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ENSC2003 - Lecture 13
Power in DC Circuits - Slides

Power in Resistor-Only DC Circuits

  • Resistors always consume power

Maximum Power Transfer Theorem

Given: voltage source with internal resistance + load

  • Max power over load occurs when:
  • Max power when condition is met:
  • Max power dissipated by and are the same ()
    • i.e. is using only half of the total power supplied

Maximum power transfer theorem shows a very low power efficiency (at most 50%) in DC resistor-only circuits


Power in AC Circuits - Slides

Power in AC Circuits

  • Instantaneous power is a function of time in an AC circuit:
    • Power is always greater than zero
  • For a resistor:

Average and Peak Power

  • Average power:
  • Peak power:
    • Power of squared sinusoid:
    • Cosine term equals 1 or -1

Root Mean Square (RMS)

  • Effective (DC-equivalent) value of AC:

  • Power using RMS:

    • This is the main formula to be used in exams
  • RMS current:

Average voltage/current is constant; it does not depend on time

Power in Different Elements

  • Capacitor: no net power consumed →
    • Stores energy in electric field but then returns it
  • Inductor: no net power consumed →
    • Stores energy in magnetic field and then returns it

Power in the AC Steady-State - Slides

Power in AC Steady-State

  • Accounting for phase difference between and :

    • phase difference
  • This equation above now works for all components:

    • Resistors work as normal as and are in phase
    • Capacitors and inductors consume power (see below)

and are out of phase for capacitors and inductors:

  • Capacitors/inductors do not dissipate real power, but they still reduce the real power dissipated by a resistor in the circuit
  • This can be seen in equations when using:
    • Capacitors/inductors affect impedance

Complex and Real Power

Complex power is defined as:

  • Has unit of Volt-Amperes (VA)
  • is real component, is imaginary component

Real power is the real component of :

  • Has unit of Watt
  • Only resistors can consume real power
  • Real power is equal to
  • Also known as active power

Reactive power is the imaginary component of :

  • Has unit of Volt-Amperes, Reactive (VAR)
  • Only capacitors and inductors can consume reactive power

Apparent Power is the magnitude of complex power :

  • Has unit of Volt-Amperes (VA)
  • Total “supplied” power

Power Factor

  • Power triangle diagram:


    angle of power triangle

  • If , then → current leads the voltage (leading)

  • If , then → current lags the voltage (lagging)

The ratio of to is called the power factor, denoted by :

  • Leading or lagging status must be indicated in calculation
    • -> we do not know if is +ve or -ve
    • Thus we must indicate alongside more information
  • Low power factor → inefficiency
    • More current needed → greater power loss
  • You want to maximise real component of complex power

ENSC2003 - Lecture 15