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Chapter 9 Quiz — Phasors and Complex Impedance

Chapter 9 Quiz

1. A phasor is best described as:

A) A time-domain sinusoidal function   B) A complex number representing the amplitude and phase of a sinusoid   C) The derivative of a sinusoidal signal   D) A rotating vector that varies with time


2. What is the impedance of a capacitor \(C\) at angular frequency \(\omega\)?

A) \(j\omega C\)   B) \(\omega C\)   C) \(\dfrac{1}{j\omega C}\)   D) \(j\omega L\)


3. What is the impedance of an ideal inductor \(L\) at angular frequency \(\omega\)?

A) \(\dfrac{1}{j\omega L}\)   B) \(j\omega L\)   C) \(\omega L\)   D) \(\dfrac{1}{\omega L}\)


4. A series RLC circuit has \(X_L > X_C\) at a given frequency. The circuit behaves:

A) Capacitively — current leads voltage   B) Resistively — no phase shift   C) Inductively — voltage leads current   D) As if at resonance


5. In the impedance triangle, if resistance is \(R\) and net reactance is \(X\), what is \(|Z|\)?

A) \(R + X\)   B) \(R/X\)   C) \(R^2 + X^2\)   D) \(\sqrt{R^2 + X^2}\)


6. What happens to capacitive reactance \(X_C\) as frequency increases?

A) Increases proportionally   B) Remains constant   C) Decreases   D) Becomes negative


7. For a pure resistor in an AC circuit, the phase relationship between voltage and current is:

A) Voltage leads current by 90°   B) Current leads voltage by 90°   C) In phase (0°)   D) Voltage leads by 45°


8. A 10 mH inductor operates at \(f = 5\) kHz. What is its inductive reactance \(X_L\)?

A) 50 Ω   B) 314 Ω   C) 628 Ω   D) 3,142 Ω


9. Phasor analysis is valid when:

A) All sources are DC   B) The circuit has only resistors   C) All sources are sinusoidal at the same frequency in steady state   D) The circuit is in a transient switching state


10. At series resonance, the total impedance of the RLC circuit equals:

A) Zero   B) \(X_L\)   C) \(R\)   D) \(X_L + X_C\)


Answer Key

Question Answer Brief Reason
1 B A phasor is a static complex number encoding magnitude and phase — no time dependence
2 C \(Z_C = 1/(j\omega C)\); purely imaginary, decreases with frequency
3 B \(Z_L = j\omega L\); purely imaginary, increases with frequency
4 C Net reactance \(X_L - X_C > 0\) → inductive → voltage leads current
5 D Pythagorean theorem on the impedance triangle: (
6 C \(X_C = 1/(\omega C)\); as \(f\) rises, \(X_C\) falls — capacitors pass high frequencies
7 C \(Z_R = R\) is purely real; no imaginary part → 0° phase shift
8 B \(X_L = 2\pi fL = 2\pi \times 5000 \times 0.01 \approx 314\) Ω
9 C Phasors require sinusoidal steady state at a single shared frequency
10 C At resonance \(X_L = X_C\), they cancel; only \(R\) remains