AC Circuits

Reviewed by Tony Jones, Associate Professor, Tidewater Community College on 12/18/22

Comprehensiveness rating: 5 see less

The text book covers all area listed in the table of content and has hands on approach to learning about AC circuits via labs.

Content Accuracy rating: 5

All of the labs are well design, thought out and the earning should have no problems following the instruction, plus mastering the content.

Relevance/Longevity rating: 5

The book is update in the field of study.

Clarity rating: 5

The text is straightforward and students should have no issues applying and learning the topics. The only problem would be materials, students will need the breadboard and other parts for the completion of the labs.

Consistency rating: 5

The text is consistent throughout the book.

Modularity rating: 5

The text book is great for students who want to learn a concept then practice the concept via lab which builds on next topic.

Organization/Structure/Flow rating: 5

The text book is organized in the proper manner for the comprehension and understanding of the subject matter.

Interface rating: 5

The text book is free of issues that may cause issues with learner.

Grammatical Errors rating: 5

The grammar usage is appropriate for this type of material.

Cultural Relevance rating: 5

The text book is a skills based topic and should not be seen in any other manner.

Reviewed by Ann Trausch, Electronics Instructor, Rogue Community College on 3/15/22

Comprehensiveness rating: 3 see less

This is an interesting book that illustrates how to use MultiSim tools at an engineering level mathematics, AC, Diodes, Transformers, and Op-Amp circuits that you would typically see used. The book uses several analysis methods including nodal, system of linear equations, and matrices. The author highlights some of the more useful tools and the results to compare with the mathematical analysis in MatLab. If you are looking for an entry-level technician resource with troubleshooting this is not the book.

Content Accuracy rating: 4

There some some minor errors in the formulas. For example capacitors are summed in parallel and the inverse of the inverse formula is used in series.

Relevance/Longevity rating: 4

If you are looking for a entry-level engineering book that uses angular velocity and imaginary numbers in studying the RCL circuits this book may work for you.

Clarity rating: 4

The book was very clear in the processes of setting up the MultiSim tools and comparing the results with MatLab. The book was light on concepts of how component worked or how to troubleshoot circuits. It was interesting to see the use of the probes instead of meters to indicate voltage and current readings. In part I would think to save space on the page but also if you are using nodal and mesh analysis seeing the readings at those points is easier with the probe.

Consistency rating: 5

The author is consistent through out the book with the terminology and layout. This book is also consistent between the DC and AC topics.

Modularity rating: 4

Some of the pages were compressed with information and pictures associate with the problem's solution and process. The author in the preamble does explain how to read and work with the text which definitely assisted with looking at those congested pages.

Organization/Structure/Flow rating: 4

The order in which the topics are organized are in the correct format for these topics. I think I would have liked to see an AC book that addresses capacitive and inductive reactance a bit further along with resonance circuits before diving into the filters. The topics of diodes, op-amps could be expanded with transistor circuits in a solid-state book.... if one had time.

Interface rating: 5

I did not see any issues with navigating in this book.

Grammatical Errors rating: 5

None

Cultural Relevance rating: 5

None

Comments

This text could be a great resource or supplemental book for pre-engineering students for Electrical Engineering type programs. The use of MatLab to compare with MultiSim is an interesting approach to analyzing certain types of AC and Solid-State circuits.

Reviewed by Wei Yu, Assistant Professor, Massachusetts Maritime Academy on 6/22/21

Comprehensiveness rating: 3 see less

This book can work as a good supplementary book to students when they can learn fundamental AC concepts from another more basic textbook. The uniqueness of this book is to incorporate the software, Multisim, to simulate AC circuit results. But if students start to learn AC fundamental knowledge only from this book, it will be challenging. For example, in Module 4 - Passive Filters, at the very beginning of this module, there is no explanation of what filters are and what a cut-off frequency is. Instead, students are asked to refer to a chapter of another book “Chapter 8 of the AllAboutCircuits.com - Alternating Current eBook provides details about filters and is recommended reading to gain a deeper understanding about the subject.” Then quickly the bodeplot function in Matlab is discussed. For beginners, it might be too much to learn Matlab before they are well explained of basic concepts first. I like the in-depth explanation of triangle signal in Module 1 and the phasor math background in Module 2.

Content Accuracy rating: 4

Most of the contents are accurate and presented very well. On page 22, “80% duty cycle square wave”. The square wave always has 50% duty cycle.

Relevance/Longevity rating: 4

It is relevant to the contents of AC circuits. Some industrial devices, such as 1N914 diode, LM324 quad Op-Amp, etc, are discussed and used in circuits. The software, Multisim, has been intensively used in examples. It is unclear how long Multisim will stay in the market.

