Impedance and Reactance Page 1 of 5
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Impedance and Reactance
Impedance | Reactance | Input Impedance | Output Impedance | Voltage Divider
Next Page: 555 and 556 Timer Circuits
Also See: Capacitance | Resistance | Ohm's Law | Voltage Dividers
Impedance
Impedance (symbol Z) is a measure of the overall opposition of
a circuit to current, in other words: how much the circuit V
impedes the flow of current. It is like resistance, but it also Impedance, Z =
I
takes into account the effects of capacitance and inductance.
Impedance is measured in ohms, symbol .
V
Impedance is more complex than resistance because the Resistance, R =
effects of capacitance and inductance vary with the frequency
I
of the current passing through the circuit and this means
impedance varies with frequency! The effect of resistance is V = voltage in volts (V)
constant regardless of frequency. I = current in amps (A)
Z = impedance in ohms ( )
The term 'impedance' is often used (quite correctly) for simple
circuits which have no capacitance or inductance - for example R = resistance in ohms ( )
to refer to their 'input impedance' or 'output impedance'. This
can seem confusing if you are learning electronics, but for these simple circuits you can
assume that it is just another word for resistance.
Four electrical quantities determine the impedance (Z) of a circuit:
resistance (R), capacitance (C), inductance (L) and frequency (f).
Impedance can be split into two parts:
Resistance R (the part which is constant regardless of frequency)
Reactance X (the part which varies with frequency due to capacitance and inductance)
For further details please see the section on Reactance below.
The capacitance and inductance cause a phase
shift* between the current and voltage which
means that the resistance and reactance cannot
be simply added up to give impedance. Instead
they must be added as vectors with reactance
at right angles to resistance as shown in the
diagram.
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Impedance and Reactance Page 2 of 5
* Phase shift means that the current and voltage are out of
step with each other. Think of charging a capacitor. When the voltage across the capacitor is zero, the current is
at a maximum; when the capacitor has charged and the voltage is at a maximum, the current is at a minimum.
The charging and discharging occur continually with AC and the current reaches its maximum shortly before the
voltage reaches its maximum: so we say the current leads the voltage.
Reactance, X
Reactance (symbol X) is a measure of the opposition of capacitance and inductance to
current. Reactance varies with the frequency of the electrical signal. Reactance is measured in
ohms, symbol .
There are two types of reactance: capacitive reactance (Xc) and inductive reactance (XL).
The total reactance (X) is the difference between the two: X = XL - Xc
Capacitive reactance, Xc
1 Xc = reactance in ohms ( )
Xc = where: f = frequency in hertz (Hz)
2 fC C = capacitance in farads (F)
Xc is large at low frequencies and small at high frequencies.
For steady DC which is zero frequency, Xc is infinite (total opposition),
hence the rule that capacitors pass AC but block DC.
For example: a 1µF capacitor has a reactance of 3.2k for a 50Hz signal,
but when the frequency is higher at 10kHz its reactance is only 16 .
Inductive reactance, XL
XL = reactance in ohms ( )
XL = 2 fL where: f = frequency in hertz (Hz)
L = inductance in henrys (H)
XL is small at low frequencies and large at high frequencies.
For steady DC (frequency zero), XL is zero (no opposition),
hence the rule that inductors pass DC but block high frequency AC.
For example: a 1mH inductor has a reactance of only 0.3 for a 50Hz signal,
but when the frequency is higher at 10kHz its reactance is 63 .
Input Impedance ZIN
Input impedance (ZIN) is the impedance 'seen' by
anything connected to the input of a circuit or device
(such as an amplifer). It is the combined effect of all
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the resistance, capacitance and inductance
connected to the input inside the circuit or device.
It is normal to use the term 'input impedance' even for simple cases where there is only
resistance and the term 'input resistance' could be used instead. In fact it is usually reasonable
to assume that an input impedance is just resistance providing the input signal has a low
frequency (less than 1kHz say).
The effects of capacitance and inductance vary with frequency, so if these are present the
input impedance will vary with frequency. The effects of capacitance and inductance are
generally most significant at high frequencies.
Usually input impedances should be high, at least ten times the output impedance of the
circuit (or component) supplying a signal to the input. This ensures that the input will not
'overload' the source of the signal and reduce the strength (voltage) of the signal by a
substantial amount.
Output Impedance ZOUT
The output of any circuit or device is equivalent to an
output impedance (ZOUT) in series with a perfect
voltage source (VSOURCE). This is called the
equivalent circuit and it repesents the combined
effect of all the voltage sources, resistance,
capacitance and inductance connected to the output
inside the circuit or device. Note that VSOURCE is
usually not the same as the supply voltage Vs.
It is normal to use the term 'output impedance' even
for simple cases where there is only resistance and
the term 'output resistance' could be used instead. In
The equivalent circuit of any output
fact it is usually reasonable to assume that an output
impedance is just resistance providing the output
signal has a low frequency (less than 1kHz say).
The effects of capacitance and inductance vary with frequency, so if these are present the
output impedance will vary with frequency. The effects of capacitance and inductance are
generally most significant at high frequencies.
Usually output impedances should be low, less than a tenth of the load impedance
connected to the output. If an output impedance is too high it will be unable to supply a
sufficiently strong signal to the load because most of the signal's voltage will be 'lost' inside the
circuit driving current through the output impedance ZOUT. The load could be a single
component or the input impedance of another circuit.
Low output impedance, ZOUT << ZLOAD
Most of VSOURCE appears across the
load, very little voltage is 'lost' driving
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the output current through the output
impedance. Usually this is the best
arrangement.
Matched impedances, ZOUT = ZLOAD
Half of VSOURCE appears across the load,
the other half is 'lost' driving the output
current through the output impedance.
This arrangement is useful in some
situations (such as an amplifier driving a
loudspeaker) because it delivers
maximum power to the load. Note that
an equal amount of power is wasted
driving the output current through ZOUT,
The load can be a single component or
an efficiency of 50%.
the input impedance of another circuit
High output impedance, ZOUT >> ZLOAD
Only a small portion of appears across
the load, most is 'lost' driving the output
current through the output impedance. This arrangement is unsatisfactory.
The output resistance of a voltage divider
Voltage dividers are widely used in electronics, for
example to connect an input transducer such as an LDR
to a circuit input.
For successful use the output impedance of the voltage
divider should be much smaller than the input impedance
of the circuit it is connected to. Ideally the output
impedance should be less than a tenth of the input
impedance.
In the equivalent circuit of a voltage divider the output
impedance is just a resistance and the term 'output Voltage divider
resistance' could be used. ROUT is equal to the two
resistances (R1 and R2) connected in parallel:
R1 × R2
Output impedance, ROUT =
R1 + R2
The voltage source VSOURCE in the equivalent circuit is the
value of the output voltage Vo when there is nothing
connected to the output (and therefore no output current).
It is sometimes called the 'open circuit' voltage.
Equivalent circuit of a voltage divider
Vs × R2
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Voltage source, VSOURCE = R1 + R2
In most voltage dividers one of the resistors will be an
input transducer such as an LDR. The transducer's
resistance varies and this will make both VSOURCE and
ROUT vary too. To check that ROUT is sufficiently low you
should work out its highest value which will occur when
the transducer has its maximum resistance (this applies
wherever the transducer is connected in the voltage
divider).
For example: If R1 = 10k and R2 is an LDR with Voltage divider with an LDR
maximum resistance 1M , ROUT = 10k × 1M / (10k + 1M)
= 9.9k (say 10k ). This means it should be connected to a load or input resistance of at least
100k .
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