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currentlagandlead

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Acurrentflowingaroundanelectriccircuitmaymeetwiththreedifferentkindsofoppositionorimpedance.Theyarecausedbyresistance
(R),inductance(L),andcapacitance(C).
Ofthese,resistanceistheeasiesttounderstand,becauseithasthesameeffectonbothdirectcurrentsandalternatingcurrents.When
thevoltageacrossthetwoterminalsofaresistancechanges,thecurrentchangesimmediately.Ifthevoltagerise,thecurrentrisesandif
thevoltagefalls,thecurrentfalls,andsoon.Currentandvoltagearesaidtobeinphase.

Inductors(L)andcapacitors(C)behavequitedifferently,In"L"circuitsariseinvoltageisaccompaniedbyariseincurrent,butthisriseis
delayedbyabacke.m.f.(seereactance)generatedbytheinductor.Asthevoltagerisesandfalls,thecurrentrisesandfalls,buta
fractionofasecondlater.Sothecurrentflowingthroughtheinductorisalwayslaggingbehindthevoltage,andcurrentandvoltageare
saidtobeoutofphase.

In"C"circuits,ontheotherhand,thecurrentinthecircuitmustfirstflowtothetwoplatesofthecapacitor(roundthecircuitfromplateto
plateandnotacrossthegapbetweentheplates)tomakepotentialdifferenceacrossthem.Asthecurrentrises,thevoltagebetweenthe
twoplatesandasthecurrentfalls,thevoltagefalls,butthevoltagefollowsthecurrent'sleadafractionofasecondlater.Currentand
voltageareagainoutofphase,onlyin"C"circuitsthecurrentisalwaysleadingthevoltage.

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currentlagandlead

Onecompletecycleofanalternatingcurrentconsistsofarise(incurrentorvoltage)uptothepositivemaximum,followedbyadrop,
throughzero,tothenegativemaximumvoltage,andasubsequentrisebacktothezerostartingpoint.A"positive"currentmeansthat
electronsflowinonedirectionroundthecircuit,whilea"negative"currentmeansthattheysurgeroundintheoppositedirection.
Inacircuitcontainingonlyresistance,thepositivesurgesofcurrentandthepositiveincreasesinvoltagecoincide.Butinacircuit
containingonlycapacitancethesurgesofcurrentoccuraquarterofacyclebeforetheincreaseofvoltageacrossthecapacitance.Ina
circuitcontainingonlyinductancethecurrentsurgesoccuraquarterofacyclelater.
Supposeacapacitorandaninductorarebothconnectedacrossanalternatingvoltagesupply(i.e.,connectedinparallel),thenthesame
voltagesendsacurrentthrougheach.Butinthe"C"partofthecircuitthecurrentleadsthevoltageandinthe"L"partthecurrentlags
behindthevoltage.Ifthevaluesofinductanceandcapacitanceareselectedsothatbothofferthesameimpedanceatthefrequencyof
thealternatingcurrentsupply,thenthecurrentthroughboth"L"and"C"partswillbeequal.Butsinceoneisaquarterofacyclebehind
thevoltage,andtheotherisaquarterofacycleinfrontofthevoltage,thereisadifferenceofphaseofahalfcyclebetweenthecurrents
inthe"L"and"C"parts.Asonecurrentispositive,theothercurrentisnegative(i.e.,flowingintheoppositedirection)andthesamesize
asthepositivecurrent.Sothetwocurrentscanceleachotherout,andasaresultnocurrentflowsoutofthe"L"and"C"combination,
althoughthereisavoltageconnectedacrossthepairofthem.Sotheinductorcapacitorpairoffersaverylargeimpedancetothecurrent
farlargerthantheirseparateimpedances.

Thisarrangementiscalledaparalleltunedcircuitorrejectorcircuit,becauseitwillnotallowthroughcurrentofaparticularfrequency
thefrequencyatwhichtheimpedanceofthecapacitorisequaltotheimpedanceoftheinductor.Thenthecurrentsflowingthroughboth
partsareequalandoppositeindirection.Atanyotherfrequencythetwoimpedanceswillnotbequiteequal,thetwocurrentswillnotbe
quitecanceleachotherout,andsomecurrentwillbeabletoflowrightroundthecircuit.

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currentlagandlead

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