In a pure capacitive circuit, current will lead the voltage by what angle?

In a pure capacitive circuit, the current leads the voltage by an angle of 90 degrees. This phase shift occurs due to the nature of capacitive components, which store energy in an electric field. When an alternating current (AC) voltage is applied to a capacitor, it causes the current to flow immediately as the capacitor begins to charge.

The voltage across the capacitor, however, does not reach its maximum value until after the current has peaked. This phase relationship is a fundamental characteristic of capacitors and is a result of the way capacitive reactance behaves in AC circuits. Therefore, when analyzing the phase relationship, it's clear that the current waveform reaches its peak a quarter cycle before the voltage does, resulting in a lead of 90 degrees.

Understanding this relationship is critical for analyzing circuit behavior in AC systems, particularly when calculating impedance and understanding power factor in circuits that contain capacitive loads.