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16.1: Theory Overview

  • Page ID
    36743
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    A parallel resonant circuit consists of a resistor, a capacitor, and an inductor in parallel, typically driven by a current source. At some frequency the capacitive and inductive reactances will be of the same magnitude, and as they are 180 degrees in opposition, they effectively nullify each other. This leaves the circuit purely resistive, the source “seeing” only the resistive element. At any lower or higher frequency the inductive or capacitive reactance will shunt the resistance. The result is a maximum impedance magnitude at resonance, and thus, a maximum voltage. Any resistance value in series (such as the inductor’s coil resistance) should be transformed into a parallel resistance in order to gauge its effect on the system voltage. The combined parallel resistance sets the Q of the circuit and can be defined as the ratio of the combined resistance to the resonant reactance, Q = R/X, which also corresponds to the ratio of the resonant frequency to the circuit bandwidth, Q = \(f_0\)/BW.


    This page titled 16.1: Theory Overview is shared under a CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by James M. Fiore via source content that was edited to the style and standards of the LibreTexts platform; a detailed edit history is available upon request.