Hello, friends, I hope you all are doing great. In today’s tutorial, we will discuss the Difference Between Active & Reactive Power. active power is that power that is used by any circuitry or we can say that the power that used to generate output. While reactive power is the power loss in the system or wasted power of the circuitry.
In ac power systems there are three types of power commonly observed that are apparent power, active power, and reactive power. Apparent power is the power which is given to the system and active or real power is the power that is used by the system and reactive power is the part of apparent power that is lost or dissipated. All these powers are represented in the form of a triangle called the power triangle. Apparent power is denoted with the S, reactive with the Q, and active power with the P. in today’s post we will have a detailed look at both the reactive and active power of the system and compare them to find their differences. So let’s get started with Difference Between Active & Reactive Power.
Difference Between Active & Reactive Power
Active power
- The power that is used in the circuitry to the generation of output is called active power or real power.
- Its mathematical expression is P=VIcos.
- It measured in watts, KW, and MW
- It is also called real power
- A wattmeter used to measure this power
- active power can be moved in single direction
- It is used in the motor heater.
- It is employed for alternating and direct current as well
- It is denoted with the P’.
- This power generates heat of the heater, glows the bulb, and produces the torque in the motor.
- The value of active power can be measured with the wattmeter.
- It’s a measurable unit watt.
Reactive power
- The power that does not take part in the output generation or part of apparent power that loses is called reactive power.
- Its mathematical form is Q=VIsin.
- It used in ac circuits
- It helps to make electric and magnetic field
- It exists in transformers, cleaner
- It is called useless power.
- Its unit is VAR. KVR MVAR
- It is denoted with the Q.
- It helps to find the value of P.F of circuitry.
- It is measured with the VAR meter.
Active Power vs Reactive Power
Active Power
- The amount of electrical power that performs useful work in an electric system is called active power.
- It is also called real power or true power called watt-full power.
- It is denoted with a P letter and the equation is P=V×I×cosϕP=V×I×cosϕ
- Its measuring unit is Watt and larger units are (kW), megawatt (MW), gigawatt (GW), etc.
- In a captive circuit, it is also zero since the current and voltage are 90 degrees out of phase.
- This power is measured as the amount of power converted into other forms such as mechanical energy, light, heat, etc.
- It measured with a wattmeter
- Its motion direction is from source to load.
- It is part of both AC and DC circuits.
- For resistive circuits, net power is equal to active power and in the form of heat dissipated.
- For a pure inductive circuit, its value is zero, and the inductor does not use power. Its value is zero since the phase angle between voltage and current is 90°, thus cos (90°) =0. P = 0 Watts.
Reactive Power
- This power moves back and forth from any source to load in a circuit called active power
- It is also called imaginary power or wattless power
- It is denoted as “Q” and the formula is Q=V×I×sinϕQ=V×I×sinϕ
- It is lagging reactive power for inductive circuits since the current lags the voltage by 90°.
- It is the leading reactive power for a pure capacitive circuit since the current leads to voltage through 90 degrees.
- Its measuring expression is VAr (Volt-Ampere Reactive). kVAr, MVAr, etc.
- VAr meter used for measuring this power
- It moves in any direction between source to load
- It only exists in AC circuits.
- Resistive circuits do not have reactive power
That all about difference between active and reactive power if you have any query ask in the comments. Thanks for reading. Have a good day.