ELECTRICAL IMPEDANCE

CALDERON, BAGO
HISTORY

The term impedance was coined

by Oliver Heaviside was a British a
electrical engineer and
mathematician. in July 1886. Arthur
Kennelly was the first to represent
impedance with complex numbers in
1893.
Impedance

Circuits that contain a mixture of both

resistance and reactance (either capacitive
reactance or inductive reactance or both) are
said to exhibit impedance . Impedance, like
resistance and reactance, is simply the ratio of
𝑉
applied voltage to the current flowing. Z=
𝐼
 where Z is the
impedance in ohms
( Ω ), V is the
alternating potential
difference in volts
(V) and I is the
alternating current in
amps (A).
The impedance triangle
 The impedance
triangle takes into
account the 90°
𝒁= 𝑹𝟐 + 𝑿𝟐 phase angle and
from it we can infer
that the impedance
of a series circuit ( R
in series with X ) is
where Z is the impedance (in Ω ), X is the
reactance, either capacitive or inductive given by:
(expressed in Ω ), and R is the resistance (also in Ω ).
Summary

Resistance and reactance combine together to make

impedance. In other words, impedance is the resultant of
combining resistance and reactance in the impedance
triangle. Because of the quadrature relationship between
voltage and current in a pure capacitor or inductor, the
angle between resistance and reactance in the
impedance triangle is always 90°.
 EXAMPLE
Z = 𝑅2 + 𝑋 2
= 302 + 402
= 2500
A resistor of 30 Ω is connected = 50 Ω
in series with a capacitive
reactance of 40 Ω. Determine The current taken from the supply can now be found:
the impedance of the circuit 𝑉
and the current fl owing when I=𝑍
the circuit is connected to a 115
115 V supply. = 50

First we must fi nd the = 2.3 A

impedance of the C–R series
circuit: