Storey: Electrical & Electronic Systems Pearson Education Limited 2004 OHT 17.

#
Introduction
Earlier we looked at the bandwidth and frequency
response of amplifiers
Having now looked at the AC behaviour of
components we can consider these in more detail
The reactance of both inductors and capacitance is
frequency dependent and we know that
17.1
C
X
L X
C
L
e
e
1
=
=
Storey: Electrical & Electronic Systems Pearson Education Limited 2004 OHT 17.#
We will start by considering very simple circuits
Consider the potential divider shown here
from our earlier consideration of the
circuit

rearranging, the gain of the circuit is



this is also called the
transfer function of the circuit
2 1
2
Z Z
Z
+
=
i o
v v
2 1
2
Z Z
Z
+
=
i
o
v
v
Storey: Electrical & Electronic Systems Pearson Education Limited 2004 OHT 17.#
A High-Pass RC Network
Consider the following circuit
which is shown re-drawn in a more usual form
17.2
Storey: Electrical & Electronic Systems Pearson Education Limited 2004 OHT 17.#
Clearly the transfer function is



At high frequencies
e is large, voltage gain ~ 1
At low frequencies
e is small, voltage gain 0
CR C
R
R
v
v
i
o
e e
1
j 1
1
1
j
=

=
+
=
C R
R
Z Z
Z
Storey: Electrical & Electronic Systems Pearson Education Limited 2004 OHT 17.#
Since the denominator has
real and imaginary parts, the
magnitude of the voltage gain is


When 1/eCR = 1

This is a halving of power, or a fall in gain of 3 dB
2
2
1
1
1
gain Voltage
|
.
|

\
|
+
=
CR e
707 . 0
2
1
1 1
1
gain Voltage = =
+
=
Storey: Electrical & Electronic Systems Pearson Education Limited 2004 OHT 17.#
The half power point is the cut-off frequency of the
circuit
the angular frequency e
C
at which this occurs is given by




where T is the time constant of the CR network. Also
rad/s
1 1
T
= =
CR
c
e
1
1
=
CR
c
e
Hz
2
1
2 CR
f
c
c
t t
e
= =
Storey: Electrical & Electronic Systems Pearson Education Limited 2004 OHT 17.#
Substituting e =2tf and CR = 1/ 2tf
C
in the earlier
equation gives




This is the general form of the gain of the circuit
It is clear that both the magnitude of the gain and the
phase angle vary with frequency
f
f
f
f
CR
v
v
c
c
i
o
j 1
1
2
1
) 2 (
1
j 1
1
1
j 1
1

=
|
|
.
|

\
|

=
t
t
e
Storey: Electrical & Electronic Systems Pearson Education Limited 2004 OHT 17.#
Consider the behaviour of the circuit at different
frequencies:
When f >> f
c
f
c
/f << 1, the voltage gain ~ 1

When f = f
c


When f << f
c


( )
j 5 . 0 5 . 0
2
) j 1 (
) j 1 ( j 1
) j 1 ( 1

j 1
1
j 1
1
+ =
+
=
+
+
=

=
f
f
v
v
c
i
o
j
j
1
j 1
1
c
c c
i
o
f
f
f
f
f
f
v
v
=

=
Storey: Electrical & Electronic Systems Pearson Education Limited 2004 OHT 17.#
A Low-Pass RC Network
17.3
Transposing the C and R gives



At high frequencies
e is large, voltage gain 0
At low frequencies
e is small, voltage gain ~ 1
CR
C
R
C
v
v
i
o
e
e
e
j 1
1
1
j
1
j
+
=

=
+
=
C R
C
Z Z
Z
Storey: Electrical & Electronic Systems Pearson Education Limited 2004 OHT 17.#
A Low-Pass RC Network
17.3
A similar analysis to before
gives


