The animation illustrates the operation of an RLC circuit. The total voltage, frequency, and nominal values of the electronic components are interactively adjustable.
Instructions for Use
The windows, like in all animations, can be enlarged or reduced by clicking.
After starting the application, you can view the animation in fullscreen mode. To do so, click “View” and then “Fullscreen”:
To exit fullscreen mode, press the Esc key.
Description of the Animation
The letters R, L, and C refer to the electronic components: resistor (R), inductance (L), and capacitance (C). In the animation, besides RLC circuits, R-, L-, C-, LC-, RC-, and RL-circuits can also be configured. To add a component, activate one of the checkboxes below.
The top-left window shows the circuit diagram. Below it is the phasor diagram. The phasor diagram clearly illustrates how the individual voltage drops can be calculated geometrically.
It provides a visual representation of the phase shifts in the circuit. The graph at the bottom right displays the time-dependent course of the partial voltages.
In everyday life, RLC and related circuits are everywhere, usually invisible: smartphones use LC filters in receiver modules to suppress unwanted frequencies; Wi-Fi routers stabilize signals via resonant circuits; computer power supplies smooth DC voltage and suppress harmonics; LED drivers and dimmers stabilize current and voltage, while motor controllers in washing machines and air conditioners use phase shifts to improve efficiency. In short: RLC circuits ensure clean current flow, clear signals, and targeted energy transfer in almost all modern devices.
Physical Background
The impedance (total resistance) of a series RLC circuit is:
\[ Z = \sqrt{R^2 + (X_L – X_C)^2} \]
The reactances of the inductor and capacitor are:
\[ X_L = 2\pi f L \qquad X_C = \frac{1}{2\pi f C} \]
At the resonant frequency the reactances cancel out (XL = XC), the current reaches its maximum, and voltage and current are in phase:
\[ f_0 = \frac{1}{2\pi\sqrt{LC}} \]
Overview and Download
| Title | RLC Circuits |
| Target Audience | Teachers and Lecturers |
| Platforms | Microsoft® Windows® Apple® Macintosh® (version-dependent) |
| Features | Full-screen mode Lossless scaling Large screens and projectors supported |
| License | Freeware |
| Download | Contact |
Sources
Technical drawing based on Thomas Rösel: http://www.uni-muenster.de/EUREGIO-team/team/animationen/
Authoring tool (control elements included): Adobe Animate
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