Kurdistan Region Government

Ministry of Higher Education and

Scientific Research
Polytechnic University of Sulaimani
Technical College Engineering
Department
Second Stage

RLC Resonant Circuits

Prepared by:
• Zanyar Awez

Supervised By
•

2021-2022

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 Title page
Resonance 3
Capacitors and Inductors 4
Resonance in series RLC Circuit 4
Applications of series RLC resonant circuit
7
Parallel Resonance Circuit 7
Quality factor or Q–factor 19
APPLICATIONS 24

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Resonance
The resonant(or tuned) circuit, in one of its many forms, allows us to select a desired radio or television
signal from the vast number of signals that are around us at any time. Resonant electronic circuits contain
at least one inductor and one capacitor and have a bell-shaped response curve centered at some resonant
frequency, fr , as illustrated in Figure below. The response curve of Figure indicates that current or voltage
will be at a maximum at the resonant frequency, fr . Varying the frequency in either direction results in a
reduction of the voltage or current. If we were to apply variable-frequency sinusoidal signals to a circuit
consisting of an inductor and capacitor, we would find that maximum energy will transfer back and forth
between the two elements at the resonant frequency. There are two types of resonant circuits: series and
parallel. Each will be considered in some detail in this lecture.

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1 Capacitors and Inductors
There is a lot of inconsistency when it comes to dealing with reactances of complex components. The format followed
in this document is as follows. The impedance, Z, of a component or a circuit is defined as,

Z = R + jX (1)

where R is the resistance, j is the imaginary unit, and X is the reactance. Note that the imaginary unit is outside the
reactance and there is a plus sign between R and jX.
Capacitors and Inductors are both components which can store energy: capacitors store it in an electric field and
inductors in a magnetic field. Ideal capacitors and inductors are assumed to have zero resistance and so have a purely
imaginary impedance,

(2)

Following the convention in equation 1 we define the reactances to be,

(3)

note that the minus sign is included inside XC, this is to ensure we get a plus sign in equation 1. You will often see
capacitive reactance being quoted without this minus sign - be very careful!
Figure 1 shows how the absolute value of the reactances of the inductor and the capacitor change with frequency.
Note that the capacitive reactance, and hence impedance, heads towards infinity for DC currents and zero for high

Figure 1: Reactance of a capacitor and a inductor w.r.t. angular frequency

frequency AC currents. This is what we expect - ideal capacitors are considered open circuits for DC current and short
circuits for high enough frequency AC signals (this is why we can ignore some capacitors in transistor circuits at ‘mid-
band’ frequencies).

[Link] in series RLC Circuit

When the frequency of the applied alternating source ( ωr ) is equal to the
natural frequency | 1/ √(LC) | of the RLC circuit, the current in the circuit reaches

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its maximum value. Then the circuit is said to be in electrical resonance. The
frequency at which resonance takes place is called resonant frequency.

Resonant angular frequency, ωr = 1/ √(LC)

Since XL and XC are frequency dependent, the resonance condition ( X L = XC ) can be

achieved by the varying the frequency of the applied voltage.

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1.1 Effects of series resonance

When series resonance occurs, the impedance of the circuit is minimum and is equal
to the resistance of the circuit. As a result of this, the current in the circuit becomes
maximum. This is shown in the resonance curve drawn between current and
frequency (Figure 4.54).

At resonance, the impedance is

Therefore, the current in the circuit is

The maximum current at series resonance is limited by the resistance of the circuit.
For smaller resistance, larger current with sharper curve is obtained and vice versa.

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1.2 Applications of series RLC resonant circuit

RLC circuits have many applications like filter circuits, oscillators, voltage
multipliers etc. An important use of series RLC resonant circuits is in the tuning
circuits of radio and TV systems. The signals from many broadcasting stations at
different frequencies are available in the air. To receive the signal of a particular
station, tuning is done.

The tuning is commonly achieved by varying capacitance of a parallel plate variable

capacitor, thereby changing the resonant frequency of the circuit. When resonant
frequency is nearly equal to the frequency of the signal of the particular station, the
amplitude of the current in the circuit is maximum. Thus the signal of that station
alone is received.

