Introduction To Resonant
Circuits
1
Objectives
• To define the resonance phenomenon.
• To calculate the resonance frequency of series and
parallel circuits.
• To identify the half power points and to write an
expression for the circuit bandwidth.
• To define the quality factor of the series and parallel
resonant circuits.
2
Resonance In Electric Circuits
• Any passive electric circuit will resonate if it has an
inductor and capacitor.
• Resonance is characterized by the input voltage and
current being in phase and the driving point impedance
(or admittance) is completely real when this condition
exists.
• In this chapter only series and parallel resonance
circuits are considered. Multiple resonance circuits
are not covered. 3
Resonance
Resonant circuits (series or parallel) are useful for
constructing filters, as their transfer functions can be
highly frequency selective.
They are used in many applications such as selecting the
desired stations in radio and TV receivers.
4
Series Resonance
Consider the series RLC circuit shown below.
The input impedance is given by:
1
Z R j ( wL )
wC
The magnitude of the circuit current is;
Vm
I | I |
1 2 5
R ( wL
2
)
wC
Series Resonance
Resonance results when the imaginary part of the transfer
function is zero, or
The value of ω that satisfies this condition is called the
resonant frequency ω0. Thus, the resonance condition is
This is an important equation to remember. It applies to
both series and parallel resonant circuits. 6
Important Notes
1. The impedance is purely resistive, thus, Z = R. In other
words, the LC series combination acts like a short circuit,
and the entire voltage is across R.
2. The voltage Vs and the current I are in phase, so that the
power factor is unity.
3. The magnitude of the impedance Z(ω) is minimum.
4. The inductor voltage and capacitor voltage can be much
more than the source voltage.
7
BandWidth
• The frequency response of the circuit’s current magnitude
Half power point
BW = wBW = w2 – w1
8
Half Power Points
• The average power dissipated by the RLC circuit is
• The highest power dissipated occurs at resonance,
. when I = Vm/R,
so that
• At certain frequencies ω = ω1, ω2, the dissipated power is half the
maximum value; that is,
• Hence, ω1 and ω2 are called the half-power frequencies.
The half-power frequencies are obtained by setting Z equal to√2R. 9
After some insightful algebra one will find two frequencies at
which the previous equation is satisfied, they are:
2 2
R R 1 R R 1
w1 and w2
2L 2 L LC 2L 2 L LC
The two half-power frequencies are related to the resonant
frequency by
wo w1 w2
The bandwidth of the series resonant circuit is given by;
R 10
BW wb w2 w1
L
Quality Factor
The Q (quality factor) of the circuit is defined as;
Q = (Reactive power of L or C at resonance) / (Active power at resonance)
wo L 1 1 L
Q
R wo RC R C
Using Q, we can write the bandwidth as;
w 11
BW o
Q
Quality Factor
• The quality factor is the ratio
of its resonant frequency to
its bandwidth.
• If the bandwidth is narrow,
the quality factor of the
resonant circuit must be high.
• If the band of frequencies is
wide, the quality factor must
be low.
An Observation:
By using Q = woL/R in the equations for w1and w2 we have;
1 2 1
2
1 1
w1 wo 1 and w2 wo 1
2Q 2Q 2Q 2Q
Also;
If Q > 10, one can safely use the approximation;
BW BW
w1 wo and w2 wo
2 2
These are useful approximations. 13
Parallel Resonance
Background
Consider the circuits shown below:
V
1 1
I R L C I V jwC
R jwL
1
R L
V C V I R jwL
I
jwC
14
Duality Between Series and Parallel Resonance
1 1 1
I V jwC V I R jwL
R jwL jwC
We notice the above equations are the same provided:
I V
1
R
R
L C
If we make the inner-change, then one equation becomes the same as
the other. For such case, we say the one circuit is the dual of the other. 15
Duality Between Series and Parallel Resonance
Parallel Resonance Series Resonance
1 1
w
O
w
O
LC LC
wL
Q w RC Q O
o
R
R
BW w
1 BW ( w w ) w
2 1 BW
RC
BW L
1 1 R R 1
2
1
2
w ,w w ,w
1 2
1 2
2 RC 2 RC LC 2 L 2 L LC
1 1 2
1 1 2
w ,w w 1 16
w ,w w 1 1 2
2Q
o
1 2 o
2Q 2Q 2Q
17
Example 1
• Determine the resonant frequency of the circuit shown
18
Example 2:
Determine the resonant frequency for the circuit below.
R
C
L
1
jwL ( R )
jwC ( w2 LRC jwL )
ZI N
R jwL
1 (1 w 2
LC ) jwRC
jwC
At resonance, the phase angle of Z must be equal to zero. 19
Analysis
( w2 LRC jwL )
(1 w2 LC ) jwRC
For zero phase;
wL wRC
( w2 LCR ) (1 w2 LC
This gives;
w2 LC w2 R 2C 2 1
or
1
wo
( LC R 2C 2 )
20
Example 3:
A series RLC resonant circuit has a resonant frequency admittance of
2x10-2 S(mohs). The Q of the circuit is 50, and the resonant frequency is
10,000 rad/sec. Calculate the values of R, L, and C. Find the half-power
frequencies and the bandwidth.
First R = 1/G = 1/(0.02) = 50 ohms.
w OL
Second, from Q Solve for L, knowing Q, R, and wo to find L = 0.25 H.
R
Q 50
Third, we can use C 100 F
wO R 10,000 x50
wo 1x10 4
Fourth: We can use wBW 200 rad / sec
Q 50
Fifth: Use the approximations;
w1 = wo - 0.5wBW = 10,000 – 100 = 9,900 rad/sec 21
w2 = wo - 0.5wBW = 10,000 + 100 = 10,100 rad/sec