Therefore when, when eCR = 1

Which is the cut-off frequency
( )
2
1
1
gain Voltage
CR e +
=
707 . 0
2
1
1 1
1
gain Voltage = =
+
=
Storey: Electrical & Electronic Systems Pearson Education Limited 2004 OHT 17.#
Therefore
the angular frequency e
C
at which this occurs is given by




where T is the time constant of the CR network, and as
before
rad/s
1 1
T
= =
CR
c
e
1 = CR
c
e
Hz
2
1
2 CR
f
c
c
t t
e
= =
Storey: Electrical & Electronic Systems Pearson Education Limited 2004 OHT 17.#
Substituting e =2tf and CR = 1/ 2tf
C
in the earlier
equation gives



This is similar, but not the same, as the transfer
function for the high-pass network
c c
i
o
f
f
CR v
v
j 1
1
j 1
1
j 1
1
+
=
+
=
+
=
e
e
e
Storey: Electrical & Electronic Systems Pearson Education Limited 2004 OHT 17.#
Consider the behaviour of this circuit at different
frequencies:
When f << f
c
f/f
c
<< 1, the voltage gain ~ 1

When f = f
c


When f >> f
c


( )( )
( )
( )
j 5 . 0 5 . 0
2
j 1
j 1
j 1 j 1
j 1
1
+ =

=
+
+
=
+
=
c
i
o
f
f
v
v
j
j
1
j 1
1
f
f
f
f
f
f
v
v
c
c c
i
o
= ~
+
=
Storey: Electrical & Electronic Systems Pearson Education Limited 2004 OHT 17.#
A Low-Pass RL Network
Low-pass networks can also
be produced using RL circuits
these behave similarly to the
corresponding CR circuit
the voltage gain is


the cut-off frequency is
17.4
R
L
L R
R
v
v
i
o
e
e
j 1
1
j
+
=
+
=
+
=
L R
R
Z Z
Z
rad/s
1
T
= =
L
R
c
e Hz
2 2 L
R
f
c
c
t t
e
= =
Storey: Electrical & Electronic Systems Pearson Education Limited 2004 OHT 17.#
A High-Pass RL Network
High-pass networks can also
be produced using RL circuits
these behave similarly to the
corresponding CR circuit
the voltage gain is


the cut-off frequency is

17.5
L
R
L
R
L R
L
v
v
i
o
e e
e
e
j 1
1
j
1
1
j
j

=
+
=
+
=
+
=
L R
L
Z Z
Z
rad/s
1
T
= =
L
R
c
e Hz
2 2 L
R
f
c
c
t t
e
= =
Storey: Electrical & Electronic Systems Pearson Education Limited 2004 OHT 17.#
A Comparison of RC and RL Networks
Circuits using RC and RL
techniques have similar
characteristics
for a more detailed
comparison, see
Figure 17.10 in the
course text
17.6
Storey: Electrical & Electronic Systems Pearson Education Limited 2004 OHT 17.#
RLC Circuits and Resonance
Series RLC circuits
the impedance is given by

if the magnitude of the reactance
of the inductor and capacitor are
equal, the imaginary part is zero,
and the impedance is simply R
this occurs when
17.9
)
1
( j
j
1
j
C
L R
C
L R
e
e
e
e + = + + = Z
C
L
e
e
1
=
LC
1
2
= e
LC
1
= e
Storey: Electrical & Electronic Systems Pearson Education Limited 2004 OHT 17.#
This situation is referred to as resonance
the frequency at which is occurs is the
resonant frequency


in the series resonant
circuit, the impedance is
at a minimum at resonance
the current is at a maximum
at resonance
LC
o
1
= e
LC
f
o
t 2
1
=
Storey: Electrical & Electronic Systems Pearson Education Limited 2004 OHT 17.#
The resonant effect can be quantified by the
quality factor, Q
this is the ratio of the energy dissipated to the energy
stored in each cycle
it can be shown that


and
R
X
R
X
Q
C L
= = factor Quality
|
.
|

\
|
=
C
L
R
Q
1