We actually still have some options open to
us. One of thenicest, at least in terms of getting some insight,is call a
crank diagram . Note that
this equation is a complex
equation, which requires us to take a the ratio of two complexnumbers;
and
.
Let's plot these two quantities on the complex
plane, starting at
(the load end of the line). We can represent
, the reflection coefficient, by its magnitude and its
phase,
and
. For the numerator we plot a 1, and then add the
complex vector
which has a
length
and sits at an angle
with respect to the real axis
.
The denominator is just the same thing, except the
vector points in the
opposite direction
.
Plot
Plotting
Another plot
Plotting
The top vector is proportional to
and the bottom vector is proportional to
. Of course, for
we are at the load so
and
.
Another crank diagram
Showing that
and
As we move down the line, the two"
" vectors rotate around at
a rate of
. As they rotate, one vector gets
longer and the other gets shorter, and then the oppositeoccurs. In any event, to get
we have to divide the first vector by the second. In
general, this is not easy to do, but there are
some places where it is not too bad. One of
these is when
.
Rotating the phasors on the crank diagram
Rotating a crank diagram
Rotating to a
At this point, the voltage vector has rotated around so that itis just lying on the real axis. Obviously its length is now
. By the same token, the current vector is also lying
on the real axis, and has a length
. Dividing one by the other, and multiplying by
gives us
at this point.
Where is this point, and does it have any special meaning? For
this, we need to go back to our expression for
in
this
equation .
where we have substituted
for the phasor
and then defined a new angle
.
Now let's find the magnitude of
. To do this we need to square the real and imaginary
parts, add them, and then take the square root.
so,
which, since
Remember,
is an angle which changes with
. In particular,
. Thus, as we move down the line
will oscillate as
oscillates. A typical plot for
(for
and
) is shown
here .