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posted by  ussoccr8 on 11/5/2009 3:03:27 PM  |  status: Closed  |  Earned Karma: 51

Inductors, Zrect and Angles for lab, NEED HELP

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N/A N/A N/A N/A 11/9/2009 at 10:00:00 AM
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    For a lab we worked on an RC circuit, and we know V (across resistor), V(across capacitor), R(resistor), C, the frequency (using a sine wave), and the phase angle. I know that Z = 1/(ω*C), but I'm also supposed to be able to get "Z rect" and graph a plot of the imaginary Z against the Real Z, and I have no clue how to do this. The lab manual doesn't even say what Z rect is, but I'm assuming that it's Z with the imaginary part included, but I don't know where the imaginary part comes from. Any help is greatly appreciated.

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posted by fdj on 11/5/2009 4:43:48 PM  |  status: Live
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Hi,
There seems to be some missing info.
First off,
The impedance of the circuit is (note that "w" and "c" are both in the denominator):
Z = R -J(1/w*c)
Don't forget, the impedance of the capacitor is not 1/w*c  it is 1/J*w*C, where J is sqrt(-1).  It is inconvenient to work with "J" in the denominator so if you multiply the numerator and the denominator by J/J (i.e. 1) then the result is:  -J(1/w*c)
The magnitude of the impedance is:
|Z| = sqrt[R^2 + (1/w*c)^2]
For very low frequency, the impedance of the capacitor is very large
For very high frequency, the impedance of the capacitor is very small
So I would expect the magnitude of the impedance to have a constant negative slope (i.e. a line with negative slope) that extends from low frequency and approaches the value of "R" as frequency increases.  This assumes that you plot magnitude of Z against "w" on a log-log plot.
So the plot looks like:
Hope this helps.
Regards,
Frank
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