Question
What can cause the voltage across reactances in a series RLC circuit to be higher than the voltage applied to the entire circuit?
Answer Options
- A) Resonance
- B) Capacitance
- C) Low quality factor (Q)
- D) Resistance
Correct Answer: A
Explanation
A series RLC circuit consists of a resistor (R), an inductor (L), and a capacitor (C) all connected end-to-end. At the circuit’s resonant frequency, the inductive reactance (X_L) exactly cancels the capacitive reactance (X_C), leaving only the resistance (R) to limit the flow of current. At this point, the circuit has a minimum impedance and experiences a maximum current flow.
This high circulating current, when flowing through the individual reactances, can induce a voltage across each component (V_L = I \times X_L and V_C = I \times X_C) that is many times greater than the external voltage applied to the entire circuit. This phenomenon, known as Resonance, is key to the operation of tuned circuits and is often leveraged to achieve voltage step-up or high circulating current in filter and matching applications.
This topic was automatically created to facilitate community discussion about this exam question. Feel free to share study tips, memory tricks, or additional explanations!