Clarity rating: 3

It is easy for me as an instructor to read the book since I already know the fundamental concepts of AC circuits. Presenting AC circuit contents by using Multisim is interesting. But as I mentioned above, for beginners, students might be struggling to get some intuition of concepts first before they appreciate the software.

Consistency rating: 4

It is very consistent. The language of the contents is easy to follow.

Modularity rating: 4

In general, each model of the book is well designed. One improvement might be to add another module of transistors, as transistors can be used to amplify AC signals. In Module 7 – Operational Amplifiers, it might be better to add other two configurations of Op-Amps, integrator and differentiator.

Organization/Structure/Flow rating: 4

The organization of the book is clear. One suggestion is to add homework after each module. In the appendix, there are some homework for some modules. But not every module has homework.

Interface rating: 4

It is very easy to find the right contents.

Grammatical Errors rating: 5

It is well written. It is easy to understand what the book is trying to present.

Cultural Relevance rating: 5

The text is not culturally insensitive or offensive in any way.

Reviewed by David Kelley, Associate Professor, Bucknell University on 3/6/19

Comprehensiveness rating: 2 see less

The book seems to be mostly a collection of formulas that are illustrated via examples that make use of the circuit simulation software Multisim. Important equations and definitions are simply presented as facts to be accepted with little to no accompanying foundational explanations. Almost every example is a “plug and chug” problem, implying that engineering is merely the act of finding the appropriate formula and then substituting values into it to obtain a numerical answer. Nowhere is the reader asked to manipulate variables to arrive at a symbolic expression or to gain insight. The level of analytical sophistication is extremely low.

There are almost no proofs or derivations of any of the equations or definitions given in the book. This is a major shortcoming, since engineering students need to practice this skill, and the first place they should see it is in their textbooks.

One example of this shortcoming is the discussion of phasors in Module 2. Many good examples are presented with regard to rectangular-to-polar form conversion (and vice versa), addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, and reduction of the phase angle to a value between -pi and +pi. However, the fundamental reason for using phasors and their theoretical foundation are not presented at all. The reader is simply told, without justification, that phasors represent sinusoidal functions. Thus, they remain a mystery.

As another example, in Sec. 3.4 (AC Power Calculations), the concept of power factor is abruptly defined as the cosine of the impedance phase angle. There is no introductory discussion regarding its significance or how its use came about historically. Moreover, the significance of the power triangle and its use by power engineers is completely ignored. At the end of Sec. 3.4 there are finally a few sentences that explain that power companies try to bring the power factor value close to 1, but there is no explanation of why.

A glaring example of the lack of rigor appears in Sec. 6.4 (Rectifiers). The formula relating ripple voltage to the filter capacitor value is presented completely without derivation. This misses a great opportunity to develop some intuition about how filter capacitors really work.

There is no discussion of transient analysis; the focus is totally on sinusoidal steady-state analysis.

There is no index.

Content Accuracy rating: 3

The book is mostly accurate, but there are several items that are at least misleading or in some cases completely untrue. The large number of them is in itself problematic.

There are several appearances of the statement (or some variation of it) “It is a good idea to think of a DC signal as one that can be obtained by freezing time in an AC signal and looking at the instantaneous voltage or current values at that specified time.” This is misleading and, in some cases, incorrect. It’s certainly not true in the case of an inductor or capacitor.

On p. 10, the phrase “power spectrum density” appears; it should be “power spectral density.” Also, PSD is *not* a plot of “frequency versus time.”

In Example 3.9 (starting on p. 48), the reader is erroneously asked to add a component to “eliminate the apparent power and produce a power factor of 1.” Adding a capacitor eliminates the reactive power, not the apparent power. Hopefully, this is merely a careless mistake and not a true misunderstanding of apparent power.

On p. 52, the claim that “Power transmission and distribution systems is [sic] the most important application of RLC circuits” is dubious at best and probably demonstrably wrong. There is a partial correction in the first sentence of Module 4 (“filtering is a close second” – but it’s probably #1), but the statement completely ignores the widespread use of RLC circuits in wireless devices and its foundational use in the theory of transmission lines.

On p. 53, there is an implication that active filters are made only with operational amplifiers. They can be made with discrete transistors as well.

In Module 6, silicon diodes are often incorrectly referred to as “silicone.” The diode equation is not presented at all, and all diodes are assumed to operate under the constant voltage model. On a positive note, Sec. 6.3 provides a cursory description of protection diodes used with inductive loads. It’s not very comprehensive, but at least it is present; many textbooks do not include this important application.

Relevance/Longevity rating: 3

The book covers material that will safely remain mostly unchanged but nevertheless vitally important for electrical and computer engineers to know for decades to come. That being said, the book has one major and one minor departure from commonly accepted standards.

