RESONANCES

Introduction
If a pendulum whose angular frequency is 0 for swinging freely is subjected to a small applied force F = F0 cos t oscillating with a different angular frequency , the force acts during part of each cycle in a direction opposite to velocity of the pendulum, thereby partially negating its effect in accelerating the pendulum during the rest of the cycle. The strongest response to the applied force would be expected when 0 , since then the force stays in phase with the velocity of the pendulum and can act throughout the entire cycle in the same direction that the pendulum is moving. If frictional effects are small, a pendulum starting from rest can attain a large amplitude of oscillation from the cumulative effect of even a weak oscillating force acting over many periods of oscillation, provided the applied driving force is precisely tuned to the characteristic frequency of oscillation. Far more important for practical uses than the selective response of a pendulum to the frequency of an applied force, however, is the corresponding effect in an electric circuit. We examine this kind of behavior for electromagnetic oscillations in the RLC circuit, where the resistance, inductance, and capacitance are analogous, respectively, to friction, inertia (or mass), and a spring-like restoring force in mechanics. In the previous experiment, R the pulser repeatedly produced a steady voltage to charge the capacitor, followed by an abrupt change to a new voltage to allow VR the oscillations to occur freely. In the present experiment, we connect the RLC VL V L circuit as illustrated in Fig. 1 to a pulser generating a voltage that varies sinusoidally V
C

(t) = V0 sin t .

(1)

This signal has amplitude V 0 and angular

C
Figure 1 RLC circuit driven by sinusoidal input

frequency , and the circuit is called a driven RLC oscillator. We seek to

determine expressions for the resulting current I(t) in such a circuit in what follows. Because the circuit is closed, the sinusoidal input voltage voltages across each component (t) = VL + VR + VC . This can be written as (t) = L or equivalently as dQ Q d 2Q (t) = L 2 + R + dt C dt (4) Q dI + RI + C dt must be equal to the sum of the

(2)

(3)

with (t) given by Eq. (1). The solution of Eq. (3) describes the time dependence of the charge Q in the capacitor. It is Q(t ) = A cos(t + ) with A= V0
2 L 2 1 + R 2 2 C

(5)

(6)

To calculate the current through the circuit, we use the fact that the current is the time rate of change of the charge on the capacitor (or, equivalently, I = dQ/dt) and obtain from Eq. (4) for the charge as a function of time I (t ) = V0
2 L 1 + R 2 C

sin(t + )

(7)

with = arctan 1 (C ) L . R (8)

L = 10 -4 henry

= 100 volts

R = 20 ohms

Current in amperes for

R = 6 0 ohm s

C = 10 -8 farad
0 = 1 / $ LC = 10 8 rad / sec

R = 200 ohms
1

0.5

1.0

1.5
0

2.0

2.5

3.0

Figure 2 circuit

Variation of amplitude with input frequency for an RLC

The current in the driven RLC circuit will oscillate at the same frequency as the signal from the pulse generator. The interesting feature of the solution is the dependence of the amplitude on . By changing the frequency of the pulser, the term ( L - 1/ C ) in the denominator of the expression for the amplitude can be adjusted to zero. At this frequency, which we call the resonant frequency 0, the amplitude of the current in the circuit reaches its maximum value (V0/R). The condition for the resonant frequency is therefore 0 L 1 = 0, 0C

(9)

implying 0 = 1 LC (10)

consistent with the use of the term resonant frequency in the previous experiment. Figure 2 shows an example of the amplitude of the oscillating current as a function of /0 for various R values. Phenomena in physics characterized by a sharply peaked response curve like the one in Fig. 2 are said to exhibit a resonance, and are referred to as resonance phenomena. Resonances occur in electromagnetism, acoustics, mechanics, atomic and molecular physics, and particle physics, to list a few of many examples.

Resonance behavior also has widespread practical applications, and is important, for example, in generating radio signals and in tuning a radio receiver to respond only to signals in a given frequency range (as controlled, for example, in television reception by the tuning mechanism connected to the channel selector). The sharpness of the peak in the resonance response curve for a particular physical system is often expressed in terms the quality factor or quality of the resonance, given by the Q value of the resonance (not to be confused with the charge Q on the capacitor). This number can be read directly from the resonance curve. If we call 1 the frequency where the current has risen, at the left of the peak, to 1 2 times the peak current, and 2 the

frequency where it has fallen to this same value at the right of the peak, then if 0 is the peak frequency, the Q value is Q= 0 . 2 1

(11)

It can be seen from Eq. (7) that 1 and 2 are the solutions of the equation 1 = R, C

with the result that, for R/L >> 0 , the Q value is given in terms of the inductance and resistance of the RLC circuit by Q= L . R

(12)

As seen from Eq. (12), the Q value is determined in part by the damping. Weaker damping corresponds to smaller resistance, therefore to larger Q, and hence to a sharper resonance peak. Mechanical systems have Q values below 100, while electromagnetic resonators can reach Q values of 104 or 106, and atomic systems can have Q values as high as 1010.

