the closer it approaches the behavior of an
ideal, lossless, capacitor.
The Q factor of a capacitor can be found through the fol-
lowing formula:

XC 1
Q= = ,
RC ωCRC
where ω is angular frequency, C is the capacitance, XC
is the capacitive reactance, and RC is the series resistance
of the capacitor.

Ripple current

Ripple current is the AC component of an applied source

(often a switched-mode power supply) whose frequency
may be constant or varying. Ripple current causes heat
to be generated within the capacitor due to the dielec-
Two different circuit models of a real capacitor tric losses caused by the changing field strength together
with the current flow across the slightly resistive supply
An ideal capacitor only stores and releases electrical en- lines or the electrolyte in the capacitor. The equivalent
ergy, without dissipating any. In reality, all capacitors series resistance (ESR) is the amount of internal series
have imperfections within the capacitor’s material that resistance one would add to a perfect capacitor to model
create resistance. This is specified as the equivalent se- this. Some types of capacitors, primarily tantalum and
ries resistance or ESR of a component. This adds a real aluminum electrolytic capacitors, as well as some film ca-
component to the impedance: pacitors have a specified rating value for maximum ripple
current.

1 • Tantalum electrolytic capacitors with solid man-

RC = Z + RESR = + RESR ganese dioxide electrolyte are limited by ripple cur-
jωC
rent and generally have the highest ESR ratings in
As frequency approaches infinity, the capacitive the capacitor family. Exceeding their ripple limits
impedance (or reactance) approaches zero and the ESR can lead to shorts and burning parts.
2.3. CAPACITOR 51

• Aluminum electrolytic capacitors, the most com- the range of 0 to 90%), whereas AC circuits experience
mon type of electrolytic, suffer a shortening of life 100% reversal.
expectancy at higher ripple currents. If ripple cur- In DC circuits and pulsed circuits, current and voltage re-
rent exceeds the rated value of the capacitor, it tends versal are affected by the damping of the system. Voltage
to result in explosive failure. reversal is encountered in RLC circuits that are under-
damped. The current and voltage reverse direction, form-
• Ceramic capacitors generally have no ripple current
ing a harmonic oscillator between the inductance and ca-
limitation and have some of the lowest ESR ratings.
pacitance. The current and voltage will tend to oscillate
• Film capacitors have very low ESR ratings but ex- and may reverse direction several times, with each peak
ceeding rated ripple current may cause degradation being lower than the previous, until the system reaches
failures. an equilibrium. This is often referred to as ringing. In
comparison, critically damped or over-damped systems
usually do not experience a voltage reversal. Reversal is
Capacitance instability also encountered in AC circuits, where the peak current
will be equal in each direction.
The capacitance of certain capacitors decreases as the For maximum life, capacitors usually need to be able to
component ages. In ceramic capacitors, this is caused handle the maximum amount of reversal that a system
by degradation of the dielectric. The type of dielectric, will experience. An AC circuit will experience 100%
ambient operating and storage temperatures are the most voltage reversal, while under-damped DC circuits will ex-
significant aging factors, while the operating voltage has perience less than 100%. Reversal creates excess elec-
a smaller effect. The aging process may be reversed by tric fields in the dielectric, causes excess heating of both
heating the component above the Curie point. Aging is the dielectric and the conductors, and can dramatically
fastest near the beginning of life of the component, and shorten the life expectancy of the capacitor. Reversal rat-
the device stabilizes over time.[23] Electrolytic capacitors ings will often affect the design considerations for the ca-
age as the electrolyte evaporates. In contrast with ceramic pacitor, from the choice of dielectric materials and volt-
capacitors, this occurs towards the end of life of the com- age ratings to the types of internal connections used.[24]
ponent.
Temperature dependence of capacitance is usually ex-
pressed in parts per million (ppm) per °C. It can usually Dielectric absorption
be taken as a broadly linear function but can be noticeably
non-linear at the temperature extremes. The temperature Capacitors made with some types of dielectric material
coefficient can be either positive or negative, sometimes show "dielectric absorption" or “soakage”. On discharg-
even amongst different samples of the same type. In other ing a capacitor and disconnecting it, after a short time it
words, the spread in the range of temperature coefficients may develop a voltage due to hysteresis in the dielectric.
can encompass zero. See the data sheet in the leakage This effect can be objectionable in applications such as
current section above for an example. precision sample and hold circuits.
Capacitors, especially ceramic capacitors, and older de-
signs such as paper capacitors, can absorb sound waves
resulting in a microphonic effect. Vibration moves Leakage
the plates, causing the capacitance to vary, in turn in-
ducing AC current. Some dielectrics also generate Leakage is equivalent to a resistor in parallel with the ca-
piezoelectricity. The resulting interference is especially pacitor. Constant exposure to heat can cause dielectric
problematic in audio applications, potentially causing breakdown and excessive leakage, a problem often seen
feedback or unintended recording. In the reverse micro- in older vacuum tube circuits, particularly where oiled
phonic effect, the varying electric field between the ca- paper and foil capacitors were used. In many vacuum
pacitor plates exerts a physical force, moving them as a tube circuits, interstage coupling capacitors are used to
speaker. This can generate audible sound, but drains en- conduct a varying signal from the plate of one tube to
ergy and stresses the dielectric and the electrolyte, if any. the grid circuit of the next stage. A leaky capacitor can
cause the grid circuit voltage to be raised from its nor-
mal bias setting, causing excessive current or signal dis-
Current and voltage reversal tortion in the downstream tube. In power amplifiers this
can cause the plates to glow red, or current limiting resis-
Current reversal occurs when the current changes direc- tors to overheat, even fail. Similar considerations apply to
tion. Voltage reversal is the change of polarity in a cir- component fabricated solid-state (transistor) amplifiers,
cuit. Reversal is generally described as the percentage but owing to lower heat production and the use of mod-
of the maximum rated voltage that reverses polarity. In ern polyester dielectric barriers this once-common prob-
DC circuits, this will usually be less than 100% (often in lem has become relatively rare.
52 CHAPTER 2. ELECTRICAL COMPONENTS

Electrolytic failure from disuse moving and stationary plates, with no significant air space
between them.
Aluminum electrolytic capacitors are conditioned when
In order to maximise the charge that a capacitor can hold,
manufactured by applying a voltage sufficient to initiate
the dielectric material needs to have as high a permittivity
the proper internal chemical state. This state is main-
as possible, while also having as high a breakdown voltage
tained by regular use of the equipment. In former times,
as possible.
roughly 30 years ago, if a system using electrolytic capac-
itors is unused for a long period of time it can lose its con- Several solid dielectrics are available, including paper,
ditioning. Sometimes they fail with a short circuit when plastic, glass, mica and ceramic materials. Paper was
next operated. For further information see Aluminum used extensively in older devices and offers relatively high
electrolytic capacitor#Capacitor behavior after storage or voltage performance. However, it is susceptible to wa-
disuse ter absorption, and has been largely replaced by plastic
film capacitors. Plastics offer better stability and ageing
performance, which makes them useful in timer circuits,
2.3.4 Capacitor types although they may be limited to low operating temper-
atures and frequencies. Ceramic capacitors are gener-
Main article: Types of capacitor ally small, cheap and useful for high frequency applica-
tions, although their capacitance varies strongly with volt-
age and they age poorly. They are broadly categorized
Practical capacitors are available commercially in many
as class 1 dielectrics, which have predictable variation
different forms. The type of internal dielectric, the struc-
of capacitance with temperature or class 2 dielectrics,
ture of the plates and the device packaging all strongly
which can operate at higher voltage. Glass and mica
affect the characteristics of the capacitor, and its appli-
capacitors are extremely reliable, stable and tolerant to
cations.
high temperatures and voltages, but are too expensive
Values available range from very low (picofarad range; for most mainstream applications. Electrolytic capaci-
while arbitrarily low values are in principle possible, stray tors and supercapacitors are used to store small and larger
(parasitic) capacitance in any circuit is the limiting factor) amounts of energy, respectively, ceramic capacitors are
to about 5 kF supercapacitors. often used in resonators, and parasitic capacitance oc-
Above approximately 1 microfarad electrolytic capacitors curs in circuits wherever the simple conductor-insulator-
are usually used because of their small size and low cost conductor structure is formed unintentionally by the con-
compared with other types, unless their relatively poor figuration of the circuit layout.
stability, life and polarised nature make them unsuitable. Electrolytic capacitors use an aluminum or tantalum plate
Very high capacity supercapacitors use a porous carbon- with an oxide dielectric layer. The second electrode is a
based electrode material. liquid electrolyte, connected to the circuit by another foil
plate. Electrolytic capacitors offer very high capacitance
but suffer from poor tolerances, high instability, gradual
Dielectric materials loss of capacitance especially when subjected to heat, and
high leakage current. Poor quality capacitors may leak
electrolyte, which is harmful to printed circuit boards.
The conductivity of the electrolyte drops at low tempera-
tures, which increases equivalent series resistance. While
widely used for power-supply conditioning, poor high-
frequency characteristics make them unsuitable for many
applications. Electrolytic capacitors will self-degrade if
unused for a period (around a year), and when full power
is applied may short circuit, permanently damaging the
Capacitor materials. From left: multilayer ceramic, ceramic disc,
capacitor and usually blowing a fuse or causing failure of
multilayer polyester film, tubular ceramic, polystyrene, metalized
polyester film, aluminum electrolytic. Major scale divisions are rectifier diodes (for instance, in older equipment, arcing
in centimetres. in rectifier tubes). They can be restored before use (and
damage) by gradually applying the operating voltage, of-
Most types of capacitor include a dielectric spacer, which ten done on antique vacuum tube equipment over a period
increases their capacitance. These dielectrics are most of 30 minutes by using a variable transformer to supply
often insulators. However, low capacitance devices are AC power. Unfortunately, the use of this technique may
available with a vacuum between their plates, which al- be less satisfactory for some solid state equipment, which
lows extremely high voltage operation and low losses. may be damaged by operation below its normal power
Variable capacitors with their plates open to the atmo- range, requiring that the power supply first be isolated
sphere were commonly used in radio tuning circuits. from the consuming circuits. Such remedies may not be
Later designs use polymer foil dielectric between the applicable to modern high-frequency power supplies as
2.3. CAPACITOR 53

these produce full output voltage even with reduced in- rolled up to save space. To reduce the series resistance
put. and inductance for long plates, the plates and dielectric
Tantalum capacitors offer better frequency and tempera- are staggered so that connection is made at the common
ture characteristics than aluminum, but higher dielectric edge of the rolled-up plates, not at the ends of the foil or
absorption and leakage.[25] metalized film strips that comprise the plates.

Polymer capacitors (OS-CON, OC-CON, KO, AO) use The assembly is encased to prevent moisture entering the
dielectric – early radio equipment used a cardboard tube
solid conductive polymer (or polymerized organic semi-
conductor) as electrolyte and offer longer life and lower sealed with wax. Modern paper or film dielectric capaci-
ESR at higher cost than standard electrolytic capacitors. tors are dipped in a hard thermoplastic. Large capacitors
for high-voltage use may have the roll form compressed
A feedthrough capacitor is a component that, while not to fit into a rectangular metal case, with bolted terminals
serving as its main use, has capacitance and is used to and bushings for connections. The dielectric in larger ca-
conduct signals through a conductive sheet. pacitors is often impregnated with a liquid to improve its
Several other types of capacitor are available for specialist properties.
applications. Supercapacitors store large amounts of en-
ergy. Supercapacitors made from carbon aerogel, carbon
nanotubes, or highly porous electrode materials, offer ex-
tremely high capacitance (up to 5 kF as of 2010) and can
be used in some applications instead of rechargeable bat-
teries. Alternating current capacitors are specifically de-
signed to work on line (mains) voltage AC power circuits.
They are commonly used in electric motor circuits and are
often designed to handle large currents, so they tend to be
physically large. They are usually ruggedly packaged, of-
ten in metal cases that can be easily grounded/earthed.
They also are designed with direct current breakdown
voltages of at least five times the maximum AC voltage.

Several axial-lead electrolytic capacitors

Structure
Capacitors may have their connecting leads arranged
in many configurations, for example axially or radially.
“Axial” means that the leads are on a common axis, typ-
ically the axis of the capacitor’s cylindrical body – the
leads extend from opposite ends. Radial leads might more
accurately be referred to as tandem; they are rarely actu-
ally aligned along radii of the body’s circle, so the term
is inexact, although universal. The leads (until bent) are
usually in planes parallel to that of the flat body of the ca-
pacitor, and extend in the same direction; they are often
parallel as manufactured.
Small, cheap discoidal ceramic capacitors have existed
since the 1930s, and remain in widespread use. Since the
1980s, surface mount packages for capacitors have been
widely used. These packages are extremely small and lack
Capacitor packages: SMD ceramic at top left; SMD tantalum at
connecting leads, allowing them to be soldered directly
bottom left; through-hole tantalum at top right; through-hole elec-
trolytic at bottom right. Major scale divisions are cm. onto the surface of printed circuit boards. Surface mount
components avoid undesirable high-frequency effects due
The arrangement of plates and dielectric has many vari- to the leads and simplify automated assembly, although
ations depending on the desired ratings of the capaci- manual handling is made difficult due to their small size.
tor. For small values of capacitance (microfarads and Mechanically controlled variable capacitors allow the
less), ceramic disks use metallic coatings, with wire leads plate spacing to be adjusted, for example by rotating
bonded to the coating. Larger values can be made by mul- or sliding a set of movable plates into alignment with
tiple stacks of plates and disks. Larger value capacitors a set of stationary plates. Low cost variable capac-
usually use a metal foil or metal film layer deposited on itors squeeze together alternating layers of aluminum
the surface of a dielectric film to make the plates, and a and plastic with a screw. Electrical control of capaci-
dielectric film of impregnated paper or plastic – these are tance is achievable with varactors (or varicaps), which are
54 CHAPTER 2. ELECTRICAL COMPONENTS

reverse-biased semiconductor diodes whose depletion re-

gion width varies with applied voltage. They are used in
phase-locked loops, amongst other applications.

2.3.5 Capacitor markings

See also: Preferred number § E series

Most capacitors have numbers printed on their bodies to

indicate their electrical characteristics. Larger capacitors
like electrolytics usually display the actual capacitance to-
gether with the unit (for example, 220 μF). Smaller ca-
pacitors like ceramics, however, use a shorthand consist-
ing of three numeric digits and a letter, where the digits
indicate the capacitance in pF (calculated as XY × 10Z
for digits XYZ) and the letter indicates the tolerance (J,
K or M for ±5%, ±10% and ±20% respectively).
Additionally, the capacitor may show its working voltage,
temperature and other relevant characteristics.
For typographical reasons, some manufacturers print
“MF” on capacitors to indicate microfarads (μF).[26]
This mylar-film, oil-filled capacitor has very low inductance and
low resistance, to provide the high-power (70 megawatt) and high
Example speed (1.2 microsecond) discharge needed to operate a dye laser.

A capacitor with the text 473K 330V on its body has a Pulsed power and weapons
capacitance of 47 × 103 pF = 47 nF (±10%) with a work-
ing voltage of 330 V. The working voltage of a capacitor Groups of large, specially constructed, low-inductance
is the highest voltage that can be applied across it without high-voltage capacitors (capacitor banks) are used to sup-
undue risk of breaking down the dielectric layer. ply huge pulses of current for many pulsed power appli-
cations. These include electromagnetic forming, Marx
generators, pulsed lasers (especially TEA lasers), pulse
2.3.6 Applications forming networks, radar, fusion research, and particle ac-
celerators.
Main article: Applications of capacitors Large capacitor banks (reservoir) are used as en-
ergy sources for the exploding-bridgewire detonators or
slapper detonators in nuclear weapons and other specialty
weapons. Experimental work is under way using banks of
Energy storage capacitors as power sources for electromagnetic armour
and electromagnetic railguns and coilguns.
A capacitor can store electric energy when disconnected
from its charging circuit, so it can be used like a tem- Power conditioning
porary battery, or like other types of rechargeable energy
storage system.[27] Capacitors are commonly used in elec-
Reservoir capacitors are used in power supplies where
tronic devices to maintain power supply while batteriesthey smooth the output of a full or half wave rectifier.
are being changed. (This prevents loss of information in
They can also be used in charge pump circuits as the en-
volatile memory.) ergy storage element in the generation of higher voltages
Conventional capacitors provide less than 360 joules than the input voltage.
per kilogram of energy density, whereas a conventional Capacitors are connected in parallel with the power cir-
alkaline battery has a density of 590 kJ/kg. cuits of most electronic devices and larger systems (such
In car audio systems, large capacitors store energy for the as factories) to shunt away and conceal current fluctua-
amplifier to use on demand. Also for a flash tube a ca- tions from the primary power source to provide a “clean”
pacitor is used to hold the high voltage. power supply for signal or control circuits. Audio equip-
2.3. CAPACITOR 55

Such capacitors often come as three capacitors connected

as a three phase load. Usually, the values of these capac-
itors are given not in farads but rather as a reactive power
in volt-amperes reactive (var). The purpose is to coun-
teract inductive loading from devices like electric mo-
tors and transmission lines to make the load appear to
be mostly resistive. Individual motor or lamp loads may
have capacitors for power factor correction, or larger sets
of capacitors (usually with automatic switching devices)
may be installed at a load center within a building or in a
large utility substation.

Suppression and coupling

A 10,000 microfarad capacitor in an amplifier power supply
Signal coupling Main article: capacitive coupling
Because capacitors pass AC but block DC signals (when
ment, for example, uses several capacitors in this way, to
shunt away power line hum before it gets into the signal
circuitry. The capacitors act as a local reserve for the DC
power source, and bypass AC currents from the power
supply. This is used in car audio applications, when a
stiffening capacitor compensates for the inductance and
resistance of the leads to the lead-acid car battery.

