AC Electrical Circuit Analysis: A Practical Approach

Reviewed by Paniz Tavassoli, Engineering Residential Professor/Program Coordinator, Scottsdale Community College on 4/20/25

Comprehensiveness rating: 5 see less

The book AC Electrical Circuit Analysis by David E. Walters is a comprehensive and well-structured resource focused on AC circuit theory. It covers a wide range of essential topics, including phasors, impedance, resonance, frequency response, filters, complex power, and introductory Laplace transform analysis. Each chapter features clear examples, practice problems, and circuit diagrams that help reinforce the material. The explanations are very clear and easy to follow, making the book highly readable. To fully benefit from this book, readers should have a solid understanding of basic DC circuit concepts, particularly topics such as Ohm’s Law and Kirchhoff’s Laws. While the book assumes some familiarity with foundational circuit principles and a bit of mathematical maturity, especially when introducing phasors and Laplace transforms, the content remains approachable with minimal support. More advanced Laplace topics and Fourier transforms are not covered, so those seeking deeper exploration in those areas may need additional resources. Overall, this is an excellent textbook that presents complex ideas in a straightforward, understandable way, and it is one I will confidently recommend to my students in the future.

Content Accuracy rating: 5

The content appears to be accurate and seems free from errors or bias. Concepts are presented clearly and objectively, following standard engineering practices.

Relevance/Longevity rating: 5

The content is up-to-date and reflects foundational concepts in electrical engineering that remain consistent over time. By focusing on core principles like phasors, impedance, and circuit analysis techniques, the book maintains a timeless quality. Additionally, the structure and clarity of the text would make any future updates easy to implement if needed.

Clarity rating: 5

The text is written in clear, accessible language with well-organized explanations that make technical concepts easy to understand. When technical terms are introduced, they are explained with sufficient context, making the material approachable for a broad range of readers with foundational circuit knowledge.

Consistency rating: 5

The book maintains a high level of internal consistency in both terminology and framework. Key concepts are introduced clearly and used consistently throughout the chapters, with no noticeable shifts in language or approach. This uniformity supports reader comprehension and reinforces understanding as the material progresses.

Modularity rating: 5

The text is clearly organized with well-defined sections that can be easily assigned independently. Its structure allows for flexible use and reordering without loss of coherence.

Organization/Structure/Flow rating: 5

The text presents topics in a logical, progressive order, with each chapter following a consistent structure that includes an introduction, key concepts, worked examples, practice exercises, and a summary. The exercises are well-aligned with the material and include a mix of conceptual questions, calculation-based problems, and application or design tasks. This structured approach reinforces understanding and supports both theoretical and practical learning.

Interface rating: 5

The book is well-formatted with clear images, readable equations, and smooth navigation. The overall presentation is clean and easy to follow.

Grammatical Errors rating: 5

The text is free of grammatical errors and is written in clear, professional language throughout.

Cultural Relevance rating: 5

The textbook is culturally neutral and free from bias, making it suitable for a diverse audience.

Comments

This is an excellent free textbook that offers solid coverage of core AC circuit topics with clear explanations and practical examples. Its consistent structure and approachable style make it easy to use for both self-study and instruction, and it serves as a reliable reference for fundamental circuit analysis.

Reviewed by Chengyu Xiong, Assistant Professor, Bristol Community College on 6/28/21

Comprehensiveness rating: 5 see less

This book is one of a series of free open educational resources-five texts and seven laboratory manuals which I currently use as reference textbooks in my DC and AC circuit classes. This book is an excellent resource and very well written. It assumes familiarity with DC circuit analysis and provides clear and concise concepts, circuit analysis methods, and theorems of AC circuits. All of the major learning outcomes of introductory electrical engineering courses on AC electronics are covered, including: sinusoidal waveforms, basic Fourier decomposition of complex waveforms, complex numbers; reactance and impedance along with phasor diagrams; series, parallel, and series-parallel RLC circuits; network theorems (Source Conversion, Superposition, Thévenin's and Norton's, Maximum power transform, Delta-Y conversion ) along with nodal and mesh analysis; AC power(Power triangle); resonance, and introductions to polyphase systems and magnetic circuits. Advanced AC circuit analysis techniques such as Laplace transform and Fourier transform are not covered in this book.

Content Accuracy rating: 5

The book content seems accurate, error-free, and unbiased for me.

Relevance/Longevity rating: 5

The content is basic and fundamental and will not quickly make the text obsolete. The author frequently updates his series of free OER textbooks and lab manuals. The newest version of this book is published one month before this review.

Clarity rating: 5

This book is very clear and well written. Words, mathematical expressions, and figures are used to describe important concepts and relationships, easy to understand.

Consistency rating: 5

The text is consistent in terms of terminology and framework.

Modularity rating: 4

The text is written in a logical and easily modularized fashion. Typical AC analysis book.

Organization/Structure/Flow rating: 5

The organization and flow of the content are logical and clear. Each chapter is in a similar format, "begins with a set of learning objectives and concludes with practice exercises that are generally divided into four major types: analysis, design, challenge and simulation. "

Interface rating: 5

The text is free of significant interface issues,

Grammatical Errors rating: 5

The book is well-written and appears to contain no major grammatical errors.

Cultural Relevance rating: 5

There is no cultural issue.

Comments

Excellent free textbook with companion OER text, DC Electrical Circuit Analysis and Laboratory Manual for AC Electrical Circuit Analysis. I currently use them as reference textbooks in my DC and AC circuit classes.