Solution

ID: past-exam-of-the-physics-2-paper-of-the-university-of-oxford/2016/11/i/solution

Choose the phasor convention and similarly for the electric current. In a linear sinusoidal steady state, differentiation becomes multiplication by , and complex impedance is . Kirchhoff's current law and Kirchhoff's voltage law then become algebraic equations that retain both amplitude and phase information.
For a resistor, , so . For a capacitor, , while an inductor obeys . Therefore
The resistor's electric potential difference and current are in phase. The inductor's electric potential difference leads its current by ; the capacitor's current leads its electric potential difference by . Replacing by conjugates every impedance but leaves these physical lead-and-lag statements unchanged. The phasor method describes the steady state; switch-on transients must be added separately when initial conditions are relevant.

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