Polyester film capacitors are frequently used as coupling capac-

itors.

charged up to the applied dc voltage), they are often used

to separate the AC and DC components of a signal. This
method is known as AC coupling or “capacitive coupling”.
Here, a large value of capacitance, whose value need not
be accurately controlled, but whose reactance is small at
the signal frequency, is employed.

Decoupling Main article: decoupling capacitor

A decoupling capacitor is a capacitor used to protect one

part of a circuit from the effect of another, for instance to
suppress noise or transients. Noise caused by other cir-
cuit elements is shunted through the capacitor, reducing
the effect they have on the rest of the circuit. It is most
commonly used between the power supply and ground.
An alternative name is bypass capacitor as it is used to
bypass the power supply or other high impedance com-
ponent of a circuit.
Decoupling capacitors need not always be discrete com-
ponents. Capacitors used in these applications may be
A high-voltage capacitor bank used for power factor correction
on a power transmission system built in to a printed circuit board, between the vari-
ous layers. These are often referred to as embedded
Power factor correction In electric power distribu- capacitors.[28] The layers in the board contributing to the
tion, capacitors are used for power factor correction. capacitive properties also function as power and ground
56 CHAPTER 2. ELECTRICAL COMPONENTS

planes, and have a dielectric in between them, enabling are called capacitor-start motors, that have relatively high
them to operate as a parallel plate capacitor. starting torque. Typically they can have up-to four times
as much starting torque than a split-phase motor and are
used on applications such as compressors, pressure wash-
High-pass and low-pass filters Further information: ers and any small device requiring high starting torques.
High-pass filter and Low-pass filter
Capacitor-run induction motors have a permanently con-
nected phase-shifting capacitor in series with a second
winding. The motor is much like a two-phase induction
Noise suppression, spikes, and snubbers Further motor.
information: High-pass filter and Low-pass filter
Motor-starting capacitors are typically non-polarized
electrolytic types, while running capacitors are conven-
When an inductive circuit is opened, the current through tional paper or plastic film dielectric types.
the inductance collapses quickly, creating a large volt-
age across the open circuit of the switch or relay. If the
inductance is large enough, the energy will generate a Signal processing
spark, causing the contact points to oxidize, deteriorate,
or sometimes weld together, or destroying a solid-state The energy stored in a capacitor can be used to represent
switch. A snubber capacitor across the newly opened information, either in binary form, as in DRAMs, or in
circuit creates a path for this impulse to bypass the con- analogue form, as in analog sampled filters and CCDs.
tact points, thereby preserving their life; these were com- Capacitors can be used in analog circuits as components
monly found in contact breaker ignition systems, for in- of integrators or more complex filters and in negative
stance. Similarly, in smaller scale circuits, the spark may feedback loop stabilization. Signal processing circuits
not be enough to damage the switch but will still radiate also use capacitors to integrate a current signal.
undesirable radio frequency interference (RFI), which a
filter capacitor absorbs. Snubber capacitors are usually Tuned circuits Capacitors and inductors are applied
employed with a low-value resistor in series, to dissipate together in tuned circuits to select information in particu-
energy and minimize RFI. Such resistor-capacitor com- lar frequency bands. For example, radio receivers rely on
binations are available in a single package. variable capacitors to tune the station frequency. Speak-
Capacitors are also used in parallel to interrupt units of a ers use passive analog crossovers, and analog equalizers
high-voltage circuit breaker in order to equally distribute use capacitors to select different audio bands.
the voltage between these units. In this case they are The resonant frequency f of a tuned circuit is a function
called grading capacitors. of the inductance (L) and capacitance (C) in series, and
In schematic diagrams, a capacitor used primarily for DC is given by:
charge storage is often drawn vertically in circuit dia-
grams with the lower, more negative, plate drawn as an
arc. The straight plate indicates the positive terminal of f = 1
√
the device, if it is polarized (see electrolytic capacitor). 2π LC
where L is in henries and C is in farads.
Motor starters
Sensing
Main article: motor capacitor
Main article: capacitive sensing
In single phase squirrel cage motors, the primary wind-
ing within the motor housing is not capable of starting a Main article: Capacitive displacement sensor
rotational motion on the rotor, but is capable of sustain-
ing one. To start the motor, a secondary “start” wind-
ing has a series non-polarized starting capacitor to in-
Most capacitors are designed to maintain a fixed physi-
troduce a lead in the sinusoidal current. When the sec-
cal structure. However, various factors can change the
ondary (start) winding is placed at an angle with respect
structure of the capacitor, and the resulting change in ca-
to the primary (run) winding, a rotating electric field is
pacitance can be used to sense those factors.
created. The force of the rotational field is not constant,
but is sufficient to start the rotor spinning. When the ro- Changing the dielectric:
tor comes close to operating speed, a centrifugal switch
(or current-sensitive relay in series with the main wind-
ing) disconnects the capacitor. The start capacitor is typ- The effects of varying the characteristics of the
ically mounted to the side of the motor housing. These dielectric can be used for sensing purposes.
2.3. CAPACITOR 57

Capacitors with an exposed and porous dielec-

tric can be used to measure humidity in air. Ca-
pacitors are used to accurately measure the fuel
level in airplanes; as the fuel covers more of a
pair of plates, the circuit capacitance increases.

Changing the distance between the plates:

Capacitors with a flexible plate can be used

to measure strain or pressure. Industrial pres-
sure transmitters used for process control use
pressure-sensing diaphragms, which form a ca-
pacitor plate of an oscillator circuit. Capaci-
tors are used as the sensor in condenser micro-
phones, where one plate is moved by air pres-
sure, relative to the fixed position of the other
plate. Some accelerometers use MEMS capac-
Example of a simple oscillator that requires a capacitor to func-
itors etched on a chip to measure the magni- tion
tude and direction of the acceleration vector.
They are used to detect changes in accelera-
tion, in tilt sensors, or to detect free fall, as sen- usually include instructions to discharge large or high-
sors triggering airbag deployment, and in many voltage capacitors, for instance using a Brinkley stick.
other applications. Some fingerprint sensors Capacitors may also have built-in discharge resistors to
use capacitors. Additionally, a user can adjust dissipate stored energy to a safe level within a few sec-
the pitch of a theremin musical instrument by onds after power is removed. High-voltage capacitors are
moving their hand since this changes the effec- stored with the terminals shorted, as protection from po-
tive capacitance between the user’s hand and tentially dangerous voltages due to dielectric absorption.
the antenna. Some old, large oil-filled paper or plastic film capac-
itors contain polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs). It is
Changing the effective area of the plates: known that waste PCBs can leak into groundwater un-
der landfills. Capacitors containing PCB were labelled
as containing “Askarel” and several other trade names.
Capacitive touch switches are now used on PCB-filled paper capacitors are found in very old (pre-
many consumer electronic products. 1975) fluorescent lamp ballasts, and other applications.
Capacitors may catastrophically fail when subjected to
voltages or currents beyond their rating, or as they reach
Oscillators their normal end of life. Dielectric or metal intercon-
nection failures may create arcing that vaporizes the di-
Further information: Hartley oscillator electric fluid, resulting in case bulging, rupture, or even
A capacitor can possess spring-like qualities in an oscil- an explosion. Capacitors used in RF or sustained high-
lator circuit. In the image example, a capacitor acts to current applications can overheat, especially in the center
influence the biasing voltage at the npn transistor’s base. of the capacitor rolls. Capacitors used within high-energy
The resistance values of the voltage-divider resistors and capacitor banks can violently explode when a short in one
the capacitance value of the capacitor together control the capacitor causes sudden dumping of energy stored in the
oscillatory frequency. rest of the bank into the failing unit. High voltage vacuum
capacitors can generate soft X-rays even during normal
operation. Proper containment, fusing, and preventive
2.3.7 Hazards and safety
maintenance can help to minimize these hazards.
Capacitors may retain a charge long after power is re- High-voltage capacitors can benefit from a pre-charge to
moved from a circuit; this charge can cause dangerous or limit in-rush currents at power-up of high voltage direct
even potentially fatal shocks or damage connected equip- current (HVDC) circuits. This will extend the life of the
ment. For example, even a seemingly innocuous de- component and may mitigate high-voltage hazards.
vice such as a disposable camera flash unit powered by
a 1.5 volt AA battery contains a capacitor which may be • Swollen caps of electrolytic capacitors – special
charged to over 300 volts. This is easily capable of deliv- design of semi-cut caps prevents capacitors from
ering a shock. Service procedures for electronic devices bursting
58 CHAPTER 2. ELECTRICAL COMPONENTS

• This high-energy capacitor from a defibrillator can [10] Ulaby, p.168

deliver over 500 joules of energy. A resistor is con-
nected between the terminals for safety, to allow the [11] Ulaby, p.157
stored energy to be released.
[12] Ulaby, p.169
• Catastrophic failure
[13] Hammond, Percy (1964). Electromagnetism for Engi-
neers: An Introductory Course. The Commonwealth and
International Library of Science, Technology, Engineer-
2.3.8 See also ing and Liberal Studies. Applied Electricity and Electron-
ics Division 3. Pergamon Press. pp. 44–45.
• Capacitance meter
[14] Dorf, p.263
• Capacitor plague
[15] Dorf, p.260
• Circuit design

• Electric displacement field [16] “Capacitor charging and discharging”. All About Circuits.
Retrieved 2009-02-19.
• Electroluminescence
[17] Pillai, K. P. P. (1970). “Fringing field of finite
• Electronic oscillator parallel-plate capacitors”. Proceedings of the Insti-
tution of Electrical Engineers 117 (6): 1201–1204.
• Gimmick capacitor doi:10.1049/piee.1970.0232.

• Vacuum variable capacitor [18] Ulaby, p.170

[19] Pai, S. T.; Qi Zhang (1995). Introduction to High Power

2.3.9 References Pulse Technology. Advanced Series in Electrical and
Computer Engineering 10. World Scientific. ISBN
[1] Bird, John (2010). Electrical and Electronic Princi- 9789810217143. Retrieved 2013-03-17.
ples and Technology. Routledge. pp. 63–76. ISBN
9780080890562. Retrieved 2013-03-17. [20] Dyer, Stephen A. (2004). Wiley Survey of Instrumentation
and Measurement. John Wiley & Sons. p. 397. ISBN
[2] Williams, Henry Smith. “A History of Science Volume 9780471221654. Retrieved 2013-03-17.
II, Part VI: The Leyden Jar Discovered”. Retrieved 2013-
03-17. [21] Scherz, Paul (2006). Practical Electronics for Inventors
(2nd ed.). McGraw Hill Professional. p. 100. ISBN
[3] Keithley, Joseph F. (1999). The Story of Electrical and 9780071776448. Retrieved 2013-03-17.
Magnetic Measurements: From 500 BC to the 1940s. John
Wiley & Sons. p. 23. ISBN 9780780311930. Retrieved [22] Bird, John (2007). Electrical Circuit Theory and Technol-
2013-03-17. ogy. Routledge. p. 501. ISBN 9780750681391. Re-
trieved 2013-03-17.
[4] Houston, Edwin J. (1905). Electricity in Every-day Life.
P. F. Collier & Son. p. 71. Retrieved 2013-03-17. [23] “Ceramic Capacitor Aging Made Simple”. Johanson Di-
electrics. 2012-05-21. Retrieved 2013-03-17.
[5] Isaacson, Walter (2003). Benjamin Franklin: An Amer-
ican Life. Simon and Schuster. p. 136. ISBN [24] “The Effect of Reversal on Capacitor Life” (PDF). Engi-
9780743260848. Retrieved 2013-03-17. neering Bulletin 96-004. Sorrento Electronics. November
[6] Franklin, Benjamin (1749-04-29). “Experiments & Ob- 2003. Retrieved 2013-03-17.
servations on Electricity: Letter IV to Peter Collinson”
[25] Guinta, Steve. “Ask The Applications Engineer – 21”.
(PDF). p. 28. Retrieved 2009-08-09.
Analog Devices. Retrieved 2013-03-17.
[7] Morse, Robert A. (September 2004). “Franklin and
Electrostatics—Ben Franklin as my Lab Partner” (PDF). [26] Kaplan, Daniel M.; White, Christopher G. Hands-On
Wright Center for Science Education. Tufts University. p. Electronics: A Practical Introduction to Analog and Dig-
23. Retrieved 2009-08-10. After Volta’s discovery of the ital Circuits. p. 19.
electrochemical cell in 1800, the term was then applied to
a group of electrochemical cells [27] Miller, Charles. Illustrated Guide to the National Electrical
Code, p. 445 (Cengage Learning 2011).
[8] “eFunda: Glossary: Units: Electric Capacitance: Jar”.
eFunda. Retrieved 2013-03-17. [28] Alam, Mohammed; Michael H. Azarian; Michael Oster-
man; Michael Pecht (2010). “Effectiveness of embedded
[9] “Sketch of Alessandro Volta”. The Popular Science capacitors in reducing the number of surface mount ca-
Monthly (New York: Bonnier Corporation): 118–119. pacitors for decoupling applications”. Circuit World 36
May 1892. ISSN 0161-7370. (1): 22. doi:10.1108/03056121011015068.
2.4. INDUCTOR 59

2.3.10 Bibliography
• Dorf, Richard C.; Svoboda, James A. (2001).
Introduction to Electric Circuits (5th ed.). New York:
John Wiley & Sons. ISBN 9780471386896.

• Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society

LXXII, Appendix 8, 1782 (Volta coins the word
condenser)

• Ulaby, Fawwaz Tayssir (1999). Fundamentals of Axial lead inductors (100 µH)
Applied Electromagnetics. Upper Saddle River, New
Jersey: Prentice Hall. ISBN 9780130115546. to Faraday’s law of electromagnetic induction, which op-
poses the change in current that created it. As a result,
• Zorpette, Glenn (2005). “Super Charged: A
inductors always oppose a change in current, in the same
Tiny South Korean Company is Out to Make
way that a flywheel oppose a change in rotational veloc-
Capacitors Powerful enough to Propel the Next
ity. Care should be taken not to confuse this with the
Generation of Hybrid-Electric Cars”. IEEE
resistance provided by a resistor.
Spectrum (North American ed.) 42 (1): 32.
doi:10.1109/MSPEC.2005.1377872. An inductor is characterized by its inductance, the ratio
of the voltage to the rate of change of current, which
• Deshpande, R.P. (2014). Capacitors. McGraw-Hill. has units of henries (H). Inductors have values that typ-
ISBN 9780071848565. ically range from 1 µH (10−6 H) to 1 H. Many induc-
tors have a magnetic core made of iron or ferrite inside
the coil, which serves to increase the magnetic field and
2.3.11 External links thus the inductance. Along with capacitors and resistors,
inductors are one of the three passive linear circuit el-
• Capacitors: Interactive Tutorial National High Mag-
ements that make up electric circuits. Inductors are
netic Field Laboratory
widely used in alternating current (AC) electronic equip-
• Currier, Dean P. (2000). “Adventures in Cyber- ment, particularly in radio equipment. They are used
sound – Ewald Christian von Kleist”. Archived from to block AC while allowing DC to pass; inductors de-
the original on 2008-06-25. signed for this purpose are called chokes. They are also
used in electronic filters to separate signals of different
• “The First Condenser – A Beer Glass”. SparkMu- frequencies, and in combination with capacitors to make
seum. tuned circuits, used to tune radio and TV receivers.
• Howstuffworks.com: How Capacitors Work

• CapSite 2015: Introduction to Capacitors

2.4.1 Overview

• Capacitor Tutorial – Includes how to read capacitor Inductance (L) results from the magnetic field around a
temperature codes current-carrying conductor; the electric current through
the conductor creates a magnetic flux. Mathemati-
• Introduction to Capacitor and Capacitor codes cally speaking, inductance is determined by how much
magnetic flux φ through the circuit is created by a given
• Low ESR Capacitor Manufacturers
current i[1][2][3][4]
• How Capacitor Works – Capacitor Markings and
Color Codes L = ϕi (1)

Inductors that have ferromagnetic cores are nonlinear; the

2.4 Inductor inductance changes with the current, in this more general
case inductance is defined as
An inductor, also called a coil or reactor, is a passive
two-terminal electrical component which resists changes
dϕ
in electric current passing through it. It consists of a con- L=
di
ductor such as a wire, usually wound into a coil. When
a current flows through it, energy is stored temporarily Any wire or other conductor will generate a magnetic
in a magnetic field in the coil. When the current flow- field when current flows through it, so every conductor
ing through an inductor changes, the time-varying mag- has some inductance. The inductance of a circuit de-
netic field induces a voltage in the conductor, according pends on the geometry of the current path as well as the
60 CHAPTER 2. ELECTRICAL COMPONENTS

magnetic permeability of nearby materials. An inductor enters. Energy from the magnetic field is being returned
is a component consisting of a wire or other conductor to the circuit; the inductor is said to be “discharging”.
shaped to increase the magnetic flux through the circuit,
usually in the shape of a coil or helix. Winding the wire
into a coil increases the number of times the magnetic Ideal and real inductors
flux lines link the circuit, increasing the field and thus the
inductance. The more turns, the higher the inductance. In circuit theory, inductors are idealized as obeying the
The inductance also depends on the shape of the coil, sep-mathematical relation (2) above precisely. An “ideal in-
aration of the turns, and many other factors. By adding ductor” has inductance, but no resistance or capacitance,
a "magnetic core" made of a ferromagnetic material like and does not dissipate or radiate energy. However real
iron inside the coil, the magnetizing field from the coil inductors have side effects which cause their behavior to
will induce magnetization in the material, increasing the depart from this simple model. They have resistance (due
magnetic flux. The high permeability of a ferromagnetic to the resistance of the wire and energy losses in core
core can increase the inductance of a coil by a factor of material), and parasitic capacitance (due to the electric
several thousand over what it would be without it. field between the turns of wire which are at slightly differ-
ent potentials). At high frequencies the capacitance be-
gins to affect the inductor’s behavior; at some frequency,
Constitutive equation real inductors behave as resonant circuits, becoming self-
resonant. Above the resonant frequency the capacitive
Any change in the current through an inductor creates a reactance becomes the dominant part of the impedance.
changing flux, inducing a voltage across the inductor. By At higher frequencies, resistive losses in the windings in-
Faraday’s law of induction, the voltage induced by any crease due to skin effect and proximity effect.
change in magnetic flux through the circuit is[4]
Inductors with ferromagnetic cores have additional en-
ergy losses due to hysteresis and eddy currents in the core,
dϕ which increase with frequency. At high currents, iron
v= core inductors also show gradual departure from ideal be-
dt
havior due to nonlinearity caused by magnetic saturation
From (1) above[4] of the core. An inductor may radiate electromagnetic
energy into surrounding space and circuits, and may ab-
d di
v = dt (Li) = L dt (2) sorb electromagnetic emissions from other circuits, caus-
ing electromagnetic interference (EMI). Real-world in-
ductor applications may consider these parasitic parame-
So inductance is also a measure of the amount of
ters as important as the inductance.
electromotive force (voltage) generated for a given rate
of change of current. For example, an inductor with an
inductance of 1 henry produces an EMF of 1 volt when
2.4.2 Applications
the current through the inductor changes at the rate of
1 ampere per second. This is usually taken to be the
constitutive relation (defining equation) of the inductor.
The dual of the inductor is the capacitor, which stores
energy in an electric field rather than a magnetic field. Its
current-voltage relation is obtained by exchanging current
and voltage in the inductor equations and replacing L with
the capacitance C.