2 Parallel Resonance Circuit

Parallel resonance occurs when the supply frequency creates zero phase difference between
the supply voltage and current producing a resistive circuit

In many ways a parallel resonance circuit is exactly the same as the series resonance
circuit we looked at in the previous tutorial. Both are 3-element networks that
contain two reactive components making them a second-order circuit, both are
influenced by variations in the supply frequency and both have a frequency point
where their two reactive components cancel each other out influencing the
characteristics of the circuit. Both circuits have a resonant frequency point.
The difference this time however, is that a parallel resonance circuit is influenced by
the currents flowing through each parallel branch within the parallel LC tank circuit.

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A tank circuit is a parallel combination of L and C that is used in filter networks to
either select or reject AC frequencies. Consider the parallel RLC circuit below.

Parallel RLC Circuit

Let us define what we already know about parallel RLC circuits.

A parallel circuit containing a resistance, R, an inductance, L and a

capacitance, C will produce a parallel resonance (also called anti-resonance) circuit
when the resultant current through the parallel combination is in phase with the
supply voltage. At resonance there will be a large circulating current between the
inductor and the capacitor due to the energy of the oscillations, then parallel circuits
produce current resonance.
A parallel resonant circuit stores the circuit energy in the magnetic field of the
inductor and the electric field of the capacitor. This energy is constantly being
transferred back and forth between the inductor and the capacitor which results in
zero current and energy being drawn from the supply.
This is because the corresponding instantaneous values of IL and IC will always be
equal and opposite and therefore the current drawn from the supply is the vector
addition of these two currents and the current flowing in IR.
In the solution of AC parallel resonance circuits we know that the supply voltage is
common for all branches, so this can be taken as our reference vector. Each parallel
branch must be treated separately as with series circuits so that the total supply
current taken by the parallel circuit is the vector addition of the individual branch
currents.
Then there are two methods available to us in the analysis of parallel resonance
circuits. We can calculate the current in each branch and then add together or
calculate the admittance of each branch to find the total current.

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We know from the previous series resonance tutorial that resonance takes place
when VL = -VC and this situation occurs when the two reactances are equal, XL = XC.
The admittance of a parallel circuit is given as:

Resonance occurs when XL = XC and the imaginary parts of Y become zero. Then:

Notice that at resonance the parallel circuit produces the same equation as for the
series resonance circuit. Therefore, it makes no difference if the inductor or
capacitor are connected in parallel or series.
Also at resonance the parallel LC tank circuit acts like an open circuit with the circuit
current being determined by the resistor, R only. So the total impedance of a parallel

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resonance circuit at resonance becomes just the value of the resistance in the
circuit and Z = R as shown.

Thus at resonance, the impedance of the parallel circuit is at its maximum value and
equal to the resistance of the circuit creating a circuit condition of high resistance
and low current. Also at resonance, as the impedance of the circuit is now that of
resistance only, the total circuit current, I will be “in-phase” with the supply
voltage, VS.
We can change the circuit’s frequency response by changing the value of this
resistance. Changing the value of R affects the amount of current that flows
through the circuit at resonance, if both L and C remain constant. Then the
impedance of the circuit at resonance Z = RMAX is called the “dynamic impedance” of
the circuit.

Impedance in a Parallel Resonance Circuit

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Note that if the parallel circuits impedance is at its maximum at resonance then
consequently, the circuits admittance must be at its minimum and one of the
characteristics of a parallel resonance circuit is that admittance is very low limiting
the circuits current. Unlike the series resonance circuit, the resistor in a parallel
resonance circuit has a damping effect on the circuits bandwidth making the circuit
less selective.
Also, since the circuit current is constant for any value of impedance, Z, the voltage
across a parallel resonance circuit will have the same shape as the total impedance
and for a parallel circuit the voltage waveform is generally taken from across the
capacitor.
We now know that at the resonant frequency, ƒr the admittance of the circuit is at
its minimum and is equal to the conductance, G given by 1/R because in a parallel
resonance circuit the imaginary part of admittance, i.e. the susceptance, B is zero
because BL = BC as shown.

