Class 12: Outline

Hour 1: Working with Circuits Expt. 4. Part I: Measuring V, I, R Hour 2: RC Circuits Expt. 4. Part II: RC Circuits
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Last Time: Resistors & Ohms Law

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Resistors & Ohms Law

R=

V = IR
1

Rseries = R1 + R2

Rparallel

1 1 = + R1 R2

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Measuring Voltage & Current

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Measuring Potential Difference

A voltmeter must be hooked in parallel across the element you want to measure the potential difference across

Voltmeters have a very large resistance, so that they dont affect the circuit too much
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Measuring Current
An ammeter must be hooked in series with the element you want to measure the current through

Ammeters have a very low resistance, so that they dont affect the circuit too much
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Measuring Resistance
An ohmmeter must be hooked in parallel across the element you want to measure the resistance of

Here we are measuring R1 Ohmmeters apply a voltage and measure the current that flows. They typically wont work if the resistor is powered (connected to a battery)

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Experiment 4: Part 1: Measuring V, I & R

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RC Circuits

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(Dis)Charging a Capacitor
1. When the direction of current flow is toward the positive plate of a capacitor, then Charging

dQ I =+ dt
2. When the direction of current flow is away from the positive plate of a capacitor, then Discharging

dQ I = dt

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Charging A Capacitor

What happens when we close switch S?

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Charging A Capacitor

NO CURRENT FLOWS!

1. Arbitrarily assign direction of current 2. Kirchhoff (walk in direction of current):

Q Vi = C IR = 0 i

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Charging A Capacitor
dQ dt Q dQ = = R Q C RC C dt

t dt dQ = 0 RC Q C

A solution to this differential equation is:

Q (t ) = C

(1 e

t / RC

)
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RC is the time constant, and has units of seconds

Charging A Capacitor

Q = C 1 e t / RC

dQ t / RC = e I= dt R
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PRS Questions: Charging a Capacitor

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Discharging A Capacitor

What happens when we close switch S?

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Discharging A Capacitor
NO CURRENT FLOWS!

dq I = dt

q Vi = C IR = 0 i
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Discharging A Capacitor
dq q dq dt + =0 = dt RC q RC 0 Q0
Q t

Q (t ) = Qo e

t / RC

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General Comment: RC
All Quantities Either:

Value(t ) = Value Final (1 e t / )

Value(t ) = Value0 e t /

can be obtained from differential equation (prefactor on d/dt) e.g. = RC

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Exponential Decay
Very common curve in physics/nature (t0,v0) (t0+,v0/e) How do you measure ? 1) Fit curve (make sure you exclude data at both ends) 2) a) Pick a point b) Find point with y value down by e c) Time difference is
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Value(t ) = Value0 e t /

Demonstrations: RC Time Constants

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Experiment 4: Part II: RC Circuits

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PRS Question: Multiloop circuit with Capacitor in One Loop

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