Lenz’s law

The polarity (direction) of the induced voltage is given by

Lenz’s law, which states that it will be such as to oppose
the change in current. For example, if the current through
an inductor is increasing, the induced voltage will be pos-
itive at the terminal through which the current enters and Large 50 MVAR three-phase iron-core loading inductor at a Ger-
negative at the terminal through which it leaves. The en- man utility substation
ergy from the external circuit necessary to overcome this
potential “hill” is being stored in the magnetic field of the Inductors are used extensively in analog circuits and sig-
inductor; the inductor is said to be "charging" or “ener- nal processing. Applications range from the use of large
gizing”. If the current is decreasing, the induced voltage inductors in power supplies, which in conjunction with fil-
will be negative at the terminal through which the current ter capacitors remove residual hums known as the mains
2.4. INDUCTOR 61

posite signal, and in electronic oscillators to generate si-

nusoidal signals.
Two (or more) inductors in proximity that have coupled
magnetic flux (mutual inductance) form a transformer,
which is a fundamental component of every electric
utility power grid. The efficiency of a transformer may
decrease as the frequency increases due to eddy currents
in the core material and skin effect on the windings. The
size of the core can be decreased at higher frequencies.
For this reason, aircraft use 400 hertz alternating current
rather than the usual 50 or 60 hertz, allowing a great sav-
ing in weight from the use of smaller transformers.[5]
Inductors are also employed in electrical transmission
A ferrite “bead” choke, consisting of an encircling ferrite cylinder, systems, where they are used to limit switching currents
removes electronic noise from a computer power cord.
and fault currents. In this field, they are more commonly
referred to as reactors.
Because inductors have complicated side effects (detailed
below) which cause them to depart from ideal behav-
ior, because they can radiate electromagnetic interfer-
ence (EMI), and most of all because of their bulk which
prevents them from being integrated on semiconduc-
tor chips, the use of inductors is declining in modern
Example of signal filtering. In this configuration, the inductor
electronic devices, particularly compact portable devices.
blocks AC current, while allowing DC current to pass. Real inductors are increasingly being replaced by active
circuits such as the gyrator which can synthesize induc-
tance using capacitors.

2.4.3 Inductor construction

Example of signal filtering. In this configuration, the inductor

decouples DC current, while allowing AC current to pass.

hum or other fluctuations from the direct current output,

to the small inductance of the ferrite bead or torus in-
stalled around a cable to prevent radio frequency inter-
ference from being transmitted down the wire. Inductors
are used as the energy storage device in many switched-
mode power supplies to produce DC current. The induc-
tor supplies energy to the circuit to keep current flowing
during the “off” switching periods.
An inductor connected to a capacitor forms a tuned cir-
cuit, which acts as a resonator for oscillating current. A ferrite core inductor with two 47 mH windings.
Tuned circuits are widely used in radio frequency equip-
ment such as radio transmitters and receivers, as narrow An inductor usually consists of a coil of conduct-
bandpass filters to select a single frequency from a com- ing material, typically insulated copper wire, wrapped
62 CHAPTER 2. ELECTRICAL COMPONENTS

around a core either of plastic or of a ferromagnetic (or

ferrimagnetic) material; the latter is called an “iron core”
inductor. The high permeability of the ferromagnetic
core increases the magnetic field and confines it closely
to the inductor, thereby increasing the inductance. Low
frequency inductors are constructed like transformers,
with cores of electrical steel laminated to prevent eddy
currents. 'Soft' ferrites are widely used for cores above
audio frequencies, since they do not cause the large en-
ergy losses at high frequencies that ordinary iron alloys
do. Inductors come in many shapes. Most are con-
structed as enamel coated wire (magnet wire) wrapped
around a ferrite bobbin with wire exposed on the outside,
while some enclose the wire completely in ferrite and are
referred to as “shielded”. Some inductors have an ad-
justable core, which enables changing of the inductance.
Inductors used to block very high frequencies are some-
times made by stringing a ferrite bead on a wire.
Small inductors can be etched directly onto a printed cir-
cuit board by laying out the trace in a spiral pattern. Some
such planar inductors use a planar core.
Small value inductors can also be built on integrated cir-
cuits using the same processes that are used to make
transistors. Aluminium interconnect is typically used,
laid out in a spiral coil pattern. However, the small di- Resonant oscillation transformer from a spark gap transmitter.
mensions limit the inductance, and it is far more common Coupling can be adjusted by moving the top coil on the support
to use a circuit called a "gyrator" that uses a capacitor and rod. Shows high Q construction with spaced turns of large diam-
active components to behave similarly to an inductor. eter tubing.

2.4.4 Types of inductor

Air core inductor

The term air core coil describes an inductor that does

not use a magnetic core made of a ferromagnetic mate-
Collection of RF inductors, showing techniques to reduce
rial. The term refers to coils wound on plastic, ceramic, losses. The three top left and the ferrite loopstick or rod
or other nonmagnetic forms, as well as those that have antenna,[6][7][8][9] bottom, have basket windings.
only air inside the windings. Air core coils have lower
inductance than ferromagnetic core coils, but are often
used at high frequencies because they are free from en- • Skin effect: The resistance of a wire to high fre-
ergy losses called core losses that occur in ferromagnetic quency current is higher than its resistance to direct
cores, which increase with frequency. A side effect that current because of skin effect. Radio frequency al-
can occur in air core coils in which the winding is not ternating current does not penetrate far into the body
rigidly supported on a form is 'microphony': mechanical of a conductor but travels along its surface. There-
vibration of the windings can cause variations in the in- fore, in a solid wire, most of the cross sectional area
ductance. of the wire is not used to conduct the current, which
is in a narrow annulus on the surface. This effect in-
creases the resistance of the wire in the coil, which
Radio frequency inductor At high frequencies, par- may already have a relatively high resistance due to
ticularly radio frequencies (RF), inductors have higher its length and small diameter.
resistance and other losses. In addition to causing power
loss, in resonant circuits this can reduce the Q factor of • Proximity effect: Another similar effect that also
the circuit, broadening the bandwidth. In RF inductors, increases the resistance of the wire at high frequen-
which are mostly air core types, specialized construction cies is proximity effect, which occurs in parallel
techniques are used to minimize these losses. The losses wires that lie close to each other. The individual
are due to these effects: magnetic field of adjacent turns induces eddy cur-
2.4. INDUCTOR 63

rents in the wire of the coil, which causes the current coil is at a slightly different potential, so the electric
in the conductor to be concentrated in a thin strip on field between neighboring turns stores charge on the
the side near the adjacent wire. Like skin effect, this wire, so the coil acts as if it has a capacitor in par-
reduces the effective cross-sectional area of the wire allel with it. At a high enough frequency this capac-
conducting current, increasing its resistance. itance can resonate with the inductance of the coil
forming a tuned circuit, causing the coil to become
self-resonant.

To reduce parasitic capacitance and proximity effect, RF

coils are constructed to avoid having many turns lying
close together, parallel to one another. The windings of
RF coils are often limited to a single layer, and the turns
are spaced apart. To reduce resistance due to skin effect,
in high-power inductors such as those used in transmit-
ters the windings are sometimes made of a metal strip or
tubing which has a larger surface area, and the surface is
silver-plated.

• Basket-weave coils: To reduce proximity effect and

parasitic capacitance, multilayer RF coils are wound
in patterns in which successive turns are not parallel
but crisscrossed at an angle; these are often called
High Q tank coil in a shortwave transmitter honeycomb or basket-weave coils. These are occa-
sionally wound on a vertical insulating supports with
dowels or slots, with the wire weaving in and out
through the slots.

• Spiderweb coils: Another construction technique

with similar advantages is flat spiral coils.These are
often wound on a flat insulating support with radial
spokes or slots, with the wire weaving in and out
through the slots; these are called spiderweb coils.
The form has an odd number of slots, so successive
turns of the spiral lie on opposite sides of the form,
increasing separation.

• Litz wire: To reduce skin effect losses, some coils

are wound with a special type of radio frequency
wire called litz wire. Instead of a single solid con-
ductor, litz wire consists of several smaller wire
strands that carry the current. Unlike ordinary
stranded wire, the strands are insulated from each
(left) Spiderweb coil (right) Adjustable ferrite slug-tuned other, to prevent skin effect from forcing the cur-
RF coil with basketweave winding and litz wire rent to the surface, and are twisted or braided to-
gether. The twist pattern ensures that each wire
strand spends the same amount of its length on the
• Dielectric losses: The high frequency electric field outside of the wire bundle, so skin effect distributes
near the conductors in a tank coil can cause the mo- the current equally between the strands, resulting
tion of polar molecules in nearby insulating mate- in a larger cross-sectional conduction area than an
rials, dissipating energy as heat. So coils used for equivalent single wire.
tuned circuits are often not wound on coil forms but
are suspended in air, supported by narrow plastic or Ferromagnetic core inductor
ceramic strips.
Ferromagnetic-core or iron-core inductors use a magnetic
• Parasitic capacitance: The capacitance between core made of a ferromagnetic or ferrimagnetic material
individual wire turns of the coil, called parasitic such as iron or ferrite to increase the inductance. A mag-
capacitance, does not cause energy losses but can netic core can increase the inductance of a coil by a factor
change the behavior of the coil. Each turn of the of several thousand, by increasing the magnetic field due
64 CHAPTER 2. ELECTRICAL COMPONENTS

• Nonlinearity: If the current through a ferromag-

netic core coil is high enough that the magnetic core
saturates, the inductance will not remain constant
but will change with the current through the de-
vice. This is called nonlinearity and results in dis-
tortion of the signal. For example, audio signals can
suffer intermodulation distortion in saturated induc-
tors. To prevent this, in linear circuits the current
through iron core inductors must be limited below
the saturation level. Some laminated cores have a
narrow air gap in them for this purpose, and pow-
dered iron cores have a distributed air gap. This al-
lows higher levels of magnetic flux and thus higher
currents through the inductor before it saturates.[12]

A variety of types of ferrite core inductors and transformers

to its higher magnetic permeability. However the mag-

netic properties of the core material cause several side
effects which alter the behavior of the inductor and re-
quire special construction:

• Core losses: A time-varying current in a ferromag-

netic inductor, which causes a time-varying mag-
netic field in its core, causes energy losses in the core
material that are dissipated as heat, due to two pro-
cesses:
• Eddy currents: From Faraday’s law of induc-
tion, the changing magnetic field can induce
circulating loops of electric current in the con-
ductive metal core. The energy in these cur-
rents is dissipated as heat in the resistance of
the core material. The amount of energy lost Laminated iron core ballast inductor for a metal halide lamp
increases with the area inside the loop of cur-
rent.
Laminated core inductor Low-frequency inductors
• Hysteresis: Changing or reversing the mag- are often made with laminated cores to prevent eddy cur-
netic field in the core also causes losses due to rents, using construction similar to transformers. The
the motion of the tiny magnetic domains it is core is made of stacks of thin steel sheets or laminations
composed of. The energy loss is proportional oriented parallel to the field, with an insulating coating
to the area of the hysteresis loop in the BH on the surface. The insulation prevents eddy currents
graph of the core material. Materials with low between the sheets, so any remaining currents must be
coercivity have narrow hysteresis loops and so within the cross sectional area of the individual lamina-
low hysteresis losses. tions, reducing the area of the loop and thus reducing the
energy losses greatly. The laminations are made of low-
For both of these processes, the energy loss per coercivity silicon steel, to reduce hysteresis losses.
cycle of alternating current is constant, so core
losses increase linearly with frequency. Online
core loss calculators[10] are available to calcu- Ferrite-core inductor For higher frequencies, induc-
late the energy loss. Using inputs such as in- tors are made with cores of ferrite. Ferrite is a ceramic
put voltage, output voltage, output current, fre- ferrimagnetic material that is nonconductive, so eddy cur-
quency, ambient temperature, and inductance rents cannot flow within it. The formulation of ferrite is
these calculators can predict the losses of the xxFe2 O4 where xx represents various metals. For induc-
inductors core and AC/DC based on the oper- tor cores soft ferrites are used, which have low coercivity
ating condition of the circuit being used.[11] and thus low hysteresis losses. Another similar material
2.4. INDUCTOR 65

is powdered iron cemented with a binder. cuit, while allowing lower frequency or DC current to
pass. It usually consists of a coil of insulated wire often
wound on a magnetic core, although some consist of a
Toroidal core inductor Main article: Toroidal induc- donut-shaped “bead” of ferrite material strung on a wire.
tors and transformers Like other inductors, chokes resist changes to the cur-
In an inductor wound on a straight rod-shaped core, the rent passing through them, and so alternating currents of
higher frequency, which reverse direction rapidly, are re-
sisted more than currents of lower frequency; the choke’s
impedance increases with frequency. Its low electrical re-
sistance allows both AC and DC to pass with little power
loss, but it can limit the amount of AC passing through it
due to its reactance.

Variable inductor

Toroidal inductor in the power supply of a wireless router

magnetic field lines emerging from one end of the core

must pass through the air to reenter the core at the other
end. This reduces the field, because much of the magnetic
field path is in air rather than the higher permeability core
material. A higher magnetic field and inductance can be
achieved by forming the core in a closed magnetic cir-
cuit. The magnetic field lines form closed loops within
the core without leaving the core material. The shape of-
ten used is a toroidal or doughnut-shaped ferrite core. Be-
cause of their symmetry, toroidal cores allow a minimum
of the magnetic flux to escape outside the core (called
leakage flux), so they radiate less electromagnetic inter-
ference than other shapes. Toroidal core coils are manu-
factured of various materials, primarily ferrite, powdered
iron and laminated cores.[13]

Choke Main article: Choke (electronics)

A choke is designed specifically for blocking higher-

(left) Inductor with a threaded ferrite slug (visible at top)

that can be turned to move it into or out of the coil. 4.2
cm high. (right) A variometer used in radio receivers in
the 1920s
Probably the most common type of variable inductor to-
day is one with a moveable ferrite magnetic core, which
can be slid or screwed in or out of the coil. Moving the
core farther into the coil increases the permeability, in-
creasing the magnetic field and the inductance. Many
inductors used in radio applications (usually less than
100 MHz) use adjustable cores in order to tune such in-
ductors to their desired value, since manufacturing pro-
cesses have certain tolerances (inaccuracy). Sometimes
An MF or HF radio choke for tenths of an ampere, and a ferrite such cores for frequencies above 100 MHz are made
bead VHF choke for several amperes. from highly conductive non-magnetic material such as
aluminum. They decrease the inductance because the
frequency alternating current (AC) in an electrical cir- magnetic field must bypass them.
66 CHAPTER 2. ELECTRICAL COMPONENTS

zero electrical resistance.

