This 38-page, 3-hour "basics" course covers how inductance, capacitance, and resistance affect alternating current.

Topics: Upon completion of this course you will be able to: State the effects an inductor has on a change in current and a capacitor has on a change in voltage. State the phase relationships between current and voltage in an inductor and in a capacitor. State the terms for the opposition an inductor and a capacitor offer to ac Write the formulas for inductive and capacitive reactances. State the effects of a change in frequency on X L and XC. State the effects of a change in inductance on X L and a change in capacitance on XC. Write the formula for determining total reactance (X); compute total reactance (X) in a series circuit; and indicate whether the total reactance is capacitive or inductive. State the term given to the total opposition (Z) in an ac circuit. Write the formula for impedance, and calculate the impedance in a series circuit when the values of XC, X L, and R are given. Write the Ohm's law formulas used to determine voltage and current in an ac circuit. Define true power, reactive power, and apparent power; state the unit of measurement for and the formula used to calculate each. State the definition of and write the formula for power factor. Given the power factor and values of X and R in an ac circuit, compute the value of reactance in the circuit, and state the type of reactance that must be connected in the circuit to correct the power factor to unity. State the difference between calculating impedance in a series ac circuit and in a parallel AC circuit. 

Publication Source: US Dept. of Energy