reactance

reactance, in electricity, measure of the opposition that a circuit or a part of a circuit presents to electric current insofar as the current is varying or alternating. Steady electric currents flowing along conductors in one direction undergo opposition called electrical resistance, but no reactance. Reactance is present in addition to resistance when conductors carry alternating current. Reactance also occurs for short intervals when direct current is changing as it approaches or departs from steady flow, for example, when switches are closed or opened.

Reactance is of two types: inductive and capacitive. Inductive reactance is associated with the magnetic field that surrounds a wire or a coil carrying a current. An alternating current in such a conductor, or inductor, sets up an alternating magnetic field that in turn affects the current in, and the voltage (potential difference) across, that part of the circuit. An inductor essentially opposes changes in current, making changes in the current lag behind those in the voltage. The current builds up as the driving voltage is already decreasing, tends to continue on at maximum value when the voltage is reversing its direction, falls off to zero as the voltage is increasing to maximum in the opposite direction, and reverses itself and builds up in the same direction as the voltage even as the voltage is falling off again. Inductive reactance, a measure of this opposition to the current, is proportional to both the frequency f of the alternating current and a property of the inductor called inductance (symbolized by L and depending in turn on the inductor’s dimensions, arrangement, and surrounding medium). Inductive reactance X_L equals 2π times the product of the frequency of the current and the inductance of the conductor, simply X_L = 2πfL. Inductive reactance is expressed in ohms. (The unit of frequency is hertz, and that of inductance is henry.)

Capacitive reactance, on the other hand, is associated with the changing electric field between two conducting surfaces (plates) separated from each other by an insulating medium. Such a set of conductors, a capacitor, essentially opposes changes in voltage, or potential difference, across its plates. A capacitor in a circuit retards current flow by causing the alternating voltage to lag behind the alternating current, a relationship in contrast to that caused by an inductor. The capacitive reactance, a measure of this opposition, is inversely proportional to the frequency f of the alternating current and to a property of the capacitor called capacitance (symbolized by C and depending on the capacitor’s dimensions, arrangement, and insulating medium). The capacitive reactance X_C equals the reciprocal of the product of 2π, the frequency of the current, and the capacitance of that part of the circuit, simply X_C = 1/(2πfC). Capacitive reactance has units of ohms. (The unit of capacitance is farad.)

Because inductive reactance X_L causes the voltage to lead the current and capacitive reactance X_C causes the voltage to lag behind the current, total reactance X is their difference—that is, X = X_L - X_C. The reciprocal of the reactance, 1/X, is called the susceptance and is expressed in units of reciprocal ohm, called mho (ohm spelled backward).