The relationship between the time-varying voltage v(t)
across an inductor with inductance L and the time-
varying current i(t) passing through it is described by the
differential equation:

di(t)
v(t) = L
dt
When there is a sinusoidal alternating current (AC)
through an inductor, a sinusoidal voltage is induced. The
A “roller coil”, an adjustable air-core RF inductor used in the amplitude of the voltage is proportional to the product of
tuned circuits of radio transmitters. One of the contacts to the the amplitude (IP) of the current and the frequency (f)
coil is made by the small grooved wheel, which rides on the wire. of the current.
Turning the shaft rotates the coil, moving the contact wheel up or
down the coil, allowing more or fewer turns of the coil into the
circuit, to change the inductance.
i(t) = IP sin(2πf t)
di(t)
= 2πf IP cos(2πf t)
Air core inductors can use sliding contacts or multiple dt
taps to increase or decrease the number of turns included v(t) = 2πf LIP cos(2πf t)
in the circuit, to change the inductance. A type much used
in the past but mostly obsolete today has a spring contact In this situation, the phase of the current lags that of the
that can slide along the bare surface of the windings. The voltage by π/2 (90°). For sinusoids, as the voltage across
disadvantage of this type is that the contact usually short- the inductor goes to its maximum value, the current goes
circuits one or more turns. These turns act like a single- to zero, and as the voltage across the inductor goes to zero,
turn short-circuited transformer secondary winding; the the current through it goes to its maximum value.
large currents induced in them cause power losses. If an inductor is connected to a direct current source with
A type of continuously variable air core inductor is the value I via a resistance R, and then the current source is
variometer. This consists of two coils with the same num- short-circuited, the differential relationship above shows
ber of turns connected in series, one inside the other. The that the current through the inductor will discharge with
inner coil is mounted on a shaft so its axis can be turned an exponential decay:
with respect to the outer coil. When the two coils’ axes
are collinear, with the magnetic fields pointing in the same
i(t) = Ie− L t
R
direction, the fields add and the inductance is maximum.
When the inner coil is turned so its axis is at an angle
with the outer, the mutual inductance between them is
smaller so the total inductance is less. When the inner Reactance
coil is turned 180° so the coils are collinear with their
magnetic fields opposing, the two fields cancel each other The ratio of the peak voltage to the peak current in an in-
and the inductance is very small. This type has the advan- ductor energised from a sinusoidal source is called the
tage that it is continuously variable over a wide range. It reactance and is denoted XL. The suffix is to distin-
is used in antenna tuners and matching circuits to match guish inductive reactance from capacitive reactance due
low frequency transmitters to their antennas. to capacitance.
Another method to control the inductance without any
moving parts requires an additional DC current bias VP 2πf LIP
winding which controls the permeability of an easily sat- XL = =
IP IP
urable core material. See Magnetic amplifier.
Thus,

2.4.5 Circuit theory

XL = 2πf L
The effect of an inductor in a circuit is to oppose changes
in current through it by developing a voltage across it pro- Reactance is measured in the same units as resistance
portional to the rate of change of the current. An ideal in- (ohms) but is not actually a resistance. A resistance will
ductor would offer no resistance to a constant direct cur- dissipate energy as heat when a current passes. This does
rent; however, only superconducting inductors have truly not happen with an inductor; rather, energy is stored in
2.4. INDUCTOR 67

the magnetic field as the current builds and later returned

to the circuit as the current falls. Inductive reactance is
strongly frequency dependent. At low frequency the re-
actance falls, and for a steady current (zero frequency)
the inductor behaves as a short-circuit. At increasing fre- L1 L2 Ln
quency, on the other hand, the reactance increases and at
a sufficiently high frequency the inductor approaches an
open circuit.
1 1 1 1
= + + ··· +
Laplace circuit analysis (s-domain) Leq L1 L2 Ln
The current through inductors in series stays the same,
When using the Laplace transform in circuit analysis, the but the voltage across each inductor can be different. The
impedance of an ideal inductor with no initial current is sum of the potential differences (voltage) is equal to the
represented in the s domain by: total voltage. To find their total inductance:

Z(s) = Ls

where

L is the inductance, and

L1 L2 Ln
s is the complex frequency.

If the inductor does have initial current, it can be repre- L = L + L + · · · + L

eq 1 2 n
sented by:
These simple relationships hold true only when there is
• adding a voltage source in series with the inductor, no mutual coupling of magnetic fields between individual
having the value: inductors.

LI0
Stored energy
where
Neglecting losses, the energy (measured in joules, in SI)
L is the inductance, and stored by an inductor is equal to the amount of work re-
I0 is the initial current in the inductor. quired to establish the current through the inductor, and
therefore the magnetic field. This is given by:
(Note that the source should have a polarity that is aligned
with the initial current)
1 2
Estored = LI
2
• or by adding a current source in parallel with the
inductor, having the value: where L is inductance and I is the current through the
inductor.
I0
This relationship is only valid for linear (non-saturated)
s
regions of the magnetic flux linkage and current relation-
where ship. In general if one decides to find the energy stored
in a LTI inductor that has initial current in a specific time
I0 is the initial current in the inductor. between t0 and t1 can use this:
s is the complex frequency.
∫ t1
1 1
Inductor networks E= P (t) dt = LI(t1 )2 − LI(t0 )2
t0 2 2
Main article: Series and parallel circuits
2.4.6 Q factor
Inductors in a parallel configuration each have the same
potential difference (voltage). To find their total equiva- An ideal inductor would have no resistance or energy
lent inductance (Lₑ ): losses. However, real inductors have winding resistance
68 CHAPTER 2. ELECTRICAL COMPONENTS

from the metal wire forming the coils. Since the wind- ductor constructions.
ing resistance appears as a resistance in series with the
inductor, it is often called the series resistance. The in-
ductor’s series resistance converts electric current through 2.4.8 See also
the coils into heat, thus causing a loss of inductive quality.
The quality factor (or Q) of an inductor is the ratio of its • Gyrator – a network element that can simulate an
inductive reactance to its resistance at a given frequency, inductor
and is a measure of its efficiency. The higher the Q fac-
• Induction coil
tor of the inductor, the closer it approaches the behavior
of an ideal, lossless, inductor. High Q inductors are used • Induction cooking
with capacitors to make resonant circuits in radio trans-
mitters and receivers. The higher the Q is, the narrower • Induction loop
the bandwidth of the resonant circuit.
• RL circuit
The Q factor of an inductor can be found through the fol-
lowing formula, where L is the inductance, R is the induc- • RLC circuit
tor’s effective series resistance, ω is the radian operating
• Magnetomotive force
frequency, and the product ωL is the inductive reactance:
• Reactance (electronics) – opposition to a change of
electric current or voltage
ωL
Q=
R • Saturable reactor – a type of adjustable inductor
Notice that Q increases linearly with frequency if L and
• Solenoid
R are constant. Although they are constant at low fre-
quencies, the parameters vary with frequency. For exam-
ple, skin effect, proximity effect, and core losses increase 2.4.9 Notes
R with frequency; winding capacitance and variations in
permeability with frequency affect L. [1] Singh, Yaduvir (2011). Electro Magnetic Field Theory.
Qualitatively, at low frequencies and within limits, in- Pearson Education India. p. 65. ISBN 8131760618.
creasing the number of turns N improves Q because L [2] Wadhwa, C. L. (2005). Electrical Power Systems. New
varies as N 2 while R varies linearly with N. Similarly, in- Age International. p. 18. ISBN 8122417221.
creasing the radius r of an inductor improves Q because
L varies as r2 while R varies linearly with r. So high Q air [3] Pelcovits, Robert A.; Josh Farkas (2007). Barron’s AP
core inductors often have large diameters and many turns. Physics C. Barron’s Educatonal Series. p. 646. ISBN
Both of those examples assume the diameter of the wire 0764137107.
stays the same, so both examples use proportionally more [4] Purcell, Edward M.; David J. Morin (2013). Electricity
wire (copper). If the total mass of wire is held constant, and Magnetism. Cambridge Univ. Press. p. 364. ISBN
then there would be no advantage to increasing the num- 1107014026.
ber of turns or the radius of the turns because the wire
would have to be proportionally thinner. [5] “Aircraft electrical systems”. Wonderquest.com. Re-
trieved 2010-09-24.
Using a high permeability ferromagnetic core can greatly
increase the inductance for the same amount of copper, [6] “An Unassuming Antenna - The Ferrite Loopstick”. Ra-
so the core can also increase the Q. Cores however also dio Time Traveller. January 23, 2011. Retrieved March
introduce losses that increase with frequency. The core 5, 2014.
material is chosen for best results for the frequency band. [7] Frost, Phil (December 23, 2013). “What’s an appropriate
At VHF or higher frequencies an air core is likely to be core material for a loopstick antenna?". Amateur Radio
used. beta. Stack Exchange, Inc. Retrieved March 5, 2014.
Inductors wound around a ferromagnetic core may [8] Poisel, Richard (2011). Antenna Systems and Electronic
saturate at high currents, causing a dramatic decrease in Warfare Applications. Artech House. p. 280. ISBN
inductance (and Q). This phenomenon can be avoided by 1608074846.
using a (physically larger) air core inductor. A well de-
signed air core inductor may have a Q of several hundred. [9] Yadava, R. L. (2011). Antenna and Wave Propagation.
PHI Learning Pvt. Ltd. p. 261. ISBN 8120342917.

[10] Vishay. “Products - Inductors - IHLP inductor loss calcu-

2.4.7 Inductance formulas lator tool landing page”. Vishay. Retrieved 2010-09-24.

The table below lists some common simplified formulas [11] View: Everyone Only Notes. “IHLP inductor loss calcu-
for calculating the approximate inductance of several in- lator tool”. element14. Retrieved 2010-09-24.
2.5. ELECTRICAL IMPEDANCE 69

[12] “Inductors 101” (PDF). vishay. Retrieved 2010-09-24. • Understanding coils and transforms
[13] “Inductor and Magnetic Product Terminology” (PDF). • Bowley, Roger (2009). “Inductor”. Sixty Symbols.
Vishay Dale. Retrieved 2012-09-24. Brady Haran for the University of Nottingham.
[14] Nagaoka, Hantaro (1909-05-06). “The Inductance Coef-
• Inductors 101 Instructional Guide
ficients of Solenoids” (PDF) 27. Journal of the College of
Science, Imperial University, Tokyo, Japan. p. 18. Re-
trieved 2011-11-10.

[15] Kenneth L. Kaiser, Electromagnetic Compatibility Hand-

2.5 Electrical impedance
book, p. 30.64, CRC Press, 2004 ISBN 0849320879.

[16] Rosa, Edward B. (1908). “The Self and Mu-

tual Inductances of Linear Conductors” (PDF). Bul- Im
letin of the Bureau of Standards 4 (2): 301–344.
doi:10.6028/bulletin.088

[17] Rosa 1908, equation (11a), subst. radius ρ = d/2 and cgs ~
units Z
[18] Terman 1943, pp. 48–49, convert to natural logarithms
X
and inches to mm.
~
[19] Terman (1943, p. 48) states for l < 100 d, include d/2l |Z|
within the parentheses.

[20] ARRL Handbook, 66th Ed. American Radio Relay

θ Re
League (1989).

[21] For the second formula, Terman 1943, p. 58 which cites

to Wheeler 1928.

[22] Terman 1943, p. 58

R
[23] Terman 1943, p. 57 A graphical representation of the complex impedance plane

Electrical impedance is the measure of the opposition

2.4.10 References that a circuit presents to a current when a voltage is ap-
plied.
• Terman, Frederick (1943). “Radio Engineers’
In quantitative terms, it is the complex ratio of the volt-
Handbook”. McGraw-Hill
age to the current in an alternating current (AC) circuit.
• Wheeler, H. A. (October 1928). “Simple Induc- Impedance extends the concept of resistance to AC cir-
tance Formulae for Radio Coils”. Proc. I. R. E. 16 cuits, and possesses both magnitude and phase, unlike
(10): 1398. doi:10.1109/JRPROC.1928.221309 resistance, which has only magnitude. When a circuit is
driven with direct current (DC), there is no distinction be-
tween impedance and resistance; the latter can be thought
2.4.11 External links of as impedance with zero phase angle.
It is necessary to introduce the concept of impedance in
General
AC circuits because there are two additional impeding
mechanisms to be taken into account besides the nor-
• How stuff works The initial concept, made very sim- mal resistance of DC circuits: the induction of voltages
ple in conductors self-induced by the magnetic fields of cur-
• Capacitance and Inductance – A chapter from an on- rents (inductance), and the electrostatic storage of charge
line textbook induced by voltages between conductors (capacitance).
The impedance caused by these two effects is collec-
• Spiral inductor models. Article on inductor charac- tively referred to as reactance and forms the imaginary
teristics and modeling. part of complex impedance whereas resistance forms the
real part.
• Online coil inductance calculator. Online calcula-
tor calculates the inductance of conventional and The symbol for impedance is usually Z and it may be rep-
toroidal coils using formulas 3, 4, 5, and 6, above. resented by writing its magnitude and phase in the form
|Z|∠θ. However, cartesian complex number representa-
• AC circuits tion is often more powerful for circuit analysis purposes.
70 CHAPTER 2. ELECTRICAL COMPONENTS

The term impedance was coined by Oliver Heaviside in

July 1886.[1][2] Arthur Kennelly was the first to represent
impedance with complex numbers in 1893.[3] V
Impedance is defined as the frequency domain ratio of the
voltage to the current.[4] In other words, it is the voltage–
current ratio for a single complex exponential at a particu-
lar frequency ω. In general, impedance will be a complex
number, with the same units as resistance, for which the
SI unit is the ohm (Ω). For a sinusoidal current or voltage Z
input, the polar form of the complex impedance relates
the amplitude and phase of the voltage and current. In
particular,
I
• The magnitude of the complex impedance is the ra-
tio of the voltage amplitude to the current ampli-
tude.

• The phase of the complex impedance is the phase

shift by which the current lags the voltage.
An AC supply applying a voltage V , across a load Z , driving a
The reciprocal of impedance is admittance (i.e., admit- current I .
tance is the current-to-voltage ratio, and it conventionally
carries units of siemens, formerly called mhos). 2.5.2 Ohm’s law
Main article: Ohm’s law
2.5.1 Complex impedance

Impedance is represented as a complex quantity Z and the The meaning of electrical impedance
[5][6]
can be understood
term complex impedance may be used interchangeably; by substituting it into Ohm’s law.
the polar form conveniently captures both magnitude and
phase characteristics,
V = IZ = I|Z|ej arg(Z)

The magnitude of the impedance |Z| acts just like re-

Z = |Z|ej arg(Z) sistance, giving the drop in voltage amplitude across an
impedance Z for a given current I . The phase factor tells
where the magnitude |Z| represents the ratio of the voltage us that the current lags the voltage by a phase of θ = arg(Z)
difference amplitude to the current amplitude, while the (i.e., in the time domain, the current signal is shifted θ T
2π
argument arg(Z) (commonly given the symbol θ ) gives the later with respect to the voltage signal).
phase difference between voltage and current. j is the
imaginary unit, and is used instead of i in this context to Just as impedance extends Ohm’s law to cover AC cir-
avoid confusion with the symbol for electric current. In cuits, other results from DC circuit analysis such as
Cartesian form, voltage division, current division, Thévenin’s theorem,
and Norton’s theorem can also be extended to AC circuits
by replacing resistance with impedance.
Z = R + jX
2.5.3 Complex voltage and current
where the real part of impedance is the resistance R and
the imaginary part is the reactance X . In order to simplify calculations, sinusoidal voltage and
Where it is required to add or subtract impedances the current waves are commonly represented as complex-
[7][8]
cartesian form is more convenient, but when quantities valued functions of time denoted as V and I .
are multiplied or divided the calculation becomes sim-
pler if the polar form is used. A circuit calculation, such
as finding the total impedance of two impedances in par- V = |V |e
j(ωt+ϕV )

allel, may require conversion between forms several times I = |I|ej(ωt+ϕI )

during the calculation. Conversion between the forms fol-
lows the normal conversion rules of complex numbers. Impedance is defined as the ratio of these quantities.
2.5. ELECTRICAL IMPEDANCE 71

The magnitude equation is the familiar Ohm’s law applied

to the voltage and current amplitudes, while the second

ZS equation defines the phase relationship.

ZL Validity of complex representation

This representation using complex exponentials may be

justified by noting that (by Euler’s formula):

1 [ j(ωt+ϕ) ]
cos(ωt + ϕ) = e + e−j(ωt+ϕ)
2
The real-valued sinusoidal function representing either
voltage or current may be broken into two complex-
ZS valued functions. By the principle of superposition, we
may analyse the behaviour of the sinusoid on the left-

ZL hand side by analysing the behaviour of the two complex

terms on the right-hand side. Given the symmetry, we
only need to perform the analysis for one right-hand term;
the results will be identical for the other. At the end of
any calculation, we may return to real-valued sinusoids by
further noting that

{ }

ZS cos(ωt + ϕ) = ℜ ej(ωt+ϕ)

Phasors

ZL Main article: Phasor (electronics)

A phasor is a constant complex number, usually ex-

pressed in exponential form, representing the complex
amplitude (magnitude and phase) of a sinusoidal function
of time. Phasors are used by electrical engineers to sim-
Generalized impedances in a circuit can be drawn with the same plify computations involving sinusoids, where they can
symbol as a resistor (US ANSI or DIN Euro) or with a labeled
often reduce a differential equation problem to an alge-
box.
braic one.
The impedance of a circuit element can be defined as the
ratio of the phasor voltage across the element to the pha-
V sor current through the element, as determined by the rel-
Z= ative amplitudes and phases of the voltage and current.
I
This is identical to the definition from Ohm’s law given
Substituting these into Ohm’s law we have above, recognising that the factors of ejωt cancel.

2.5.4 Device examples

|V |ej(ωt+ϕV ) = |I|ej(ωt+ϕI ) |Z|ejθ
= |I||Z|ej(ωt+ϕI +θ) The impedance of an ideal resistor is purely real and is
referred to as a resistive impedance:
Noting that this must hold for all t , we may equate the
magnitudes and phases to obtain
ZR = R

|V | = |I||Z| In this case, the voltage and current waveforms are pro-
ϕV = ϕI + θ portional and in phase.
72 CHAPTER 2. ELECTRICAL COMPONENTS

Deriving the device-specific impedances

What follows below is a derivation of impedance for each

of the three basic circuit elements: the resistor, the ca-
pacitor, and the inductor. Although the idea can be ex-
tended to define the relationship between the voltage and
current of any arbitrary signal, these derivations will as-
sume sinusoidal signals, since any arbitrary signal can be
approximated as a sum of sinusoids through Fourier anal-
ysis.

Resistor For a resistor, there is the relation:

The phase angles in the equations for the impedance of inductors

and capacitors indicate that the voltage across a capacitor lags vR (t) = iR (t)R
the current through it by a phase of π/2 , while the voltage across
This is Ohm’s law.
an inductor leads the current through it by π/2 . The identical
voltage and current amplitudes indicate that the magnitude of the Considering the voltage signal to be
impedance is equal to one.

