Why is inductive reactive power considered positive while capacitive reactive power is considered negative in the circuit ?
Both inductor and capacitor consume apparent power so I guess total reactive power in the circuit should be written as.
Total reactive power = Total inductive reactive power + Total capacitive reactive power.
but in books it is
Total reactive power = Total inductive reactive power – Total capacitive reactive power.Is this because energy oscillates between the inducter and the capacitor?
I do not understand this. Can anyone help me on this ?
Could you say why the sign is negative for Capacitor whereas this also store energy inform of charges and Inductor also stores energy in magnetic form. Then why Capacitor -ve and Inductor is Positive ??
Anyone can give a good analogy to understand this concept ?
Best Answer
'Both inductor and capacitor absorb power' - NO
They both store energy (the integral of power).
In an AC circuit, a simple one where there's only one capacitor and one inductor, doesn't matter whether series or parallel connection, one will be accumulating energy while the other is discharging energy. One will be taking power, the other will be generating power.
The net change in total energy storage seen at the terminals will be the algebraic sum of the changes at the L and at the C. As one is the opposite sign to the other, the sum is the difference in their magnitudes.