One of the most serious shortcomings of the book is its use of the sine convention ([for example, v(t) = 170 sin(w*t + theta)] for expressing sinusoidal voltages and currents instead of the cosine convention. The latter convention is the IEEE standard and is used by almost every other current textbook on circuit theory. This issue alone would probably keep me from using this book in one of my courses or recommending it to others.

Another departure from standards is the form of the equations for inductive and capacitive reactance. The book uses the formulas L*w and -1/C*w (where “w” is the radian frequency) instead of the standard w*L and -1/w*C, respectively. This is a minor nit, but it is a possible source of confusion to readers new to the material who might be consulting other references that present these formulas in standard form.

Clarity rating: 4

The author often forgets that the reader is not intimately familiar with the material. Two cases in point are the references to sampling on p. 10 and the confusing caption for Fig. 1.10 on p. 14. In the caption, it is not immediately clear that phrase “top to bottom” refers to the labels on the right side of the oscilloscope screen image. Although an experienced reader should figure it out fairly quickly, I suspect that a new student would be completely confused.

On p. 19 (and in many other places), the author acknowledges that the Multisim probe feature sometimes produces minor errors but does not explain why or, more importantly, whether this calls into question the appropriateness of using Multisim as the basis for examples. These kinds of unexplained errors can only sow confusion with readers new to the material.

In the discussion of Fig. 3.3 (p. 35), the author refers to the “current clamp” feature of Multisim. Again, the current clamp is not fully explained.

Consistency rating: 5

The text is generally consistent, except for a few issues already discussed above.

Modularity rating: 5

The book is clearly divided into seven modules, and each module has clearly indicated subsections.

Organization/Structure/Flow rating: 3

The numerous references to Multisim and its features presuppose familiarity with the author’s DC Circuits e-book or at least with Multisim. Although the author states this in the preface, it nevertheless limits the utility of the book for students who used a different textbook when studying DC circuits and/or who have not used or do not have access to Multisim.

Equations are often not presented in standard format. For example, multiplication is indicated using the center dot symbol. The accepted current practice is simply to write variables and functions adjacent to each other to indicate multiplication. The center dot could be confused with the vector dot product.

Many basic rules for preparing professional-quality figures and captions are not followed. For example, in Fig. 1.6 (p. 11), no units are given for the frequency axis, and the captions for Fig. 1.17 (p. 20) and Figs. 1.18 and 1.19 (p. 21) incorrectly use title capitalization.

Units are missing in the final answers of many examples.

I found the use of colored fonts to emphasize terms, step-by-step instructions, and other items to be fatiguing and a little condescending. It’s a cheap way to attempt to spice up tech-heavy text. However, I suppose some readers might find it helpful to locate important items.

Interface rating: 3

The copious use of links to different parts of the book is generally helpful, but in some cases is excessive, especially for equations and figures that are on the same page as the reference (or on the next page). This is somewhat distracting because the links are indicated using colored font. Each page is pock-marked with links, which results in a busy appearance. I found the book fatiguing to read for this reason.

There are many instances where figures and diagrams have text that is too small to read. It is necessary to zoom up to 200% in many cases. Examples of this are Fig. 1.2 (p. 6) and the screen shot accompanying Example 1.5 (p. 20). There are also many pages that have too many images, diagrams, boxed and/or colored text, and other items crammed into one place. Many items are so reduced in size that their features and text cannot be read without zooming. The crowding is often so severe that it becomes ridiculous. I can imagine a new reader being overwhelmed by this type of presentation. Examples of this issue include Fig. 1.14 (p. 18), all of p. 42, and all of p. 47. In the last case (p. 47), the columns of numbers that dominate the left half of the page are barely explained in the caption. I doubt most readers new to the material would be able to make sense of it.

On p. 32, the link to the Appendix leads to Sec. 7.3 instead.

Grammatical Errors rating: 3

The book exhibits a large number of grammatical issues that reveal either little to no effort to proofread or perhaps that the author was simply unaware of them. Many readers might not notice them or be bothered by them, but with the increasing awareness of the need for engineers to communicate effectively, textbooks should serve as good examples.

Some issues that appear in multiple places include:

1. Words inexplicably capitalized when they should not be.
2. Confusion regarding the use of the words “continuously” versus “continually.”
3. The phrase “solve the circuit” (or similar) appears in many places. “Circuits” are not solved; equations and/or problems are.
4. Quantities that are presented as digits instead of being spelled out (e.g., on p.5, “5” should be “five”).
5. Improper verb tenses.

Cultural Relevance rating: 4

There are no cultural references at all. This is actually a shortcoming. The addition of discussions of real-life applications greatly improves any textbook.

Comments

The appendix is poorly organized in that there are no headings for the Bode plot examples. There is also no introductory paragraph that explains the appendix’s structure. The book suffers from the lack of any real-world examples. Like too many other textbooks, many of the examples use unrealistically large or small component values.