Ideal inductors and capacitors have a purely imaginary vR (t) = Vp sin(ωt)

reactive impedance:
it follows that
the impedance of inductors increases as frequency in-
creases;
vR (t) Vp sin(ωt)
= =R
iR (t) Ip sin (ωt)
ZL = jωL
This says that the ratio of AC voltage amplitude to
the impedance of capacitors decreases as frequency in- alternating current (AC) amplitude across a resistor is R ,
creases; and that the AC voltage leads the current across a resistor
by 0 degrees.
1 This result is commonly expressed as
ZC =
jωC
In both cases, for an applied sinusoidal voltage, the result-
ing current is also sinusoidal, but in quadrature, 90 de- Zresistor = R
grees out of phase with the voltage. However, the phases
have opposite signs: in an inductor, the current is lagging; Capacitor For a capacitor, there is the relation:
in a capacitor the current is leading.
Note the following identities for the imaginary unit and
its reciprocal: d vC (t)
iC (t) = C
dt
(π) (π ) π
Considering the voltage signal to be
j ≡ cos + j sin ≡ ej 2
2 2
1 ( π) ( π) π
≡ −j ≡ cos − + j sin − ≡ ej(− 2 ) vC (t) = Vp sin(ωt)
j 2 2
Thus the inductor and capacitor impedance equations can it follows that
be rewritten in polar form:

d vC (t)
ZL = ωLej 2
π
= ωVp cos (ωt)
dt
1 j (− π2 )
ZC = e And thus
ωC
The magnitude gives the change in voltage amplitude for
a given current amplitude through the impedance, while vC (t) Vp sin(ωt) sin(ωt)
= = ( )
the exponential factors give the phase relationship. iC (t) ωVp C cos (ωt) ωC sin ωt + π2
2.5. ELECTRICAL IMPEDANCE 73

This says that the ratio of AC voltage amplitude to AC AC signal. The concept of impedance can be extended
current amplitude across a capacitor is ωC
1
, and that the to a circuit energised with any arbitrary signal by using
AC voltage lags the AC current across a capacitor by 90 complex frequency instead of jω. Complex frequency is
degrees (or the AC current leads the AC voltage across a given the symbol s and is, in general, a complex number.
capacitor by 90 degrees). Signals are expressed in terms of complex frequency by
This result is commonly expressed in polar form, as taking the Laplace transform of the time domain expres-
sion of the signal. The impedance of the basic circuit
elements in this more general notation is as follows:
1 −j π For a DC circuit this simplifies to s = 0. For a steady-state
Zcapacitor = e 2
ωC sinusoidal AC signal s = jω.
or, by applying Euler’s formula, as
2.5.6 Resistance vs reactance
1 1
Zcapacitor = −j = Resistance and reactance together determine the magni-
ωC jωC
tude and phase of the impedance through the following
relations:
Inductor For the inductor, we have the relation:
√ √
|Z| = ZZ ∗ = R2 + X 2
d iL (t)
vL (t) = L ( )
dt X
θ = arctan
This time, considering the current signal to be: R
In many applications the relative phase of the voltage
and current is not critical so only the magnitude of the
iL (t) = Ip sin(ωt) impedance is significant.

it follows that:
Resistance

d iL (t) Main article: Electrical resistance

= ωIp cos (ωt)
dt
And thus: Resistance R is the real part of impedance; a device with
a purely resistive impedance exhibits no phase shift be-
tween the voltage and current.
( )
vL (t) ωIp L cos(ωt) ωL sin ωt + π2
= =
iL (t) Ip sin (ωt) sin(ωt)
R = |Z| cos θ
This says that the ratio of AC voltage amplitude to AC
current amplitude across an inductor is ωL , and that the
AC voltage leads the AC current across an inductor by 90 Reactance
degrees.
Main article: Electrical reactance
This result is commonly expressed in polar form, as

Reactance X is the imaginary part of the impedance; a

Zinductor = ωLe jπ
2
component with a finite reactance induces a phase shift θ
between the voltage across it and the current through it.
or, using Euler’s formula, as

X = |Z| sin θ
Zinductor = jωL
A purely reactive component is distinguished by the si-
nusoidal voltage across the component being in quadra-
2.5.5 Generalised s-plane impedance ture with the sinusoidal current through the component.
This implies that the component alternately absorbs en-
Impedance defined in terms of jω can strictly only be ergy from the circuit and then returns energy to the cir-
applied to circuits which are driven with a steady-state cuit. A pure reactance will not dissipate any power.
74 CHAPTER 2. ELECTRICAL COMPONENTS

Capacitive reactance Main article: Capacitance

X = XL − XC
A capacitor has a purely reactive impedance which is
inversely proportional to the signal frequency. A capaci- so that the total impedance is
tor consists of two conductors separated by an insulator,
also known as a dielectric.
Z = R + jX

XC = (ωC)−1 = (2πf C)−1

2.5.7 Combining impedances
At low frequencies a capacitor is open circuit, as no
charge flows in the dielectric. A DC voltage applied Main article: Series and parallel circuits
across a capacitor causes charge to accumulate on one
side; the electric field due to the accumulated charge is The total impedance of many simple networks of com-
the source of the opposition to the current. When the ponents can be calculated using the rules for combining
potential associated with the charge exactly balances the impedances in series and parallel. The rules are identi-
applied voltage, the current goes to zero. cal to those used for combining resistances, except that
Driven by an AC supply, a capacitor will only accumulate the numbers in general will be complex numbers. In the
a limited amount of charge before the potential difference general case however, equivalent impedance transforms
changes sign and the charge dissipates. The higher the in addition to series and parallel will be required.
frequency, the less charge will accumulate and the smaller
the opposition to the current. Series combination

For components connected in series, the current through

Inductive reactance Main article: Inductance
each circuit element is the same; the total impedance is
the sum of the component impedances.
Inductive reactance XL is proportional to the signal
frequency f and the inductance L .

XL = ωL = 2πf L Z1 Z2 Zn
An inductor consists of a coiled conductor. Faraday’s
law of electromagnetic induction gives the back emf E
(voltage opposing current) due to a rate-of-change of
magnetic flux density B through a current loop. Zeq = Z1 + Z2 + · · · + Zn

Or explicitly in real and imaginary terms:

dΦB
E =−
dt
Zeq = R+jX = (R1 +R2 +· · ·+Rn )+j(X1 +X2 +· · ·+Xn )
For an inductor consisting of a coil with N loops this
gives.
Parallel combination

dΦB For components connected in parallel, the voltage across

E = −N
dt each circuit element is the same; the ratio of currents
through any two elements is the inverse ratio of their
The back-emf is the source of the opposition to current
impedances.
flow. A constant direct current has a zero rate-of-change,
and sees an inductor as a short-circuit (it is typically made
from a material with a low resistivity). An alternating cur-
rent has a time-averaged rate-of-change that is propor-
tional to frequency, this causes the increase in inductive
reactance with frequency.
Z1 Z2 Zn
Total reactance The total reactance is given by
2.5. ELECTRICAL IMPEDANCE 75

Hence the inverse total impedance is the sum of the in- measure the electrical impedance of various electrical
verses of the component impedances: devices.[10]
The LCR meter (Inductance (L), Capacitance (C), and
1 1 1 1 Resistance (R)) is a device commonly used to measure the
= + + ··· + inductance, resistance and capacitance of a component;
Zeq Z1 Z2 Zn
from these values the impedance at any frequency can be
or, when n = 2: calculated.

1 1 1 Z1 + Z2 2.5.9 Variable impedance

= + =
Zeq Z1 Z2 Z1 Z2
In general, neither impedance nor admittance can be time
Z1 Z2 varying as they are defined for complex exponentials for
Zeq =
Z1 + Z2 –∞ < t < +∞. If the complex exponential voltage–current
ratio changes over time or amplitude, the circuit element
The equivalent impedance Zeq can be calculated in terms
cannot be described using the frequency domain. How-
of the equivalent series resistance Req and reactance Xeq
.[9] ever, many systems (e.g., varicaps that are used in radio
tuners) may exhibit non-linear or time-varying voltage–
current ratios that appear to be linear time-invariant (LTI)
Zeq = Req + jXeq for small signals over small observation windows; hence,
they can be roughly described as having a time-varying
(X1 R2 + X2 R1 )(X1 + X2 ) + (R1 R2 − X1 X2 )(R1 + R2 )
Req = impedance. That is, this description is an approxima-
(R1 + R2 )2 + (X1 + X2 )2 tion; over large signal swings or observation windows, the
(X1 R2 + X2 R1 )(R1 + R2 ) − (R1 R2 − X1 X2 )(X 1 + X2 )
voltage–current relationship is non-LTI and cannot be de-
Xeq =
(R1 + R2 )2 + (X1 + X2 )2 scribed by impedance.

2.5.8 Measurement 2.5.10 See also

The measurement of the impedance of devices and trans- • Bioelectrical impedance analysis
mission lines is a practical problem in radio technol-
ogy and others. Measurements of impedance may be • Characteristic impedance
carried out at one frequency, or the variation of device
impedance over a range of frequencies may be of interest. • Electrical characteristics of dynamic loudspeakers
The impedance may be measured or displayed directly in • High impedance
ohms, or other values related to impedance may be dis-
played; for example in a radio antenna the standing wave • Immittance
ratio or reflection coefficient may be more useful than
the impedance alone. Measurement of impedance re- • Impedance bridging
quires measurement of the magnitude of voltage and cur-
• Impedance cardiography
rent, and the phase difference between them. Impedance
is often measured by “bridge” methods, similar to the • Impedance matching
direct-current Wheatstone bridge; a calibrated reference
impedance is adjusted to balance off the effect of the • Negative impedance converter
impedance of the device under test. Impedance measure-
ment in power electronic devices may require simultane- • Resistance distance
ous measurement and provision of power to the operating
device.
2.5.11 References
The impedance of a device can be calculated by com-
plex division of the voltage and current. The impedance [1] Science, p. 18, 1888
of the device can be calculated by applying a sinusoidal
[2] Oliver Heaviside, The Electrician, p. 212, 23 July 1886,
voltage to the device in series with a resistor, and measur-
reprinted as Electrical Papers, p 64, AMS Bookstore,
ing the voltage across the resistor and across the device. ISBN 0-8218-3465-7
Performing this measurement by sweeping the frequen-
cies of the applied signal provides the impedance phase [3] Kennelly, Arthur. Impedance (AIEE, 1893)
and magnitude.[10]
[4] Alexander, Charles; Sadiku, Matthew (2006). Funda-
The use of an impulse response may be used in combi- mentals of Electric Circuits (3, revised ed.). McGraw-Hill.
nation with the fast Fourier transform (FFT) to rapidly pp. 387–389. ISBN 978-0-07-330115-0
76 CHAPTER 2. ELECTRICAL COMPONENTS

[5] AC Ohm’s law, Hyperphysics

[6] Horowitz, Paul; Hill, Winfield (1989). “1”. The Art of

Electronics. Cambridge University Press. pp. 32–33.
ISBN 0-521-37095-7.

[7] Complex impedance, Hyperphysics

[8] Horowitz, Paul; Hill, Winfield (1989). “1”. The Art of

Electronics. Cambridge University Press. pp. 31–32.
ISBN 0-521-37095-7.

[9] Parallel Impedance Expressions, Hyperphysics

[10] George Lewis Jr., George K. Lewis Sr. and William

Olbricht (August 2008). “Cost-effective broad-band
electrical impedance spectroscopy measurement circuit A schematic diagram of a real voltage source, V, driving a resis-
and signal analysis for piezo-materials and ultrasound tor, R, and creating a current I
transducers”. Measurement Science and Technology
19 (10): 105102. Bibcode:2008MeScT..19j5102L.
doi:10.1088/0957-0233/19/10/105102. PMC 2600501. magnitude is governed by some fixed relation to an input
PMID 19081773. Retrieved 2008-09-15.
signal, for example.[2] In the analysis of faults on electri-
cal power systems, the whole network of interconnected
2.5.12 External links sources and transmission lines can be usefully replaced
by an ideal (AC) voltage source and a single equivalent
• Explaining Impedance impedance.
Symbols used for voltage sources
• Antenna Impedance

• ECE 209: Review of Circuits as LTI Systems – The internal resistance of an ideal voltage source is zero;
Brief explanation of Laplace-domain circuit analy- it is able to supply or absorb any amount of current. The
sis; includes a definition of impedance. current through an ideal voltage source is completely de-
termined by the external circuit. When connected to an
open circuit, there is zero current and thus zero power.
2.6 Voltage source When connected to a load resistance, the current through
the source approaches infinity as the load resistance ap-
A voltage source is a two terminal device which can proaches zero (a short circuit). Thus, an ideal voltage
maintain a fixed voltage.[1] An ideal voltage source can source can supply unlimited power.
maintain the fixed voltage independent of the load resis- No real voltage source is ideal; all have a non-zero ef-
tance or the output current. However, a real-world volt- fective internal resistance, and none can supply unlimited
age source cannot supply unlimited current. A voltage current. However, the internal resistance of a real voltage
source is the dual of a current source. Real-world sources source is effectively modeled in linear circuit analysis by
of electrical energy, such as batteries, generators, and combining a non-zero resistance in series with an ideal
power systems, can be modeled for analysis purposes as voltage source (a Thévenin equivalent circuit).
a combination of an ideal voltage source and additional
combinations of impedance elements.
2.6.2 Comparison between voltage and
2.6.1 Ideal voltage sources current sources

An ideal voltage source is a two-terminal device that Most sources of electrical energy (the mains, a battery)
maintains a fixed voltage drop across its terminals. It is are modeled as voltage sources. An ideal voltage source
often used as a mathematical abstraction that simplifies provides no energy when it is loaded by an open circuit
the analysis of real electric circuits. If the voltage across (i.e. an infinite impedance), but approaches infinite en-
an ideal voltage source can be specified independently of ergy and current when the load resistance approaches zero
any other variable in a circuit, it is called an indepen- (a short circuit). Such a theoretical device would have a
dent voltage source. Conversely, if the voltage across an zero ohm output impedance in series with the source. A
ideal voltage source is determined by some other volt- real-world voltage source has a very low, but non-zero
age or current in a circuit, it is called a dependent or internal resistance & output impedance: often much less
controlled voltage source. A mathematical model of an than 1 ohm.
amplifier will include dependent voltage sources whose Conversely, a current source provides a constant cur-
2.7. CURRENT SOURCE 77

rent, as long as the load connected to the source termi-

nals has sufficiently low impedance. An ideal current
source would provide no energy to a short circuit and ap-
proach infinite energy and voltage as the load resistance
approaches infinity (an open circuit). An ideal current
source has an infinite output impedance in parallel with +
the source. A real-world current source has a very high,
but finite output impedance. In the case of transistor cur-
rent sources, impedance of a few megohms (at low fre-
quencies) is typical. I R V
Since no ideal sources of either variety exist (all

−
real-world examples have finite and non-zero source
impedance), any current source can be considered as a
voltage source with the same source impedance and vice
versa. Voltage sources and current sources are sometimes
said to be duals of each other and any non ideal source can
be converted from one to the other by applying Norton’s
or Thévenin’s theorems.
Figure 1: An ideal current source, I, driving a resistor, R, and
creating a voltage V
2.6.3 References and notes
[1] An introduction to electronics In circuit theory, an ideal current source is a circuit el-
ement where the current through it is independent of the
[2] K. C. A. Smith, R. E. Alley , Electrical circuits: an intro-
voltage across it. It is a mathematical model, which real
duction, Cambridge University Press, 1992 ISBN 0-521-
37769-2, pp. 11-13 devices can only approach in performance. If the cur-
rent through an ideal current source can be specified in-
dependently of any other variable in a circuit, it is called
2.6.4 See also an independent current source. Conversely, if the current
through an ideal current source is determined by some
• Bandgap voltage reference other voltage or current in a circuit, it is called a depen-
dent or controlled current source. Symbols for these
• Voltage divider sources are shown in Figure 2.
• Voltage reference The internal resistance of an ideal current source is in-
finite. An independent current source with zero current
• Voltage regulator is identical to an ideal open circuit. The voltage across
an ideal current source is completely determined by the
circuit it is connected to. When connected to a short cir-
2.7 Current source cuit, there is zero voltage and thus zero power delivered.
When connected to a load resistance, the voltage across
the source approaches infinity as the load resistance ap-
A current source is an electronic circuit that delivers or
proaches infinity (an open circuit). Thus, an ideal current
absorbs an electric current which is independent of the
source, if such a thing existed in reality, could supply un-
voltage across it.
limited power and so would represent an unlimited source
A current source is the dual of a voltage source. The of energy.
term constant-current 'sink' is sometimes used for sources
No physical current source is ideal. For example, no
fed from a negative voltage supply. Figure 1 shows the
physical current source can operate when applied to an
schematic symbol for an ideal current source, driving a
open circuit. There are two characteristics that define a
resistor load. There are two types - an independent cur-
current source in real life. One is its internal resistance
rent source (or sink) delivers a constant current. A de-
and the other is its compliance voltage. The compliance
pendent current source delivers a current which is pro-
voltage is the maximum voltage that the current source
portional to some other voltage or current in the circuit.
can supply to a load. Over a given load range, it is possi-
ble for some types of real current sources to exhibit nearly
infinite internal resistance. However, when the current
2.7.1 Background
source reaches its compliance voltage, it abruptly stops
Figure 2: Source symbols being a current source.
In circuit analysis, a current source having finite internal
78 CHAPTER 2. ELECTRICAL COMPONENTS

resistance is modeled by placing the value of that resis- present resistance to compensate current variations. For
tance across an ideal current source (the Norton equiva- example, if the load increases its resistance, the transistor
lent circuit). However, this model is only useful when a decreases its present output resistance (and vice versa) to
current source is operating within its compliance voltage. keep up a constant total resistance in the circuit.
Active current sources have many important applica-
tions in electronic circuits. They are often used in place
2.7.2 Implementations
of ohmic resistors in analog integrated circuits (e.g., a
Passive current source differential amplifier) to generate a current that depends
slightly on the voltage across the load.
The simplest non-ideal current source consists of a The common emitter configuration driven by a constant
voltage source in series with a resistor. The amount of input current or voltage and common source (common
current available from such a source is given by the ratio cathode) driven by a constant voltage naturally behave as
of the voltage across the voltage source to the resistance current sources (or sinks) because the output impedance
of the resistor (Ohm’s law; I = V/R). This value of cur- of these devices is naturally high. The output part of the
rent will only be delivered to a load with zero voltage drop simple current mirror is an example of such a current
across its terminals (a short circuit, an uncharged capaci- source widely used in integrated circuits. The common
tor, a charged inductor, a virtual ground circuit, etc.) The base, common gate and common grid configurations can
current delivered to a load with nonzero voltage (drop) serve as constant current sources as well.
across its terminals (a linear or nonlinear resistor with a
A JFET can be made to act as a current source by tying its
finite resistance, a charged capacitor, an uncharged in-
gate to its source. The current then flowing is the IDSS of
ductor, a voltage source, etc.) will always be different. It
the FET. These can be purchased with this connection al-
is given by the ratio of the voltage drop across the resis-
ready made and in this case the devices are called current
tor (the difference between the exciting voltage and the
regulator diodes or constant current diodes or current lim-
voltage across the load) to its resistance. For a nearly
iting diodes (CLD). An enhancement mode N channel
ideal current source, the value of the resistor should be
MOSFET can be used in the circuits listed below.
very large but this implies that, for a specified current, the
voltage source must be very large (in the limit as the resis-
tance and the voltage go to infinity, the current source will Following voltage implementation An example:
become ideal and the current will not depend at all on the bootstrapped current source.[1]
voltage across the load). Thus, efficiency is low (due to
power loss in the resistor) and it is usually impractical to
construct a 'good' current source this way. Nonetheless,
it is often the case that such a circuit will provide ade-
quate performance when the specified current and load
resistance are small. For example, a 5 V voltage source
in series with a 4.7 kilohm resistor will provide an ap-
proximately constant current of 1 mA (±5%) to a load
resistance in the range of 50 to 450 ohm.
A Van de Graaff generator is an example of such a high
voltage current source. It behaves as an almost constant
current source because of its very high output voltage cou-
pled with its very high output resistance and so it supplies
the same few microamperes at any output voltage up to
hundreds of thousands of volts (or even tens of megavolts)
for large laboratory versions.
Figure 3: In an op-amp voltage-controlled current source the
op-amp compensates the voltage drop across the load by adding
Active current sources without negative feedback the same voltage to the exciting input voltage.