Susceptance at Resonance

From above, the inductive susceptance, BL is inversely proportional to the frequency

as represented by the hyperbolic curve. The capacitive susceptance, BC is directly
proportional to the frequency and is therefore represented by a straight line. The
final curve shows the plot of total susceptance of the parallel resonance circuit
versus the frequency and is the difference between the two susceptance’s.
Then we can see that at the resonant frequency point were it crosses the horizontal
axis the total circuit susceptance is zero. Below the resonant frequency point, the
inductive susceptance dominates the circuit producing a “lagging” power factor,

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whereas above the resonant frequency point the capacitive susceptance dominates
producing a “leading” power factor.
So at the resonant frequency, ƒr the current drawn from the supply must be “in-
phase” with the applied voltage as effectively there is only the resistance present in
the parallel circuit, so the power factor becomes one or unity, ( θ = 0o ).
Also as the impedance of a parallel circuit changes with frequency, this makes the
circuit impedance “dynamic” with the current at resonance being in-phase with the
voltage since the impedance of the circuit acts as a resistance. Then we have seen
that the impedance of a parallel circuit at resonance is equivalent to the value of the
resistance and this value must, therefore represent the maximum dynamic
impedance (Zd) of the circuit as shown.

2.1 Current in a Parallel Resonance Circuit

As the total susceptance is zero at the resonant frequency, the admittance is at its
minimum and is equal to the conductance, G. Therefore at resonance the current
flowing through the circuit must also be at its minimum as the inductive and
capacitive branch currents are equal ( IL = IC ) and are 180o out of phase.
We remember that the total current flowing in a parallel RLC circuit is equal to the
vector sum of the individual branch currents and for a given frequency is calculated
as:

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At resonance, currents IL and IC are equal and cancelling giving a net reactive current
equal to zero. Then at resonance the above equation becomes.

Since the current flowing through a parallel resonance circuit is the product of
voltage divided by impedance, at resonance the impedance, Z is at its maximum
value, ( =R ). Therefore, the circuit current at this frequency will be at its minimum
value of V/R and the graph of current against frequency for a parallel resonance
circuit is given as.

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Parallel Circuit Current at Resonance

The frequency response curve of a parallel resonance circuit shows that the
magnitude of the current is a function of frequency and plotting this onto a graph
shows us that the response starts at its maximum value, reaches its minimum value
at the resonance frequency when IMIN = IR and then increases again to maximum
as ƒ becomes infinite.
The result of this is that the magnitude of the current flowing through the
inductor, L and the capacitor, C tank circuit can become many times larger than the
supply current, even at resonance but as they are equal and at opposition (
180o out-of-phase ) they effectively cancel each other out.
As a parallel resonance circuit only functions on resonant frequency, this type of
circuit is also known as an Rejecter Circuit because at resonance, the impedance of
the circuit is at its maximum thereby suppressing or rejecting the current whose
frequency is equal to its resonant frequency. The effect of resonance in a parallel
circuit is also called “current resonance”.
The calculations and graphs used above for defining a parallel resonance circuit are
similar to those we used for a series circuit. However, the characteristics and graphs
drawn for a parallel circuit are exactly opposite to that of series circuits with the
parallel circuits maximum and minimum impedance, current and magnification being
reversed. Which is why a parallel resonance circuit is also called an Anti-
resonance circuit.

2.2 Bandwidth & Selectivity of a Parallel Resonance Circuit

The bandwidth of a parallel resonance circuit is defined in exactly the same way as
for the series resonance circuit. The upper and lower cut-off frequencies given

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as: ƒupper and ƒlower respectively denote the half-power frequencies where the power
dissipated in the circuit is half of the full power dissipated at the resonant
frequency 0.5( I2 R ) which gives us the same -3dB points at a current value that is
equal to 70.7% of its maximum resonant value, ( 0.707 x I )2 R
As with the series circuit, if the resonant frequency remains constant, an increase in
the quality factor, Q will cause a decrease in the bandwidth and likewise, a decrease
in the quality factor will cause an increase in the bandwidth as defined by:
BW = ƒr /Q or BW = ƒupper - ƒlower
Also changing the ratio between the inductor, L and the capacitor, C, or the value of
the resistance, R the bandwidth and therefore the frequency response of the circuit
will be changed for a fixed resonant frequency. This technique is used extensively in
tuning circuits for radio and television transmitters and receivers.
The selectivity or Q-factor for a parallel resonance circuit is generally defined as the
ratio of the circulating branch currents to the supply current and is given as:

