Formula sheets, the key method steps for every topic and 10 practice problems, with full solutions at the back.
A three-phase induction motor delivers 15 kW of mechanical output power at full load. At this load its efficiency is 93% and its power factor is 0.84 lagging. The supply has a line-to-line voltage of 400 V. Find the line current IL.
A balanced three-phase load takes 80 kW at a power factor of 0.7 lagging from a 690 V (line-to-line), 60 Hz supply. A three-phase capacitor bank in parallel with the load must raise the overall power factor to 0.95 lagging. The real power stays the same. Find the total reactive power QC the capacitor bank must supply, in kvar.
An amplifier with an output resistance of 1800 Ω drives a 50 Ω loudspeaker through an ideal transformer. For maximum power transfer the loudspeaker must look like 1800 Ω from the amplifier. Find the turns ratio a = N₁/N₂.
A single-phase 50 kVA transformer has a core loss of 150 W and a copper loss of 450 W at rated load. It supplies 50% of its rated kVA at a power factor of 0.9 lagging. Find the total losses Ploss in watts at this load.
An inductive load takes 2 A and 168 W from a 120 V (rms) single-phase supply. Model it as a resistance R in series with a reactance X. Find R.
A single-phase load takes 28 kW at a power factor of 0.75 lagging from a 400 V, 60 Hz supply. A 330 µF capacitor is connected in parallel with the load. Find the new line current I.
A series RLC circuit is connected to a 230 V (rms), 500 Hz supply. Find the rms current I.
A series RLC circuit is connected to a 24 V (rms), 100 Hz supply. Find the resonant frequency f0 of the circuit.
A DC motor draws 12 A from a 110 V supply. Its armature resistance is 1.2 Ω and its rotational (friction, windage and iron) losses are 57 W. Find its efficiency η.
A DC chopper feeds a motor (k = 0.3 V·s/rad, Ra = 0.8 Ω) from a 110 V DC bus. The average armature voltage is D·110 V. Find the duty cycle D that runs the motor at 400 rpm with a load of 0.6 N·m.
Answer: IL = 27.71 A
Balanced three-phase systems: in a Y (star) connection the line-to-line voltage is √3 times the phase voltage, VL = √3·Vph, and the line current equals the phase current. In a Δ (delta) connection the line-to-line voltage equals the phase voltage and the line current is √3 times the phase current, IL = √3·Iph. The total power is three times the power of one phase: P = 3·Vph·Iph·cos φ = √3·VL·IL·cos φ.
Answer: QC = 55.32 kvar
Balanced three-phase systems: in a Y (star) connection the line-to-line voltage is √3 times the phase voltage, VL = √3·Vph, and the line current equals the phase current. In a Δ (delta) connection the line-to-line voltage equals the phase voltage and the line current is √3 times the phase current, IL = √3·Iph. The total power is three times the power of one phase: P = 3·Vph·Iph·cos φ = √3·VL·IL·cos φ. Power factor correction: capacitors supply reactive power locally, QC = P·(tan φ1 − tan φ2). Each of the three capacitors supplies QC/3 = V²·ω·C, where V is the voltage across that capacitor: VL in a Δ bank, VL/√3 in a Y bank.
The real power is unchanged, so each power factor fixes the reactive power: Q = P·tan φ.
Answer: a = 6
Ideal transformer: the voltages are in the ratio of the turns and the currents in the inverse ratio: V₁/V₂ = N₁/N₂ = a and I₁/I₂ = N₂/N₁ = 1/a, so the power in equals the power out, V₁·I₁ = V₂·I₂. A load impedance Z on the secondary looks like a²·Z from the primary.
Answer: Ploss = 262.5 W
Transformer losses: the core loss (hysteresis and eddy currents) depends on the voltage and is the same at any load. The copper loss in the windings goes with the current squared, so at a fraction x of rated load it is x²·Pcu,fl. Efficiency η = Pout/(Pout + Pcore + Pcu), with Pout = x·S·pf. The efficiency is highest at the load where the copper loss equals the core loss.
The core loss is the same at any load.
The efficiency at this load is η = 98.85%.
Answer: R = 42 Ω
AC power: apparent power S = V·I (VA) splits into real power P = S·cos φ (W), which does useful work, and reactive power Q = S·sin φ (var), which moves back and forth between source and load. The power factor is cos φ. A capacitor in parallel supplies reactive power locally, so the line current drops for the same real power.
Answer: I = 71.02 A
AC power: apparent power S = V·I (VA) splits into real power P = S·cos φ (W), which does useful work, and reactive power Q = S·sin φ (var), which moves back and forth between source and load. The power factor is cos φ. A capacitor in parallel supplies reactive power locally, so the line current drops for the same real power.
The real power P does not change; only the reactive power drawn from the supply does.
Answer: I = 2.681 A
AC circuits with phasors: resistors, inductors and capacitors have impedances R, jωL and 1/(jωC), with ω = 2πf. In series, impedances add like resistances, but as complex numbers. Rms current and voltage follow Ohm’s law with |Z|.
In series the impedances add as complex numbers: Z = R + j(XL − XC).
The same current flows through every element of a series circuit.
Answer: f0 = 146.8 Hz
AC circuits with phasors: resistors, inductors and capacitors have impedances R, jωL and 1/(jωC), with ω = 2πf. In series, impedances add like resistances, but as complex numbers. Rms current and voltage follow Ohm’s law with |Z|.
At resonance the inductive and capacitive reactances cancel: ωL = 1/(ωC). The supply frequency does not matter.
Answer: η = 82.59 %
DC motor: the armature is a resistance Ra in series with the back-EMF E, so V = E + Ia·Ra. The back-EMF grows with speed, E = k·ω, and the torque with current, T = k·Ia, with the same motor constant k (V·s/rad = N·m/A) in SI units. Convert speeds with ω = 2π·n/60. The developed power is E·Ia = T·ω; the input power is V·Ia, and the copper loss Ia²Ra and the rotational loss make the difference. The speed falls in a straight line with torque, ω = V/k − Ra·T/k², from the no-load speed V/k to zero at the stall torque k·V/Ra. At standstill E = 0, so the starting current V/Ra is large unless a resistor limits it.
Answer: D = 12.88 %
DC motor: the armature is a resistance Ra in series with the back-EMF E, so V = E + Ia·Ra. The back-EMF grows with speed, E = k·ω, and the torque with current, T = k·Ia, with the same motor constant k (V·s/rad = N·m/A) in SI units. Convert speeds with ω = 2π·n/60. The developed power is E·Ia = T·ω; the input power is V·Ia, and the copper loss Ia²Ra and the rotational loss make the difference. The speed falls in a straight line with torque, ω = V/k − Ra·T/k², from the no-load speed V/k to zero at the stall torque k·V/Ra. At standstill E = 0, so the starting current V/Ra is large unless a resistor limits it.
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