In these circuits, the output current is not monitored and Voltage compensation implementation The simple
controlled by means of negative feedback. resistor current source will become “ideal” if the voltage
across the load is somehow held zero. This idea seems
paradoxical since real loads always “create” voltage drops
Current-stable nonlinear implementation They are across themselves but it is yet implemented by applying a
implemented by active electronic components (transis- parallel negative feedback. In these circuits, an op-amp
tors) having current-stable nonlinear output characteristic compensates the voltage drop across the load by adding
when driven by steady input quantity (current or voltage). the same voltage to the exciting input voltage. As a re-
These circuits behave as dynamic resistors changing its sult, the op-amp inverting input is held at virtual ground
2.7. CURRENT SOURCE 79

and the combination of the input voltage source, the resis- across the current sensing resistor decreases the maximal
tor and the supplied op-amp constitutes an “ideal” current voltage across the load (the compliance voltage).
source with value IOUT = VIN /R. The op-amp voltage-
to-current converter in Figure 3, a transimpedance am-
plifier and an op-amp inverting amplifier are typical im- Simple transistor current sources
plementations of this idea.
The floating load is a serious disadvantage of this circuit
solution.

Current compensation implementation A typical

example are Howland current source[2] and its derivative
Deboo integrator.[3] In the last example (see Fig. 1 there),
the Howland current source consists of an input voltage
source VIN, a positive resistor R, a load (the capacitor C Circuit
acting as impedance Z) and a negative impedance con-
verter INIC (R1 = R2 = R3 = R and the op-amp). The Constant current diode The simplest constant-current
input voltage source and the resistor R constitute an im- source or sink is formed from one component: a JFET
perfect current source passing current IR through the load with its gate attached to its source. Once the drain-source
(see Fig. 3 in the source). The INIC acts as a second voltage reaches a certain minimum value, the JFET enters
current source passing “helping” current I-R through the saturation where current is approximately constant. This
load. As a result, the total current flowing through the configuration is known as a constant-current diode, as it
load is constant and the circuit impedance seen by the in- behaves much like a dual to the constant voltage diode
put source is increased. However the Howland current (Zener diode) used in simple voltage sources.
source isn't widely used because it requires the four resis-Due to the large variability in saturation current of JFETs,
tors to be perfectly matched, and its impedance drops at it is common to also include a source resistor (shown in
high frequencies.[4] the image to the right) which allows the current to be
The grounded load is an advantage of this circuit solution. tuned down to a desired value.

Current sources with negative feedback

They are implemented as a voltage follower with se-

Vs (+)
ries negative feedback driven by a constant input voltage
source (i.e., a negative feedback voltage stabilizer). The
voltage follower is loaded by a constant (current sensing)
resistor acting as a simple current-to-voltage converter
connected in the feedback loop. The external load of this
current source is connected somewhere in the path of the
current supplying the current sensing resistor but out of
R1 Load
the feedback loop.
The voltage follower adjusts its output current IOUT
flowing through the load so that to make the voltage drop Q1
VR = IOUT.R across the current sensing resistor R equal
to the constant input voltage VIN. Thus the voltage sta-
bilizer keeps up a constant voltage drop across a constant DZ1
resistor; so, a constant current IOUT = VR/R = VIN/R
flows through the resistor and respectively through the R2
load.
If the input voltage varies, this arrangement will act
as a voltage-to-current converter (voltage-controlled cur-
rent source VCCS); it can be thought as a reversed
(by means of negative feedback) current-to-voltage con-
verter. The resistance R determines the transfer ratio GND (0V)
(transconductance).
Current sources implemented as circuits with series nega- Figure 4: Typical BJT constant current source with negative feed-
tive feedback have the disadvantage that the voltage drop back
80 CHAPTER 2. ELECTRICAL COMPONENTS

Zener diode current source In this bipolar junction hFE is sufficiently large). Resistance R1 at resistor R1 is
transistor (BJT) implementation (Figure 4) of the general calculated as
idea above, a Zener voltage stabilizer (R1 and DZ1) drives
an emitter follower (Q1) loaded by a constant emitter resis-
tor (R2) sensing the load current. The external (floating) VS − VZ
load of this current source is connected to the collector R1 =
IZ + K · IB
so that almost the same current flows through it and the
emitter resistor (they can be thought of as connected in where K = 1.2 to 2 (so that R1 is low enough to ensure
series). The transistor Q1 adjusts the output (collector) adequate IB),
current so as to keep the voltage drop across the constant
emitter resistor R2 almost equal to the relatively constant
voltage drop across the Zener diode DZ1. As a result, the IC (= IE = IR2 )
output current is almost constant even if the load resis- IB =
hF E(min)
tance and/or voltage vary. The operation of the circuit is
considered in details below.
and hFE₍ ᵢ ₎ is the lowest acceptable current gain for the
A Zener diode, when reverse biased (as shown in the cir- particular transistor type being used.
cuit) has a constant voltage drop across it irrespective of
the current flowing through it. Thus, as long as the Zener
current (IZ) is above a certain level (called holding cur-
rent), the voltage across the Zener diode (VZ) will be con-
stant. Resistor R1 supplies the Zener current and the base Vs (+)
current (IB) of NPN transistor (Q1). The constant Zener
voltage is applied across the base of Q1 and emitter re-
sistor R2.
Voltage across R2 (VR₂) is given by VZ - VBE, where
VBE is the base-emitter drop of Q1. The emitter current
of Q1 which is also the current through R2 is given by R1 Load
VR2 VZ − VBE
Q1
IR2 (= IE ) = = .
R2 R2
Since VZ is constant and VBE is also (approximately)
constant for a given temperature, it follows that VR₂ is
constant and hence IE is also constant. Due to transistor LED1
action, emitter current IE is very nearly equal to the col-
lector current IC of the transistor (which in turn, is the R2
current through the load). Thus, the load current is con-
stant (neglecting the output resistance of the transistor
due to the Early effect) and the circuit operates as a con-
stant current source. As long as the temperature remains
constant (or doesn't vary much), the load current will be
independent of the supply voltage, R1 and the transistor’s GND (0V)
gain. R2 allows the load current to be set at any desirable
value and is calculated by
Figure 5: Typical constant current source (CCS) using LED in-
stead of Zener diode
VZ − VBE
R2 =
IR2 LED current source The Zener diode can be replaced
or by any other diode, e.g. a light-emitting diode LED1
as shown in Figure 5. The LED voltage drop (VD) is
now used to derive the constant voltage and also has the
VZ − 0.65 additional advantage of tracking (compensating) VBE
R2 = changes due to temperature. R2 is calculated as
IR2
VD −VBE
since VBE is typically 0.65 V for a silicon device.[5] R2 = IR2

(IR₂ is also the emitter current and is assumed to be the and R1 as

VS −VD
same as the collector or required load current, provided R1 = ID +K·IB , where ID is the LED current.
2.7. CURRENT SOURCE 81

as it is in breakdown diodes above this voltage.

Vs (+)
Current mirror with emitter degeneration Series
negative feedback is also used in the two-transistor cur-
rent mirror with emitter degeneration. Negative feedback
is a basic feature in some current mirrors using multi-

R1 Load ple transistors, such as the Widlar current source and the
Wilson current source.

Constant current source with thermal compensation

Q1 One limitation with the circuits in Figures 5 and 6 is that
D the thermal compensation is imperfect. In bipolar transis-
tors, as the junction temperature increases the Vbe drop
(voltage drop from base to emitter) decreases. In the two

DZ1 R2 previous circuits, a decrease in Vbe will cause an increase

in voltage across the emitter resistor, which in turn will
cause an increase in collector current drawn through the
load. The end result is that the amount of 'constant' cur-
rent supplied is at least somewhat dependent on temper-
ature. This effect is mitigated to a large extent, but not
completely, by corresponding voltage drops for the diode
GND (0V) D1 in Figure 6, and the LED, LED1 in Figure 5. If the
power dissipation in the active device of the CCS is not
small and/or insufficient emitter degeneration is used, this
Figure 6: Typical constant current source (CCS) with diode com- can become a non-trivial issue.
pensation
Imagine in Figure 5, at power up, that the LED has 1V
across it driving the base of the transistor. At room tem-
perature there is about 0.6V drop across the Vbe junction
Transistor current source with diode compensation and hence 0.4V across the emitter resistor, giving an ap-
Temperature changes will change the output current de- proximate collector (load) current of 0.4/Re amps. Now
livered by the circuit of Figure 4 because VBE is sen- imagine that the power dissipation in the transistor causes
sitive to temperature. Temperature dependence can be it to heat up. This causes the Vbe drop (which was 0.6V
compensated using the circuit of Figure 6 that includes at room temperature) to drop to, say, 0.2V. Now the volt-
a standard diode D (of the same semiconductor material age across the emitter resistor is 0.8V, twice what it was
as the transistor) in series with the Zener diode as shown before the warmup. This means that the collector (load)
in the image on the left. The diode drop (VD) tracks the current is now twice the design value! This is an extreme
VBE changes due to temperature and thus significantly example of course, but serves to illustrate the issue.
counteracts temperature dependence of the CCS.
The circuit to the left overcomes the thermal problem.
Resistance R2 is now calculated as (See Also: Current limiting) To see how the circuit
R2 = VZ +VD −VBE works, assume the voltage has just been applied at V+.
IR2
Current runs through R1 to the base of Q1, turning it on
Since VD = VBE = 0.65 V,[6] and causing current to begin to flow through the load into
R2 = VZ the collector of Q1. This same load current then flows
IR2
out of Q1’s emitter and consequently through R_sense to
(In practice VD is never exactly equal to VBE and hence ground. When this current through R_sense to ground
it only suppresses the change in VBE rather than nulling is sufficient to cause a voltage drop that is equal to the
it out.) Vbe drop of Q2, Q2 begins to turn on. As Q2 turns on it
R1 is calculated as pulls more current through its collector resistor R1, which
lowers the voltage at the base of Q1, causing Q1 to con-
R1 = VISZ−V Z −VD
+K·IB (the compensating diode’s forward duct less current through the load. This creates a negative
voltage drop VD appears in the equation and is typically feedback loop within the circuit, which keeps the voltage
0.65 V for silicon devices.[6] ) at Q1’s emitter almost exactly equal to the Vbe drop of
This method is most effective for Zener diodes rated at 5.6 Q2. Since Q2 is dissipating very little power compared to
V or more. For breakdown diodes of less than 5.6 V, the Q1 (since all the load current goes through Q1, not Q2),
compensating diode is usually not required because the Q2 will not heat up any significant amount and the refer-
breakdown mechanism is not as temperature dependent ence (current setting) voltage across R_sense will remain
82 CHAPTER 2. ELECTRICAL COMPONENTS

constant voltage across the constant sense resistor. As a

result, the current flowing through the load is constant as
well; it is exactly the Zener voltage divided by the sense
resistor. The load can be connected either in the emitter
(Figure 7) or in the collector (Figure 4) but in both the
cases it is floating as in all the circuits above. The tran-
sistor is not needed if the required current doesn't exceed
the sourcing ability of the op-amp. The article on current
mirror discusses another example of these so-called gain-
boosted current mirrors.

LM317

1.25 ohm
IN OUT
1.5 W Green
ADJ 1A
current source
5V 0 ... 1.8V
>1A (open circuit
100 approx. 3.5V)

Current limiter with NPN transistors

Figure 8: Constant current source using the LM317 voltage reg-
ulator
rock steady at ~0.6V, or one diode drop above ground,
regardless of the thermal changes in the Vbe drop of Q1.
The circuit is still sensitive to changes in the ambient tem-
perature in which the device operates as the BE voltage Voltage regulator current sources The general neg-
drop in Q2 varies slightly with temperature. ative feedback arrangement can be implemented by an
IC voltage regulator (LM317 voltage regulator on Figure
8). As with the bare emitter follower and the precise op-
amp follower above, it keeps up a constant voltage drop
(1.25 V) across a constant resistor (1.25 Ω); so, a con-
stant current (1 A) flows through the resistor and the load.
The LED is on when the voltage across the load exceeds
1.8 V (the indicator circuit introduces some error). The
grounded load is an important advantage of this solution.

Curpistor tubes Nitrogen-filled glass tubes with two

electrodes and a calibrated Becquerel (fissions per sec-
ond) amount of 226 Ra offer a constant number of charge
Load carriers per second for conduction, which determines the
maximum current the tube can pass over a voltage range
from 25 to 500 V.[7]
Sense

2.7.3 Current and voltage source compar-

ison

Most sources of electrical energy (mains electricity, a

battery, ...) are best modeled as voltage sources. Such
Figure 7: Typical op-amp current source. sources provide constant voltage, which means that as
long as the current drawn from the source is within the
Op-amp current sources The simple transistor cur- source’s capabilities, its output voltage stays constant. An
rent source from Figure 4 can be improved by inserting ideal voltage source provides no energy when it is loaded
the base-emitter junction of the transistor in the feed- by an open circuit (i.e. an infinite impedance), but ap-
back loop of an op-amp (Figure 7). Now the op-amp proaches infinite power and current when the load resis-
increases its output voltage to compensate for the VBE tance approaches zero (a short circuit). Such a theoret-
drop. The circuit is actually a buffered non-inverting am- ical device would have a zero ohm output impedance in
plifier driven by a constant input voltage. It keeps up this series with the source. A real-world voltage source has
2.7. CURRENT SOURCE 83

a very low, but non-zero output impedance: often much • Welding power supply, a device used for arc weld-
less than 1 ohm. ing, many of which are designed as constant current
Conversely, a current source provides a constant cur- devices.
rent, as long as the load connected to the source termi- • Widlar current source
nals has sufficiently low impedance. An ideal current
source would provide no energy to a short circuit and ap-
proach infinite energy and voltage as the load resistance 2.7.5 References and notes
approaches infinity (an open circuit). An ideal current
source has an infinite output impedance in parallel with [1] Widlar bilateral current source
the source. A real-world current source has a very high,
[2] “AN-1515 A Comprehensive Study of the Howland Cur-
but finite output impedance. In the case of transistor cur- rent Pump” (PDF). Texas Instruments, Inc. 2013 (2008).
rent sources, impedances of a few megohms (at DC) are Check date values in: |date= (help)
typical.
[3] Consider the “Deboo” Single-Supply Integrator
An ideal current source cannot be connected to an ideal
open circuit because this would create the paradox of [4] Horowitz, Paul; Winfield Hill (1989). The Art of Electron-
running a constant, non-zero current (from the current ics, 2nd Ed. UK: Cambridge University Press. p. 182.
source) through an element with a defined zero current ISBN 0521370957.
(the open circuit). Also, a current source should not be
[5] The value for VBE varies logarithmically with current
connected to another current source if their currents dif- level: for more detail see diode modelling.
fer but this arrangement is frequently used (e.g., in am-
plifying stages with dynamic load, CMOS circuits, etc.) [6] See above note on logarithmic current dependence.
Similarly, an ideal voltage source cannot be connected [7] “Tung-Sol: Curpistor, minute current regulator data sheet”
to an ideal short circuit (R=0), since this would result a (PDF). Retrieved 26 May 2013.
similar paradox of finite nonzero voltage across an ele-
ment with defined zero voltage (the short circuit). Also, a
voltage source should not be connected to another voltage 2.7.6 Further reading
source if their voltages differ but again this arrangement
is frequently used (e.g., in common base and differential • “Current Sources & Voltage References” Linden T.
amplifying stages). Harrison; Publ. Elsevier-Newnes 2005; 608-pages;
ISBN 0-7506-7752-X
Contrary, current and voltage sources can be connected
to each other without any problems, and this technique
is widely used in circuitry (e.g., in cascode circuits, 2.7.7 External links
differential amplifier stages with common emitter current
source, etc.) • Current Regulators; Electrical Engineering Training
Because no ideal sources of either variety exist (all Series
real-world examples have finite and non-zero source • 4QD-TEC: Electronics Circuits Reference Archive
impedance), any current source can be considered as a
voltage source with the same source impedance and vice • Differential amplifiers and current sources
versa. These concepts are dealt with by Norton’s and
Thévenin’s theorems. • Article about current sources on ESP

2.7.4 See also

• Constant current

• Current limiting

• Current loop

• Current mirror

• Current sources and sinks

• Fontana bridge, a compensated current source

• Iron-hydrogen resistor

• Voltage-to-current converter
Chapter 3

Basic circuit laws

3.1 Kirchhoff’s circuit laws At any node (junction) in an electrical circuit,

the sum of currents flowing into that node is
Kirchhoff’s circuit laws are two equalities that deal with equal to the sum of currents flowing out of that
the current and potential difference (commonly known node
as voltage) in the lumped element model of electrical cir-
or equivalently
cuits. They were first described in 1845 by German physi-
[1]
cist Gustav Kirchhoff. This generalized the work of The algebraic sum of currents in a network of
Georg Ohm and preceded the work of Maxwell. Widely conductors meeting at a point is zero.
used in electrical engineering, they are also called Kirch-
hoff’s rules or simply Kirchhoff’s laws. Recalling that current is a signed (positive or negative)
Both of Kirchhoff’s laws can be understood as corollar- quantity reflecting direction towards or away from a node,
ies of the Maxwell equations in the low-frequency limit. this principle can be stated as:
They are accurate for DC circuits, and for AC circuits
at frequencies where the wavelengths of electromagnetic ∑ n
radiation are very large compared to the circuits. Ik = 0
k=1

n is the total number of branches with currents flowing

3.1.1 Kirchhoff’s current law (KCL) towards or away from the node.
This formula is valid for complex currents:
i1
∑
n
I˜k = 0
k=1

The law is based on the conservation of charge whereby

R1 i2 the charge (measured in coulombs) is the product of the
current (in amperes) and the time (in seconds).

i4 Uses

vg A matrix version of Kirchhoff’s current law is the basis of

most circuit simulation software, such as SPICE. Kirch-
i3 hoff’s current law combined with Ohm’s Law is used in
nodal analysis.
KCL is applicable to any lumped network irrespective of
the nature of the network; whether unilateral or bilateral,
The current entering any junction is equal to the current leaving active or passive, linear or non-linear.
that junction. i2 + i3 = i1 + i4
3.1.2 Kirchhoff’s voltage law (KVL)
This law is also called Kirchhoff’s first law, Kirchhoff’s
point rule, or Kirchhoff’s junction rule (or nodal rule). This law is also called Kirchhoff’s second law, Kirch-
The principle of conservation of electric charge implies hoff’s loop (or mesh) rule, and Kirchhoff’s second
that: rule.

84
3.1. KIRCHHOFF’S CIRCUIT LAWS 85

Generalization

a R1 b In the low-frequency limit, the voltage drop around any

loop is zero. This includes imaginary loops arranged ar-
v1 bitrarily in space – not limited to the loops delineated by
the circuit elements and conductors. In the low-frequency
+
v4 R2 v2 limit, this is a corollary of Faraday’s law of induction
– (which is one of the Maxwell equations).

d R3 c This has practical application in situations involving

"static electricity".
v3 R5
3.1.3 Limitations
v5
KCL and KVL both depend on the lumped element
model being applicable to the circuit in question. When
The sum of all the voltages around the loop is equal to zero.
the model is not applicable, the laws do not apply.
v1 + v2 + v3 - v4 = 0
KCL, in its usual form, is dependent on the assumption
that current flows only in conductors, and that whenever
The principle of conservation of energy implies that current flows into one end of a conductor it immediately
flows out the other end. This is not a safe assumption for
The directed sum of the electrical potential dif- high-frequency AC circuits, where the lumped element
ferences (voltage) around any closed network is model is no longer applicable.[2] It is often possible to im-
zero, or: prove the applicability of KCL by considering “parasitic
capacitances” distributed along the conductors.[2] Signif-
More simply, the sum of the emfs in icant violations of KCL can occur[3] even at 60Hz, which
any closed loop is equivalent to the is not a very high frequency.
sum of the potential drops in that In other words, KCL is valid only if the total electric
loop, or: charge, Q , remains constant in the region being consid-
The algebraic sum of ered. In practical cases this is always so when KCL is
the products of the resis- applied at a geometric point. When investigating a fi-
tances of the conductors nite region, however, it is possible that the charge density
and the currents in them within the region may change. Since charge is conserved,
in a closed loop is equal this can only come about by a flow of charge across the
to the total emf available region boundary. This flow represents a net current, and
in that loop. KCL is violated.
KVL is based on the assumption that there is no fluctu-
ating magnetic field linking the closed loop. This is not
Similarly to KCL, it can be stated as:
a safe assumption for high-frequency (short-wavelength)
AC circuits.[2] In the presence of a changing magnetic
field the electric field is not a conservative vector field.
∑n
Vk = 0 Therefore the electric field cannot be the gradient of any
k=1
potential. That is to say, the line integral of the electric
field around the loop is not zero, directly contradicting
Here, n is the total number of voltages measured. The KVL.
voltages may also be complex: It is often possible to improve the applicability of KVL by
considering “parasitic inductances” (including mutual in-
ductances) distributed along the conductors.[2] These are
∑
n
treated as imaginary circuit elements that produce a volt-
Ṽk = 0
age drop equal to the rate-of-change of the flux.
k=1

This law is based on the conservation of energy whereby

voltage is defined as the energy per unit charge. The total 3.1.4 Example
amount of energy gained per unit charge must be equal to
the amount of energy lost per unit charge, as energy and Assume an electric network consisting of two voltage
charge are both conserved. sources and three resistors.
86 CHAPTER 3. BASIC CIRCUIT LAWS

R1 3.1.5 See also

• Faraday’s law of induction
s1
• Kirchhoff’s laws (disambiguation)

ε1 i1 • Lumped matter discipline

R2 i2
s2 3.1.6 References
i3
[1] Oldham, Kalil T. Swain (2008). The doctrine of descrip-
ε2 tion: Gustav Kirchhoff, classical physics, and the “purpose
R3 of all science” in 19th-century Germany (Ph. D.). Univer-
sity of California, Berkeley. p. 52. Docket 3331743.

[2] Ralph Morrison, Grounding and Shielding Techniques

in Instrumentation Wiley-Interscience (1986) ISBN
0471838055
According to the first law we have [3] simonjz05,. “High Voltage Cable Inspection” (video).

• Paul, Clayton R. (2001). Fundamentals of Electric

i1 − i2 − i3 = 0 Circuit Analysis. John Wiley & Sons. ISBN 0-471-
37195-5.
The second law applied to the closed circuit s1 gives
• Serway, Raymond A.; Jewett, John W. (2004).
Physics for Scientists and Engineers (6th ed.).
−R2 i2 + E1 − R1 i1 = 0 Brooks/Cole. ISBN 0-534-40842-7.

The second law applied to the closed circuit s2 gives • Tipler, Paul (2004). Physics for Scientists and Engi-
neers: Electricity, Magnetism, Light, and Elementary
Modern Physics (5th ed.). W. H. Freeman. ISBN
0-7167-0810-8.
−R3 i3 − E2 − E1 + R2 i2 = 0
• Graham, Howard Johnson, Martin (2002). High-
Thus we get a linear system of equations in i1 , i2 , i3 : speed signal propagation : advanced black magic
(10. printing. ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pren-
 tice Hall PTR. ISBN 0-13-084408-X.

i1 − i2 − i3 =0
−R2 i2 + E1 − R1 i1 =0


−R3 i3 − E2 − E1 + R2 i2 =0 3.2 Norton’s theorem
Assuming This article is about the theorem in electrical circuits.
For Norton’s theorem for queueing networks, see flow-
equivalent server method.
Known in Europe as the Mayer–Norton theorem, Nor-
R1 = 100, R2 = 200, R3 = 300(ohms) ; E1 = 3, E2 = 4(volts)
ton’s theorem holds, to illustrate in DC circuit theory
the solution is terms, that (see image):

 • Any linear electrical network with

 1
i1 = 1100 voltage and current sources and only

 resistances can be replaced at terminals
4
i2 = 275 A-B by an equivalent current source INO



 in parallel connection with an equivalent
i3 = − 220
3
resistance RNO.
i3 has a negative sign, which means that the direction of i3 • This equivalent current INO is the current
is opposite to the assumed direction (the direction defined obtained at terminals A-B of the network
in the picture). with terminals A-B short circuited.
3.2. NORTON’S THEOREM 87

Norton’s theorem was independently derived in 1926

by Siemens & Halske researcher Hans Ferdinand Mayer
(1895–1980) and Bell Labs engineer Edward Lawry Nor-
ton (1898–1983).[1][2][3][4][5]
To find the equivalent,

1. Find the Norton current INₒ. Calculate the output

current, IAB, with a short circuit as the load (mean-
ing 0 resistance between A and B). This is INₒ.
2. Find the Norton resistance RNₒ. When there are no
dependent sources (all current and voltage sources
are independent), there are two methods of deter-
mining the Norton impedance RNₒ.

• Calculate the output voltage,

VAB, when in open circuit
condition (i.e., no load resistor
– meaning infinite load resis-
tance). RNₒ equals this VAB
divided by INₒ.
or
• Replace independent voltage
sources with short circuits and
Edward Lawry Norton independent current sources
with open circuits. The to-
tal resistance across the output
• This equivalent resistance RNO is the re- port is the Norton impedance
sistance obtained at terminals A-B of the RNₒ.
network with all its voltage sources short
circuited and all its current sources open This is equivalent to calculating the Thevenin resistance.
circuited.
However, when there are dependent sources,
the more general method must be used. This
For AC systems the theorem can be applied to reactive method is not shown below in the diagrams.
impedances as well as resistances.
• Connect a constant current
The Norton equivalent circuit is used to represent any
source at the output terminals
network of linear sources and impedances at a given
of the circuit with a value of 1
frequency.
Ampere and calculate the volt-
age at its terminals. This volt-
age divided by the 1 A current
is the Norton impedance RNₒ.
This method must be used if
the circuit contains dependent
sources, but it can be used in
all cases even when there are
no dependent sources.

Any black box containing resistances only and voltage and cur- 3.2.1 Example of a Norton equivalent cir-
rent sources can be replaced by an equivalent circuit consisting
of an equivalent current source in parallel connection with an
cuit
equivalent resistance.
In the example, the total current I ₒ ₐ is given by:

Norton’s theorem and its dual, Thévenin’s theorem, are

widely used for circuit analysis simplification and to study 15V
circuit’s initial-condition and steady-state response. Itotal = = 5.625mA.
2 kΩ + (1 kΩ∥(1 kΩ + 1 kΩ))
88 CHAPTER 3. BASIC CIRCUIT LAWS

The current through the load is then, using the current 3.2.4 References
divider rule:
[1] Mayer

1 kΩ + 1 kΩ [2] Norton
INo = · Itotal
(1 kΩ + 1 kΩ + 1 kΩ)
[3] Johnson (2003b)
= 2/3 · 5.625mA = 3.75mA.
[4] Brittain
And the equivalent resistance looking back into the circuit
is: [5] Dorf

[6] Johnson (2003a)

Req = 1 kΩ + (2 kΩ∥(1 kΩ + 1 kΩ)) = 2 kΩ.
[7] Gunther
So the equivalent circuit is a 3.75 mA current source in
parallel with a 2 kΩ resistor. [8] Chandy et al.

3.2.2 Conversion to a Thévenin equivalent 3.2.5 Bibliography

• Brittain, J.E. (March 1990). “Thevenin’s theorem”.

IEEE Spectrum 27 (3): 42. doi:10.1109/6.48845.
Retrieved 1 February 2013.

• Chandy, K. M.; Herzog, U.; Woo, L. (Jan 1975).

“Parametric Analysis of Queuing Networks”. IBM
Journal of Research and Development 19 (1): 36–
42. doi:10.1147/rd.191.0036.

A Norton equivalent circuit is related to the Thévenin • Dorf, Richard C.; Svoboda, James A. (2010).
equivalent by the following equations: “Chapter 5 – Circuit Theorems”. Introduction to
Electric Circuits (8th ed.). Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley
& Sons. pp. 162–207. ISBN 978-0-470-52157-1.
RT h = RN o
• Gunther, N.J. (2004). Analyzing computer systems
VT h = IN o RN o performance : with PERL::PDQ (Online-Ausg. ed.).
VT h Berlin: Springer. p. 281. ISBN 3-540-20865-8.
= IN o
RT h
• Johnson, D.H. (2003). “Origins of the equiva-
lent circuit concept: the voltage-source equivalent”
3.2.3 Queueing theory (PDF). Proceedings of the IEEE 91 (4): 636–640.
doi:10.1109/JPROC.2003.811716.
The passive circuit equivalent of “Norton’s theorem”
in queuing theory is called the Chandy Herzog Woo • Johnson, D.H. (2003). “Origins of the equiva-
theorem.[6][7] In a reversible queueing system, it is often lent circuit concept: the current-source equivalent”
possible to replace an uninteresting subset of queues by a (PDF). Proceedings of the IEEE 91 (5): 817–821.
single (FCFS or PS) queue with an appropriately chosen doi:10.1109/JPROC.2003.811795.
service rate.[8]
• Mayer, H. F. (1926). “Ueber das Ersatzschema
• Mwangi law der Verstärkerröhre (On equivalent circuits for elec-
tronic amplifiers]". Telegraphen- und Fernsprech-
• Ohm’s Law
Technik 15: 335–337.
• Millman’s theorem
• Norton, E. L. (1926). “Technical Report TM26–0–
• Source transformation 1860 – Design of finite networks for uniform fre-
• Superposition theorem quency characteristic”. Bell Laboratories.

• Thévenin’s theorem
• Maximum power transfer theorem
3.2.6 External links
• Extra element theorem • Norton’s theorem at allaboutcircuits.com
3.3. THÉVENIN’S THEOREM 89

two equations are usually obtained by using the follow-

ing steps, but any conditions placed on the terminals of
the circuit should also work:

1. Calculate the output voltage, VAB, when in open

circuit condition (no load resistor—meaning infinite
resistance). This is VT .

2. Calculate the output current, IAB, when the output

Any black box containing resistances only and voltage and cur-
terminals are short circuited (load resistance is 0).
rent sources can be replaced to a Thévenin equivalent circuit con-
RT equals VT divided by this IAB.
sisting of an equivalent voltage source in series connection with
an equivalent resistance.
The equivalent circuit is a voltage source with voltage VT
in series with a resistance RT .
3.3 Thévenin’s theorem
Step 2 could also be thought of as:
As originally stated in terms of DC resistive circuits only,
the Thévenin’s theorem holds that: 2a. Replace the independent voltage sources
with short circuits, and independent current
• Any linear electrical network with sources with open circuits.
voltage and current sources and only
2b. Calculate the resistance between terminals
resistances can be replaced at terminals
A and B. This is RT .
A-B by an equivalent voltage source V
in series connection with an equivalent
resistance R . The Thévenin-equivalent voltage is the voltage at the out-
• This equivalent voltage V is the voltage put terminals of the original circuit. When calculating a
obtained at terminals A-B of the network Thévenin-equivalent voltage, the voltage divider princi-
with terminals A-B open circuited. ple is often useful, by declaring one terminal to be Vₒᵤ
and the other terminal to be at the ground point.
• This equivalent resistance R is the re-
sistance obtained at terminals A-B of the The Thévenin-equivalent resistance is the resistance mea-
network with all its independent current sured across points A and B “looking back” into the
sources open circuited and all its inde- circuit. It is important to first replace all voltage- and
pendent voltage sources short circuited. current-sources with their internal resistances. For an
ideal voltage source, this means replace the voltage source
In circuit theory terms, the theorem allows any one-port with a short circuit. For an ideal current source, this
network to be reduced to a single voltage source and a means replace the current source with an open cir-
single impedance. cuit. Resistance can then be calculated across the ter-
minals using the formulae for series and parallel circuits.
The theorem also applies to frequency domain AC cir-
This method is valid only for circuits with independent
cuits consisting of reactive and resistive impedances.
sources. If there are dependent sources in the circuit,
The theorem was independently derived in 1853 by the another method must be used such as connecting a test
German scientist Hermann von Helmholtz and in 1883 source across A and B and calculating the voltage across
by Léon Charles Thévenin (1857–1926), an electrical or current through the test source.
engineer with France’s national Postes et Télégraphes
telecommunications organization.[1][2][3][4][5][6]
Example
Thévenin’s theorem and its dual, Norton’s theorem, are
widely used for circuit analysis simplification and to study
circuit’s initial-condition and steady-state response.[7][8] 2KΩ

R4
1KΩ

R1 A
15V 2KΩ 7.5V 1KΩ
R4 R1
7.5V
A
2KΩ

R4
1KΩ

R1 A
2KΩ

Req A
Thévenin’s theorem can be used to convert any circuit’s V1
15V
R3 1KΩ
V1
15V
R3 1KΩ R3 1KΩ
2KΩ V1
7.5V

sources and impedances to a Thévenin equivalent; use R2 1KΩ

B
R2 1KΩ
B
R2 1KΩ
B
(d)
B

of the theorem may in some cases be more convenient

(a) (b) (c)

than use of Kirchhoff’s circuit laws.[6][9]

In the example, calculating the equivalent voltage:

3.3.1 Calculating the Thévenin equivalent
To calculate the equivalent circuit, the resistance and volt- R2 + R3
age are needed, so two equations are required. These VTh = (R2 + R3 ) + R4 · V1
90 CHAPTER 3. BASIC CIRCUIT LAWS

3.3.4 A proof of the theorem

1 kΩ + 1 kΩ
= · 15 V The proof involves two steps. First use superposition the-
(1 kΩ + 1 kΩ) + 2 kΩ
orem to construct a solution, and then use uniqueness the-
orem to show the solution is unique. The second step is
1 usually implied. Firstly, using the superposition theorem,
= · 15 V = 7.5 V in general for any linear “black box” circuit which con-
2
tains voltage sources and resistors, one can always write
(notice that R1 is not taken into consideration, as above down its voltage as a linear function of the corresponding
calculations are done in an open circuit condition between current as follows
A and B, therefore no current flows through this part,
which means there is no current through R1 and there-
fore no voltage drop along this part) V = VEq − ZEq I
Calculating equivalent resistance:
where the first term reflects the linear summation of con-
RTh = R1 + [(R2 + R3 ) ∥R4 ] tributions from each voltage source, while the second
term measures the contribution from all the resistors. The
= 1 kΩ + [(1 kΩ + 1 kΩ) ∥2 kΩ] above argument is due to the fact that the voltage of the
( )−1 black box for a given current I is identical to the linear
1 1
= 1 kΩ + + = 2 kΩ. superposition of the solutions of the following problems:
(1 kΩ + 1 kΩ) (2 kΩ) (1) to leave the black box open circuited but activate indi-
vidual voltage source one at a time and, (2) to short circuit
all the voltage sources but feed the circuit with a certain
3.3.2 Conversion to a Norton equivalent
ideal voltage source so that the resulting current exactly
Main article: Norton’s theorem reads I (or an ideal current source of current I ). Once
A Norton equivalent circuit is related to the Thévenin the above expression is established, it is straightforward
to show that VEq and ZEq are the single voltage source and
the single series resistor in question.