90

R = 20 ohms

Phase angle , in degrees

R = 60 ohms
0

R = 200 ohms

-90

0.5

1.0

1.5

2.0

2.5

3.0

/ o

Figure 3

Phase between driving voltage and current

The quantity expressing the relative phase of the current and driving voltage in Eqs. (7) and (8) varies with frequency in the manner shown in Fig. 3. Right at resonance, = 0 , so that the current and voltage are in phase. At very low frequencies, the capacitor is seen in Eq. (8) to be the dominant hindrance to the flow of current, and is positive. The current then leads the voltage as shown in Fig. 4 (meaning that the current reaches its maximum values before the voltage). At frequencies higher than 0 the inductor

dominates. The phase is negative and the current lags the voltage as shown in Fig. 5. The higher the Q (corresponding to small R and weak damping) the more abruptly shifts from positive to negative values as the frequency varies across the resonance peak. A change in phase of the sort shown in Fig. 3 is also a unique signature of a resonating system.

= o cos t

= o cos

< 0 Capacitive circuit > 0 Figure 4

> 0 Inductive circuit < 0 Figure 5

Wire up the circuit as shown in Fig. 6. Use the small size inductor, the capacitor C = 0.05F (labeled as .05 MF) and a resistor of about 15 to 25. (In the second run, use the large size

Experimental procedure

inductor, the capacitor with C = 0.001F, and the resistor with R 1k). Set the pulser to generate a sinusoidal signal with the maximum output voltage. Display on the oscilloscope the voltage across the resistor, which is directly proportional at each instant to the current. To locate the resonance it is useful to set the time scale on the computer-based oscilloscope rather large, so that the signal will appear as a horizontal band. The amplitude of the signal is half the width of the band. Vary the frequency of the pulse generator (the small dial allows you to select different ranges of the frequency f , and the large dial allows you to vary the frequency in a continuous way within each range). Observe that the voltage across the resistor goes through a resonance, as shown in Fig. 3. Now measure the resonance curve. To do this, simultaneously display both and V C and record the amplitude and the period T of the oscillation at five or more frequencies on each side of the resonance peak. (To measure T you will need to expand the time scale appropriately on the display.) As you change the frequency of , you will notice that the amplitude of changes. (Can

Printed circuit board

VC
Pusler C L R

VR
A B C

Computer-based Oscilloscope Coaxial cables

Figure 6

Experimental set-up for the electromagnetic resonance experiment

you explain why?) This means that you will need either to keep adjusting the input amplitude so it remains constant after each change in , or else should determine the ratio of the amplitude of V C to the amplitude of resonance curve. at each frequency for use in plotting the

Plot the resonance curve as a function of the angular frequency 0 = 2 / T by drawing the resonance curve through the data points. What is the resonant frequency 0 of your circuit? By observing and VR at the same time, convince yourself that the phase varies as a

function of as described in the text, and as shown in Figs. 5 and 6. To accomplish this, trigger your oscilloscope with the signal. Record your observations and discuss them in the Conclusions section of your report. Calculate the Q value of your circuit from your resonance curve by determining where on either side of the curve the plotted amplitude, or amplitude ratio, falls to value. Calculate the Q value also from the inductance L and resistance R of the RLC circuit, and compare the two Q values. You may choose to use some of the results of the previous experiment in this calculation.
1 2

of its peak

QUESTIONS
The following list of questions is intended to help you prepare for this laboratory session. If you have read and understood this write-up, you should be able to answer most of these questions. Some of these questions may be asked in the quiz preceding the lab. What characterizes a resonance? What is the meaning of the Q value of an oscillator? What is meant by the response curve of a resonance in this experiment? What feature of the response curve is described by the Q value of the resonance? How does the Q value change with increased resistance in the circuit? What does the current leads the voltage mean? Give an example of when this occurs. What is meant by the resonant frequency of an RLC circuit? For a swinging pendulum, what is the resonant frequency? All inductors have some resistance. Does this limit our ability to design an RLC circuit to respond only to an arbitrarily narrow frequency range of input signal? Why or why not?