Note that the Q-factor of a parallel resonance circuit is the inverse of the
expression for the Q-factor of the series circuit. Also in series resonance circuits the
Q-factor gives the voltage magnification of the circuit, whereas in a parallel circuit it
gives the current magnification.
Bandwidth of a Parallel Resonance Circuit

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2.3 Parallel Resonance Example No1
A parallel resonance network consisting of a resistor of 60Ω, a capacitor of 120uF
and an inductor of 200mH is connected across a sinusoidal supply voltage which
has a constant output of 100 volts at all frequencies. Calculate, the resonant
frequency, the quality factor and the bandwidth of the circuit, the circuit current at
resonance and current magnification.

1. Resonant Frequency, ƒr

2. Inductive Reactance at Resonance, XL

3. Quality factor, Q

4. Bandwidth, BW

5. The upper and lower -3dB frequency points, ƒH and ƒL

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6. Circuit Current at Resonance, IT
At resonance the dynamic impedance of the circuit is equal to R

7. Current Magnification, Imag

Note that the current drawn from the supply at resonance (the resistive current) is
only 1.67 amps, while the current flowing around the LC tank circuit is larger at 2.45
amps. We can check this value by calculating the current flowing through the
inductor (or capacitor) at resonance.

2.4 Parallel Resonance Tutorial Summary

We have seen that Parallel Resonance circuits are similar to series resonance
circuits. Resonance occurs in a parallel RLC circuit when the total circuit current is
“in-phase” with the supply voltage as the two reactive components cancel each
other out.
At resonance the admittance of the circuit is at its minimum and is equal to the
conductance of the circuit. Also at resonance the current drawn from the supply is
also at its minimum and is determined by the value of the parallel resistance.
The equation used to calculate the resonant frequency point is the same for the
previous series circuit. However, while the use of either pure or impure components
in the series RLC circuit does not affect the calculation of the resonance frequency,
but in a parallel RLC circuit it does.
In this tutorial about parallel resonance, we have assumed that the the two reactive
components are purely inductive and purely capacitive with zero impedance.
However in reality, the inductor will contain some amount resistance in

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series, RS with its inductive coil, since inductors (and solenoids) are wound coils of
wire, usually made from copper, wrapped around a central core.
Therefore the basic equation above for calculating the parallel resonant
frequency, ƒr of a pure parallel resonance circuit will need to be modified slightly to
take account of the impure inductor having a series resistance.

Resonant Frequency using Impure Inductor

Where: L is the inductance of the coil, C is the parallel capacitance and RS is the DC
resistive value of the coil.
3 Lossy Components
So far we have assumed that the inductor and the capacitor are ideal components with no internal resistances. In this
section we look at the effect of a more realistic model of the reactive components on the resonant circuit.

3.1 Inductors
An inductor is essentially just a coil of wire and so often has a non-negligible resistance. This is most readily modelled
as a resistor in series with the inductor as shown on the left in figure 8. The smaller this resistance is the more ideal
the inductor is.

Figure 8: Series and parallel internal resistance for an inductor

We can define a Q factor for just the inductor and its internal resistance in the same way as we did for the whole circuit
in the previous section. In fact the derivations are the same meaning,

(20)

We could also define an equivalent circuit with a parallel resistance, as in the circuit on the right of figure 8. We can
calculate the Q factor for this circuit using the same method, noting that,
(p) Vrms rms
IL = ωL(p)

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 (21
)
(p) Vrms
IRrms = R(p)

which leads to,

(22)
For the two circuits in figure 8 to be equivalent their impedances must be equal. This also implies that their Q factors
must also be equal,
(23)

(24)
, QL (25)

If we equate imaginary parts of the impedances of the two circuits and substitute in , we get

) (26)

Thus for large Q we can effect an approximation,

(27)

(28) This relationship is often used in the course to allow you to switch between series

