Series resistor-inductor circuits

Series resistor-inductor circuits

The resistor will offer 5 of resistance to AC current regardless of frequency, while the inductor will offer 3.7699 of reactance to AC current at 60 Hz. Because the resistor’s resistance is a real number (5 6 0o, or 5 + j), and the inductor’s reactance is an imaginary number (3.7699  6 90o, or 0 + j3.7699 ), the combined effect of the two components will be an opposition to current equal to the complex sum of the two numbers. This combined opposition will be a vector combination of resistance and reactance. In order to express this opposition succinctly, we need a more comprehensive term for opposition to current than either resistance or reactance alone.