AC Power - Basic Calculations Using Real Numbers

Basic Calculations Using Real Numbers

A perfect resistor stores no energy, so current and voltage are in phase. Therefore there is no reactive power and . Therefore for a perfect resistor

For a perfect capacitor or inductor there is no net power transfer, so all power is reactive. Therefore for a perfect capacitor or inductor:

Where X is the reactance of the capacitor or inductor.

If X is defined as being positive for an inductor and negative for a capacitor then we can remove the modulus signs from Q and X and get


Instantaneous power is defined as:


where v(t) and i(t) are the time varying voltage and current waveforms.

This definition is useful because it applies to all waveforms, whether they are sinusoidal or not. This is particularly useful in power electronics, where nonsinusoidal waveforms are common.

In general, we are interested in the real power averaged over a period of time, whether it is a low frequency line cycle or a high frequency power converter switching period. The simplest way to get that result is to take the integral of the instantaneous calculation over the desired period.



This method of calculating the average power gives the real power regardless of harmonic content of the waveform. In practical applications, this would be done in the digital domain, where the calculation becomes trivial when compared to the use of rms and phase to determine real power.


Read more about this topic:  AC Power

Famous quotes containing the words basic, calculations, real and/or numbers:

    A kiss can be a comma, a question mark or an exclamation point. That’s basic spelling that every woman ought to know.
    Mistinguett (1874–1956)

    Nowhere are our calculations more frequently upset than in war.
    Titus Livius (Livy)

    A bad short story or novel or poem leaves one comparatively calm because it does not exist, unless it gets a fake prestige through being mistaken for good work. It is essentially negative, it is something that has not come through. But over bad criticism one has a sense of real calamity.
    Rebecca West (1892–1983)

    Our religion vulgarly stands on numbers of believers. Whenever the appeal is made—no matter how indirectly—to numbers, proclamation is then and there made, that religion is not. He that finds God a sweet, enveloping presence, who shall dare to come in?
    Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)