Non‐Ideal Behavior of Passive Components

In this chapter, the authors investigate the impedance of the three standard passive circuit components (R, L, and C) as well as the frequency response of a PCB trace. It is shown that a PCB trace can be modeled as a resonant RLC network just like the standard components, and effectively constitutes the fourth circuit component whose frequency behavior directly affects the impedance of the resistors, inductors, and capacitors on a PCB. Actual circuit components exhibit non‐ideal effects that can be modeled by augmenting the ideal model with a parasitic resistance, inductance, and capacitance. The concept of resonance is of paramount importance in EMC. The authors present laboratory exercise which examines the non‐ideal behavior of capacitors and inductors. It also investigates the impact of the trace length on impedance of capacitors and inductors.