Series Resonance - GATE Study Material in

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In the previous articles we have seen the behavior of sinusoidal circuits in steady state, in
AC & DC Circuits as well as power relations in AC Circuits. In these free GATE Notes we will
mainly discuss Series Resonance in Circuits. This primarily means we will discuss
resonance in series circuits.
These GATE Study Notes are useful for GATE EC, GATE EE, IES, BARC, DRDO, BSNL and
other exams. You can also have these GATE Notes downloaded in PDF to have your
preparation made easy and ace your GATE Exam.
Before you read further though, make sure you have gone through the previous articles
whose concepts you will require.

Recommended Reading
Parameters of Periodic Wave Forms
Sinusoidal Response of Series Circuits
Power Relations in AC Circuits

What is Series Resonance?

Resonance in electric circuits is because of the presence of energy storing elements
called capacitor and inductor.
At a fixed frequency f0, the elements L and C will exchange their energy freely as a
function of time which results in sinusoidal oscillations either across inductor (or)
capacitor.
Consider a series RLC circuit at resonance.

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Z = R + jL + jL
1

= R + j (L C)
1

At resonance impedance is purely real i. e. 0 L =

0 =

1
LC

Z(j0 )=R
At = 0,
VR = IR = V
VL = Q. V90 where Q =

L
R
1

VC = Q. V 90 where Q = CR
The behavior of series RLC circuit is given by

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0C

Phasor Diagram:

Notes:
i. The LC combination in a series RLC circuit acts like a short circuit at resonance.
ii. At resonance the AC circuit behaves like dc circuit.
iii. Generally the series RLC circuit frequency response is similar to band pass filter
response.

Frequency response:
Current I =
|I| =

V
|Z|

V
Z

V
1
jC

R+jL+
V

2
R2 +(L 1 )
C

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Bandwidth = fH fL =
Where, Q =

0 L
R

f0
Q

1
0 CR

Also fH . fL = f0

Notes:
i. At resonance, Z is minimum I = maximum so it is called acceptor circuit.
ii. Since voltage across L and C elements are magnified by Q times, hence series RLC
circuit at resonance is also called as voltage magnification circuit.
. Q =

0 L
R

0 CR

= R C = 0

maximum energy stored in L and C at resonance

Average power dissipated at resonance

iv. As Q is more circuit is said to be more selective and oscillations produced are of high
quality.
v. For the physical existence of the circuit a minimum R is to be maintained in the circuit
which is known as critical resistance of the circuit, where damping ratio is 1.
I. e. Q =

0 L
R

At, = 1

1
2

0 CR

= 2 = R C
L

= R C

R critical = 2C
For finding resonant frequency always equal the imaginary part of impedance (or)
admittance to be zero.
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Example:
In a series RLC circuit, R = 10 , XL = 20 and XC = 20. Then determine the voltage across
the inductor if VS = 100 V.

Solution:
Given, XL = XC = 20
Circuit is in resonance.
VS = VR = 100V
Q factor =

L
R

XL
R

20

= 10 = 2

Voltage across inductor VL = V.Q90

=100.290 = 200j
Magnitude of VL = 200V

Example:
Determine the resonant frequency of the circuit given below.

Solution:
The impedance of above circuit is given by
Z(j) = 10 +

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1 1
)
j j
1
1
j4+ +
j j

(j4+

= 10 +

(142 )
242

j(142 )

. j = 10 (242 )

For resonance, imaginary part = 0

1 42 = 0, 0 = = 0.5
In the next notes, we will discuss about parallel resonance.

Did you like this article on Series Resonance? Let us know in the comments. You may also
enjoy reading the following articles
Sinusoidal Response of Parallel Circuits
Parallel Resonance
Network Theory Revision Test 1
Magnetically Coupled Circuits
Control Systems Revision Test 1
Laplace Transforms Formula List
Control Systems Sensitivity
Conversion of Grey Code to Binary & Vice Versa
Mathematical Representation of Signals

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