3.2 Capacitors
In an ideal capacitor the two plates are perfectly insulated from each other. However, in a real capacitor the insulation
comes from the dielectric between the two plates which has a finite resistance. This allows a small current to flow
between the two plates. A non-ideal capacitor is therefore modelled as an ideal capacitor in parallel with a resistor,
similar to the setup in the right circuit of figure 8. The larger this resistor is the closer to ideal the capacitor is.
As with an inductor we can define a Q factor for the capacitor,

(29)

The analysis is analogous to the inductor, thus for large Q we can write,

(30)

Quality factor or Q–factor

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The current in the series RLC circuit becomes maximum at resonance. Due to the increase
in current, the voltage across L and C are also increased. This magnification of voltages
at series resonance is termed as Q–factor.

It is defined as the ratio of voltage across L or C to the applied voltage.

Q-factor = Voltage across LorC / Applied voltage

At resonance, the circuit is purely resistive. Therefore, the applied voltage is equal to the
voltage across R.

The physical meaning is that Q–factor indicates the number of times the voltage
across L or C is greater than the applied voltage at resonance.

Since the phase angle is positive, voltage leads current by 53.1 for this inductive circuit.

EXAMPLE 4.22
Find the impedance of a series RLC circuit if the inductive reactance, capacitive reactance
and resistance are 184 Ω, 144 Ω and 30 Ω respectively. Also calculate the phase angle
between voltage and current.
Solution

XL = 184 Ω; XC = 144 Ω

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R = 30 Ω

(i ) The impedance is

Impedance, Z = 50 Ω

(ii) Phase angle is

φ = 53.1

EXAMPLE 4.23
A 500 μH inductor, 80/π2 pF capacitor and a 628 Ω resistor are connected to form a series
RLC circuit. Calculate the resonant frequency and Q-factor of this circuit at resonance.

Solution

L=500×10-6H; C = 80/π2 ×10−12 F; R = 628Ω

(i) Resonant frequency is

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Q =12.5

EXAMPLE 4.24
Find the instantaneous value of alternating voltage υ = 10 sin(3 π×10 4 t) volt at i) 0 s ii)
50 μs iii) 75 μs.

Solution
The given equation is υ = 10sin (3 π×104 t)

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EXAMPLE 4.25
The current in an inductive circuit is given by 0.3 sin (200t – 40°) A. Write the equation
for the voltage across it if the inductance is 40 mH.

Solution

L = 40 × 10-3 H; i = 0.1 sin (200t – 40º)

XL = ωL = 200 × 40 × 10-3 = 8 Ω
Vm = Im XL = 0.3 × 8 = 2.4 V

In an inductive circuit, the voltage leads the current by 90o Therefore,

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v = Vm sin ( ωt +90º)

v = 2 . 4 sin(200t −40 + 90 º)

v = 2 . 4 sin(200t +50 º)volt

[Link]
Stray Resonance Stray resonance, like stray capacitance and inductance and
unexpected resistance levels, can occur in totally unexpected situations and can
severely affect the operation of a system. All that is required to produce stray
resonance is, for example, a level of capacitance introduced by parallel wires or
copper leads on a printed circuit board, or simply two parallel conductive surfaces
with residual charge and inductance levels associated with any conductor or
components such as tape recorder heads, transformers, and so on, that provide the
elements necessary for a resonance effect. In fact, this resonance effect is a very
common effect in a cassette tape recorder. The play/record head is a coil that can
act like an inductor and an antenna. Combine this factor with the stray capacitance
and real capacitance in the network to form the tuning network, and the tape
recorder with the addition of a semiconductor diode can respond like an AM radio.
As you plot the frequency response of any transformer, you normally find a region
where the response has a peaking effect (look ahead at Fig. 25.21). This peaking is
due solely to the inductance of the coils of the transformer and the stray
capacitance between the wires. In general, any time you see an unexpected peaking
in the frequency response of an element or a system, it is normally caused by a
resonance condition. If the response has a detrimental effect on the overall
operation of the system, a redesign may be in order, or a filter can be added that
will block the frequencies that result in the resonance condition. Of course, when
you add a filter composed of inductors and/or capacitors, you must be careful that
you don’t add another unexpected resonance condition. It is a problem that can be
properly weighed only by constructing the system and exposing it to the full range
of tests.

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