Reviewed by Preetham Goli, Assistant Teaching Professor, University of Missouri Kansas City on 8/2/18

Comprehensiveness rating: 4 see less

The textbook is well written covering most of the topics on ac circuits discussed in standard textbooks. Numerical examples solved throughout the textbook were also verified using multisim/matlab software. This is a very important addition for the students to hone their circuit analysis skills. Oscilloscope outputs and multimeter readings included in the textbook provides the practical understanding required in ac circuits laboratory experiments. The weblinks provided in all the chapters will serve as a useful resource for deeper understanding of the concepts.

One issue I have with the book is that it does not cover three-phase circuits which is a very important topic for the students to understand in ac circuits. Also, multisim software is a must if one decides to adopt this textbook. Care has to be taken to update the weblinks if there are any changes in the future. Other than the above issues, I find the textbook to be a valuable resource for ac circuits class and laboratory. I am confident that students will improve their ac circuit theory skills by reading the textbook thoroughly, practicing all the examples in multsim and simultaneously referring the weblinks provided.

Content Accuracy rating: 5

Based on my review the technical content presented in the book is accurate and free from errors.

Relevance/Longevity rating: 4

The textbook covers all the standard topics expected for a class on ac circuits. Some of the topics included in standard textbooks have been left out but weblinks have been provided. Additon of a chapter on three-phase circuits will make the book more relevant. Based on how the textbook has been written it does not require much effort to add an additional chapter.

Clarity rating: 4

The content written by the author is very easy to understand. There are minor sentence formation mistakes and errors with regards to figure referencing.

Consistency rating: 5

The textbook is consistent with the terminology adopted for all the chapters.

Modularity rating: 5

The textbook is well organized and it is divided into several modules and submodules based on the topic. Addition of subtopics is fairly easy and it would not disturb the flow of the textbook

Organization/Structure/Flow rating: 5

The book is well organized and the topics have been presented in a logical manner.

Interface rating: 5

The book is free from interface issues and it is easy to navigate with the help of bookmarks provided.

Grammatical Errors rating: 4

There are minor grammatical mistakes and sentence formation errors but they are not a major cause for concern.

Cultural Relevance rating: 5

The book is not culturally insensitive or offensive in any way.

Comments

I am sure the weblinks provided throughout the textbook will definitely help the students to understand the concepts clearly. Providing links to online videos (ex. youtube) depicting the practical applications of ac circuits will be an added asset.

Reviewed by Ali Mehrizi-Sani, Assistant Professor, Washington State University on 6/19/18

Comprehensiveness rating: 3 see less

This book (or ebook, as it refers to itself) discusses all major topics related to AC circuits and what is typically covered in a second circuits course (e.g., OpAmps and filters). In particular, the book provides a comprehensive account of sinusoidal signals and RLC circuits. The treatment of transformers and some of the more advanced topics, as also mentioned in the book, is not very comprehensive and the book refers the readers to other online material (links are provided). The book does provide the basics needed for the understanding of the AC circuits and does it in a very lean way (which is in sharp contrast to many traditional textbooks). Simultaneously, this also means some application examples are left out. I understand this is by design as the book explicitly mentions it has elected to not go on “tangents” and rather provide internet links for noncentral topics. The text uses Multisim extensively as an educational tool. The book can also be used as a handbook for a quick refresher.

Content Accuracy rating: 5

This is an engineering book so there is little that can be “biased.” The content is accurate and examples seem to be error free.

Relevance/Longevity rating: 5

The book discusses the fundamental concepts of AC circuits in electrical engineering. Naturally, it is not expected that the content ever becomes obsolete. The book uses Multisim extensively as an educational aid and Multisim, as a software tool, naturally does not have the same longevity as physical concepts, but the usage is quite transferable to other software tools.

Clarity rating: 5

The text is clear and easy to follow. The author refers to the reader as “you,” which while a bit unconventional, in fact, helps with the flow of the text. The text is in general concise and to the point.

Consistency rating: 5

The book is consistent, even in the font color it uses to refer to inductors (blue) and capacitors (red).

Modularity rating: 5

The book is very modular. Naturally most chapters draw on the content of previous ones, but this is within reason. Some later chapters (e.g., OpAmp) can be independent of others.

Organization/Structure/Flow rating: 5

The book is very well organized as also mentioned regarding the modularity of the book.

Interface rating: 4

The book is provided as a PDF. I did not experience any issues. Both internal and external links in the book work fine. The book has a certain color scheme that is designed to distinguish different sections/types of material. While I personally might have chosen another color scheme (which is purely a cosmetic change), the helps with navigating the book.

Grammatical Errors rating: 5

No grammatical errors. The book refers to the reader in second-person, which while unusual for engineering texts, helps with the flow of the text.

Cultural Relevance rating: 5

The book is not culturally insensitive or offensive.