Experiment 01 EE211 Basic Electrical Engineering Lab

Verification of KVL in RL and RC AC Circuits Department of Electrical Engineering, IIT Jodhpur

Aim
To verify KVL and find power factor in R-L and R-C series AC circuits

Theory
a) R-L series circuit
The voltage applied across R-L series circuit (Fig. 1(a)) appears drops across Resistance (VR) and Inductor (VL). These
two phasors are theoretically at quadrature w.r.t. the current (I) drawn from source, as shown in Fig. 1(b).

(a) RL Series Circuit (b) Phasor Diagram

Figure 1
As per the KVL, the applied voltage is given by:
2 2 2
V = VR + jVL or |V| = |VR| + |VL|

-1
The power factor angle is θ = tan (VL/VR).
-1
The power factor, cos θ = cos (tan (VL/VR))
From the readings of wattmeter, the power factor then be verified as: cos ϕ = W/(VI) where W, V, and I are the
wattmeter, voltmeter and ammeter readings respectively. Practically, due to the lossy nature of the inductor, its phase
of VL may not be exactly at quadrature with VR (as shown in Figure 1b. Thus, given the three sides a triangle,
𝑽𝟐 +𝑽𝑹 𝟐 −𝑽𝑳 𝟐
𝐜𝐨𝐬 𝛗 =
𝟐𝑽. 𝑽𝑹

b) R-C series circuit

The voltage applied across R-C series circuit appears a drop across Resistance (VR) and Capacitor (VC). These two
phasors are in quadrature w.r.t. the current (I) drawn from source, as shown in phasor diagram

(a) RC Series Circuit (b) Phasor Diagram

Figure 2

As per the KVL the applied voltage is given by:

2 2 2
V = VR – jVC or |V| = |VR| + |VC|
-1
The power factor angle is θ = tan (VC/VR)
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 Experiment 01 EE211 Basic Electrical Engineering Lab
Verification of KVL in RL and RC AC Circuits Department of Electrical Engineering, IIT Jodhpur

-1
The power factor, cos θ = cos (tan (VC/VR))
From the readings of wattmeter, the power factor then be verified as: cos ϕ = W/(VI).
The circuit and phasor diagrams for RL/RC Parallel circuits are shown in Fig. 3.

(a) RL Parallel Circuit (b) RL Parallel Phasor Diagram

(c) RC Parallel Circuit (d) RC Parallel Phasor Diagram

Figure 3
For the case of parallel circuits, power factor can be computed directly as: cos ϕ = IR/I.

Precautions
1. All the connections should be tight.
2. Before switching on the supply, the variac must be at zero.
3. Avoid creating junctions on the meters.
4. Ensure that the maximum current flowing (with no resistance) should not exceed the current rating of the
components. For example, if the inductance is L = 0.15 H, and f = 50 Hz, this implies that the inductive
reactance is (= ωL) about 141 Ω. Even if rheostat was in zero position (0Ω), the maximum current that would
flow is 230/141 = 1.63 A. This current should be less than the maximum current ratings of various
components.

Circuit Diagram for Series RL or RC Circuit VL or VC

L or C

1-ϕ
Rheostat VR
230 V, 50 Hz Variac

Figure 4
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Experiment 01 EE211 Basic Electrical Engineering Lab
Verification of KVL in RL and RC AC Circuits Department of Electrical Engineering, IIT Jodhpur

Change the value of R (by sliding across rheostat) and measure drops across various elements to observe the change
in power factor. Alternatively, fix the resistance and use different variac voltages (e.g. 180 V, 200 V, 230 V, etc.) to
record drops across various elements.

Procedure
R-L Series circuit
1. Make the connections as shown in circuit with reactive element as inductor.
2. Switch on the AC supply and tune the variac to values of V = 200 V, 210 V, 220 V, etc. (increments starting
from 200 V).
3. Note the readings of Voltmeters, Ammeter and Wattmeter.
4. Verify actual value of V with the calculated value (𝑽 = �𝑽𝟐𝑳 + 𝑽𝟐𝑹 ) and calculate and verify power factor by both
methods.
5. Repeat the above steps by fixing the variac voltage to 230 V, and varying the load (rheostat).

Observation Table for R-L series circuit

Power factor Power factor Power factor

𝑪𝒂𝒍𝒄𝒖𝒍𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒅 (Method 1) (Method 2) (Method 3)
Variac -
S. No. VL VR I W cos ϕ =W/(VI) cos ϕ = cos[tan cos φ
V 𝑽 = �𝑽𝟐𝑳 + 𝑽𝟐𝑹 1
(VL/VR) 𝑉 2 + 𝑉𝑅 2 − 𝑉𝐿 2
=
2𝑉. 𝑉𝑅

R-C Series circuit

1. Make the connections as shown in circuit with reactive element as capacitor.
2. Switch on the AC supply and tune the variac to values of V = 200 V, 210 V, 220 V, etc. (increments starting
from 200 V).
3. Note the readings of Voltmeters, Ammeter and Wattmeter.
4. Verify actual value of V with the calculated value (𝑽 = �𝑽𝟐𝑪 + 𝑽𝟐𝑹) and calculate and verify power factor by both
methods.
5. Repeat the above steps by fixing the variac voltage to 230 V, and varying the load (rheostat).

Observation Table for R-C series circuit

Calculated
Variac Power factor (Method 1) Power factor (Method 2)
S. No. VL VR I W -1
V 𝑽 = �𝑽𝟐𝑪 + 𝑽𝟐𝑹 cos ϕ =W/(VI) cos ϕ = cos[tan (VC/VR)

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Experiment 01 EE211 Basic Electrical Engineering Lab
Verification of KVL in RL and RC AC Circuits Department of Electrical Engineering, IIT Jodhpur

R-L or RC Parallel circuit

1. Make the connections as shown in Figure 3(a) or (c) (for inductor and capacitor, respectively). This connection
is similar to earlier cases but with R and L (or C) in parallel with each other. Let the current flowing into the
circuit be I, current through rheostate be IR and that through the reactive element be IX.
2. Switch on the AC supply and tune the variac to values of V = 200 V, 210 V, 220 V, etc. (increments starting
from 200 V).
3. Note the readings of Voltmeters, Ammeter and Wattmeter.
4. Verify actual value of I with the calculated value (𝑰 = �𝑰𝟐𝑿 + 𝑰𝟐𝑹 ) and calculate and verify power factor by both
methods.
5. Repeat the above steps by fixing the variac voltage to 230 V, and varying the load (rheostat).

Observation Table for R-C or R-L Parallel circuit

Calculated
Variac IX Power factor (Method 1) Power factor (Method 2)
S. No. I IR W
V (IC or IL) 𝑰 = �𝑰𝟐𝑿 + 𝑰𝟐𝑹 cos ϕ =W/(VI) cos ϕ = IR/I

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