Frequency effect on reactance in RC and RL circuits—a smartphone approach

Abstract This paper presents a new and successful methodology for determining the frequency effect on capacitive and inductive reactance in RC and RL series circuits. The key feature in our approach is the practical use of a smartphone as a signal generator and an oscilloscope in alternating current circuits. By generating and visualising the signal using free software applications, we could observe the capacitor’s and the inductor’s response to frequency variations between 0.1 and 5.0 kHz. The experimental data, analysed within the theoretical capacitive and inductive reactance model, shows excellent agreement with the expected values, instilling confidence in the reliability and feasibility of our methodology. This alignment between experimental and theoretical data not only underscores the potential use of smartphone technology in capacitive and inductive reactance studies but also highlights the practicality of our approach to experimental analysis in science and engineering.