3.3.5 See also

• Millman’s theorem

• Source transformation

• Superposition theorem
equivalent by the following:
• Norton’s theorem

RTh = RNo • Maximum power transfer theorem

VTh = INo RNo • Extra element theorem

INo = VTh /RTh .
3.3.6 References
3.3.3 Practical limitations [1] Helmholtz

• Many circuits are only linear over a certain range [2] Thévenin (1883a)
of values, thus the Thévenin equivalent is valid only
[3] Thévenin (1883b)
within this linear range.
[4] Johnson (2003a)
• The Thévenin equivalent has an equivalent I–V char-
acteristic only from the point of view of the load. [5] Brittain
• The power dissipation of the Thévenin equivalent is [6] Dorf
not necessarily identical to the power dissipation of
the real system. However, the power dissipated by [7] Brenner
an external resistor between the two output terminals [8] Elgerd
is the same regardless of how the internal circuit is
implemented. [9] Dwight
3.3. THÉVENIN’S THEOREM 91

3.3.7 Bibliography 3.3.8 External links

• Brenner, Egon; Javid, Mansour (1959). “Chapter 12 • First-Order Filters: Shortcut via Thévenin Equiva-
- Network Functions”. Analysis of Electric Circuits. lent Source — showing on p. 4 complex circuit’s
McGraw-Hill. pp. 268–269. Thévenin’s theorem simplication to first-order low-
pass filter and associated voltage divider, time con-
• Brittain, J.E. (March 1990). “Thevenin’s theorem”. stant and gain.
IEEE Spectrum 27 (3): 42. doi:10.1109/6.48845.
Retrieved 1 February 2013.

• Dorf, Richard C.; Svoboda, James A. (2010).

“Chapter 5 - Circuit Theorems”. Introduction to
Electric Circuits (8th ed.). Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley
& Sons. pp. 162–207. ISBN 978-0-470-52157-1.

• Dwight, Herbert B. (1949). “Sec. 2 - Electric

and Magnetic Circuits”. In Knowlton, A.E. Stan-
dard Handbook for Electrical Engineers (8th ed.).
McGraw-Hill. p. 26.

• Elgerd, Olle I. (2007). “Chapter 10, Energy Sys-

tem Transients - Surge Phenomena and Symmetri-
cal Fault Analysis”. Electric Energy Systems Theory:
An Introduction. Tata McGraw-Hill. pp. 402–429.
ISBN 978-0070192300.

• Helmholtz, H. (1853). "Über einige Gesetze

der Vertheilung elektrischer Ströme in körper-
lichen Leitern mit Anwendung auf die thierisch-
elektrischen Versuche (Some laws concerning the
distribution of electrical currents in conductors with
applications to experiments on animal electricity)".
Annalen der Physik und Chemie 89 (6): 211–233.

• Johnson, D.H. (2003a). “Origins of the equiva-

lent circuit concept: the voltage-source equivalent”
(PDF). Proceedings of the IEEE 91 (4): 636–640.
doi:10.1109/JPROC.2003.811716.

• Johnson, D.H. (2003b). “Origins of the equiva-

lent circuit concept: the current-source equivalent”
(PDF). Proceedings of the IEEE 91 (5): 817–821.
doi:10.1109/JPROC.2003.811795.

• Thévenin, L. (1883a). “Extension de la loi d’Ohm

aux circuits électromoteurs complexes (Extension of
Ohm’s law to complex electromotive circuits)". An-
nales Télégraphiques. 3e series 10: 222–224.

• Thévenin, L. (1883b). “Sur un nouveau théorème

d'électricité dynamique (On a new theorem of dy-
namic electricity)". Comptes rendus hebdomadaires
des séances de l'Académie des Sciences 97: 159–161.

• Wenner, F. (1926). “Sci. Paper S531, A principle

governing the distribution of current in systems of
linear conductors”. Washington, D.C.: Bureau of
Standards.
Chapter 4

AC analysis

4.1 Phasor complexor.[6]

The origin of the term phasor rightfully suggests that a
For other uses, see Phasor (disambiguation). (diagrammatic) calculus somewhat similar to that possi-
“Complex amplitude” redirects here. For the quantum- ble for vectors is possible for phasors as well.[6] An im-
portant additional feature of the phasor transform is that
differentiation and integration of sinusoidal signals (hav-

U C
ing constant amplitude, period and phase) corresponds
to simple algebraic operations on the phasors; the phasor
transform thus allows the analysis (calculation) of the AC
steady state of RLC circuits by solving simple algebraic
U RLC
equations (albeit with complex coefficients) in the pha-

UL
sor domain instead of solving differential equations (with
real coefficients) in the time domain.[7][8] The originator

U R I
of the phasor transform was Charles Proteus Steinmetz
working at General Electric in the late 19th century.[9][10]
Glossing over some mathematical details, the phasor
transform can also be seen as a particular case of the

UR UC UL Laplace transform, which additionally can be used to (si-

multaneously) derive the transient response of an RLC
I circuit.[10][8] However, the Laplace transform is mathe-
matically more difficult to apply and the effort may be
unjustified if only steady state analysis is required.[10]
URLC
4.1.1 Definition
An example of series RLC circuit and respective phasor diagram
for a specific ω Euler’s formula indicates that sinusoids can be repre-
sented mathematically as the sum of two complex-valued
mechanical concept, see Complex probability amplitude. functions:

ei(ωt+θ) +e−i(ωt+θ)
In physics and engineering, a phasor (a portmanteau of A · cos(ωt + θ) = A · 2 ,
[lower-alpha 1]
phase vector[1][2] ), is a complex number representing a
sinusoidal function whose amplitude (A), frequency (ω),
and phase (θ) are time-invariant. It is a special case of or as the real part of one of the functions:
a more general concept called analytic representation.[3]
Phasors separate the dependencies on A, ω, and θ into
{ }
three independent factors. This can be particularly useful A · cos(ωt + θ) = Re A · ei(ωt+θ)
because the frequency factor (which includes the time- { }
dependence of the sinusoid) is often common to all the = Re Aeiθ · eiωt .
components of a linear combination of sinusoids. In
those situations, phasors allow this common feature to be The term phasor can refer to either Aeiθ eiωt or just the
factored out, leaving just the A and θ features. A pha- complex constant, Aeiθ . In the latter case, it is under-
sor may also be called a complex amplitude[4][5] and— stood to be a shorthand notation, encoding the amplitude
in older texts—a phasor is also called a sinor[6] or even and phase of an underlying sinusoid.

92
4.1. PHASOR 93

An even more compact shorthand is angle notation: In electronics, Beiϕ would represent an impedance,
A∠θ. See also vector notation. which is independent of time. In particular it is not the
shorthand notation for another phasor. Multiplying a pha-
sor current by an impedance produces a phasor voltage.
But the product of two phasors (or squaring a phasor)
would represent the product of two sinusoids, which is
a non-linear operation that produces new frequency com-
ponents. Phasor notation can only represent systems with
one frequency, such as a linear system stimulated by a si-
nusoid.

Differentiation and integration

The time derivative or integral of a phasor produces an-

other phasor.[lower-alpha 2] For example:

{ }
d
Re (Ae · e ) = Re{Aeiθ · iωeiωt }
iθ iωt
dt

= Re{Aeiθ · eiπ/2 ωeiωt }

= Re{ωAei(θ+π/2) · eiωt }

= ωA · cos(ωt + θ + π/2)

Therefore, in phasor representation, the time derivative

of a sinusoid becomes just multiplication by the constant,
iω = (eiπ/2 · ω).
Similarly, integrating a phasor corresponds to multiplica-
−iπ/2
1
tion by iω = e ω . The time-dependent factor, eiωt ,
is unaffected.
When we solve a linear differential equation with phasor
arithmetic, we are merely factoring eiωt out of all terms
of the equation, and reinserting it into the answer. For
example, consider the following differential equation for
the voltage across the capacitor in an RC circuit:
A phasor can be considered a vector rotating about the origin in a
complex plane. The cosine function is the projection of the vector
onto the real axis. Its amplitude is the modulus of the vector, and d vC (t) 1 1
its argument is the total phase ωt + θ . The phase constant θ + vC (t) = vS (t)
dt RC RC
represents the angle that the vector forms with the real axis at t
= 0. When the voltage source in this circuit is sinusoidal:

vS (t) = VP · cos(ωt + θ),

4.1.2 Phasor arithmetic
we may substitute:
Multiplication by a constant (scalar)

Multiplication of the phasor Aeiθ eiωt by a complex con-

vS (t) = Re{Vs · eiωt }
stant, Beiϕ , produces another phasor. That means its
only effect is to change the amplitude and phase of the v (t) = Re{V · eiωt },
C c
underlying sinusoid:
where phasor Vs = VP eiθ , and phasor Vc is the un-
known quantity to be determined.
Re{(Aeiθ · Beiϕ ) · eiωt } = Re{(ABei(θ+ϕ) ) · eiωt } In the phasor shorthand notation, the differential equation
= AB cos(ωt + (θ + ϕ)) reduces to[lower-alpha 3] :
94 CHAPTER 4. AC ANALYSIS

1 1
iωVc + Vc = Vs
RC RC
Solving for the phasor capacitor voltage gives:

1 1 − iωRC
Vc = · (Vs ) = · (VP eiθ )
1 + iωRC 1 + (ωRC)2
As we have seen, the factor multiplying Vs represents dif-
ferences of the amplitude and phase of vC (t) relative to
VP and θ.
In polar coordinate form, it is:

1
√ ·e−iϕ(ω) , where ϕ(ω) = arctan(ωRC).
1 + (ωRC)2

Therefore:

1
vC (t) = √ · VP cos(ωt + θ − ϕ(ω))
1 + (ωRC)2

Addition

The sum of multiple phasors produces another phasor.

That is because the sum of sinusoids with the same fre-
quency is also a sinusoid with that frequency:

A1 cos(ωt + θ1 ) + A2 cos(ωt + θ2 ) = Re{A1 eiθ1 eiωt } + Re{A2 eiθ2 eiωt }

= Re{A1 eiθ1 eiωt + A2 eiθ2 eiωt }

The sum of phasors as addition of rotating vectors
= Re{(A1 eiθ1 + A2 eiθ2 )eiωt }

= Re{(A3 eiθ3 )eiωt }be suppressed and re-inserted into the outcome as long as
the only operations used in between are ones that produce
= A3 cos(ωt + θ3 ), another phasor. In angle notation, the operation shown
above is written:
where:

A1 ∠θ1 + A2 ∠θ2 = A3 ∠θ3 .

A23 = (A1 cos θ1 +A2 cos θ2 )2 +(A1 sin θ1 +A2 sin θ2 )2 ,
( ) Another way to view addition is that two vectors with
A1 sin θ1 + A2 sin θ2 coordinates [A1 cos(ωt + θ1 ), A1 sin(ωt + θ1 )] and [A2
θ3 = arctan
A1 cos θ1 + A2 cos θ2 cos(ωt + θ2 ), A2 sin(ωt + θ2 )] are added vectorially to
produce a resultant vector with coordinates [A3 cos(ωt +
or, via the law of cosines on the complex plane (or the
θ3 ), A3 sin(ωt + θ3 )]. (see animation)
trigonometric identity for angle differences):
In physics, this sort of addition occurs when sinusoids
interfere with each other, constructively or destructively.
◦
A3 = A1 +A2 −2A1 A2 cos(180 −∆θ), = A1 +A2 +2A1 AThe
2 2 2 2 2 static vector concept provides useful insight into
2 cos(∆θ),
questions like this: “What phase difference would be re-
where ∆θ = θ1 − θ2 . A key point is that A3 and θ3 quired between three identical sinusoids for perfect can-
do not depend on ω or t, which is what makes phasor no- cellation?" In this case, simply imagine taking three vec-
tation possible. The time and frequency dependence can tors of equal length and placing them head to tail such
4.1. PHASOR 95

Circuit laws

With phasors, the techniques for solving DC circuits can

be applied to solve AC circuits. A list of the basic laws is
given below.

• Ohm’s law for resistors: a resistor has no time de-

lays and therefore doesn't change the phase of a sig-
nal therefore V=IR remains valid.

• Ohm’s law for resistors, inductors, and capaci-

tors: V = IZ where Z is the complex impedance.

• In an AC circuit we have real power (P) which is

a representation of the average power into the cir-
cuit and reactive power (Q) which indicates power
flowing back and forward. We can also define the
Phasor diagram of three waves in perfect destructive interference
complex power S = P + jQ and the apparent power
which is the magnitude of S. The power law for
that the last head matches up with the first tail. Clearly, an AC circuit expressed in phasors is then S = VI *
the shape which satisfies these conditions is an equilat- (where I * is the complex conjugate of I, and I and V
eral triangle, so the angle between each phasor to the next are the RMS values of the voltage and current).
is 120° (2π/3 radians), or one third of a wavelength λ /3 .
So the phase difference between each wave must also be • Kirchhoff’s circuit laws work with phasors in com-
120°, as is the case in three-phase power plex form
In other words, what this shows is:
Given this we can apply the techniques of analysis of re-
sistive circuits with phasors to analyze single frequency
cos(ωt) + cos(ωt + 2π/3) + cos(ωt − 2π/3) = 0. AC circuits containing resistors, capacitors, and induc-
tors. Multiple frequency linear AC circuits and AC cir-
In the example of three waves, the phase difference be- cuits with different waveforms can be analyzed to find
tween the first and the last wave was 240 degrees, while voltages and currents by transforming all waveforms to
for two waves destructive interference happens at 180 de- sine wave components with magnitude and phase then
grees. In the limit of many waves, the phasors must form analyzing each frequency separately, as allowed by the
a circle for destructive interference, so that the first pha- superposition theorem.
sor is nearly parallel with the last. This means that for
many sources, destructive interference happens when the
first and last wave differ by 360 degrees, a full wavelength Power engineering
λ . This is why in single slit diffraction, the minima oc-
curs when light from the far edge travels a full wavelength In analysis of three phase AC power systems, usually a set
further than the light from the near edge. of phasors is defined as the three complex cube roots of
unity, graphically represented as unit magnitudes at an-
gles of 0, 120 and 240 degrees. By treating polyphase
4.1.3 Phasor diagrams AC circuit quantities as phasors, balanced circuits can be
simplified and unbalanced circuits can be treated as an
Electrical engineers, electronics engineers, electronic en- algebraic combination of symmetrical circuits. This ap-
gineering technicians and aircraft engineers all use pha- proach greatly simplifies the work required in electrical
sor diagrams to visualize complex constants and variables calculations of voltage drop, power flow, and short-circuit
(phasors). Like vectors, arrows drawn on graph paper or currents. In the context of power systems analysis, the
computer displays represent phasors. Cartesian and polar phase angle is often given in degrees, and the magnitude
representations each have advantages, with the Cartesian in rms value rather than the peak amplitude of the sinu-
coordinates showing the real and imaginary parts of the soid.
phasor and the polar coordinates showing its magnitude
The technique of synchrophasors uses digital instruments
and phase.
to measure the phasors representing transmission system
voltages at widespread points in a transmission network.
4.1.4 Applications Small changes in the phasors are sensitive indicators of
power flow and system stability.
96 CHAPTER 4. AC ANALYSIS

4.1.5 See also [5] Kequian Zhang; Dejie Li (2007). Electromagnetic Theory
for Microwaves and Optoelectronics (2nd ed.). Springer
• In-phase and quadrature components Science & Business Media. p. 13. ISBN 978-3-540-
74296-8.
• Analytic signal
[6] J. Hindmarsh (1984). Electr