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Energy Storage of Capacitor

• Capacitors do not dissipate power, but store energy
when charging and restore it to the circuit when
discharging.
• How much energy does a capacitor store?
T T dV T
E = ∫ Pdt = ∫ VIdt = ∫ VC dt
0 0 0 dt
RHS allows us to integrate wrt V instead of T, but we
must change the upper limit of integration to the final
capacitor voltage VT at t=T
VT
In general, just use
1
E = ∫ CVdv = the formula 1
2
CVT
0
2 E= CV 2
2
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Parallel Capacitors
• Recall that capacitance is given by
Q
C=
V
where Q is the charge and V is the applied voltage.
• Thus if capacitors are placed in parallel, the total charge stored
will sum and hence the equivalent capacitance will just be the
sum of the capacitances of the individual capacitors.
QTotal=Q1+Q2+Q3

Q1 Q2 Q3
N
CEquiv = ∑ Ci
V C1 C2 C3 V C1+C2+C3

i =1

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Series Capacitors
• If a current, I, is passed through a set of series
capacitors over a period of time, T, each will acquire
the same charge Q=IT.
• Each capacitor, Ci, will exhibit a voltage, Vi=Q/Ci.
 1 1 1 
V1 =
Q
V2 =
Q
V3 =
Q VTotal = Q  + + 
C1 C2 C3  C1 C 2 C3 

Q Q Q Q

C1 C2 C3 1  1 1 1 
= + + 
CEquiv  C1 C 2 C3 
DC

DC
N
=∑
1 1
CEquiv i =1 C i

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Parallel and Series Capacitors

• In other words
– Capacitors in parallel are combined like the formula for
resistors in series
– Capacitors in series are combined like the formula for
resistors in parallel
• Non-standard capacitance values can be made be
combining standard value capacitors in parallel and
series.

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Behavior of Simple RC Circuit

• Consider that the switch has been in the position shown for a
long time so that the capacitor is completely discharged.
• The switch moves to the other position at time t=0. What is the
behaviour of the voltage, v, across the capacitor?

Vs C v

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Simple RC Circuit
• Initially, there will be no charge on the capacitor (hence no
voltage across it) and a current of i=Vs/R will flow through the
resistor
• As the capacitor charges, the voltage across the capacitor will
rise and the current will decrease.
• Eventually, the capacitor will become completely charged to the
voltage Vs and no current will flow at all.
R

Vs C v

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Differential Equations
• Using Kirchoff’s Voltage Law we have
q
− Vs + iR + = 0 (1)
C
where i=i(t) and q=q(t) are the instantaneous current and charge
respectively
• Differentiating wrt t yields
di 1 di
R + i = 0 ⇒ i = − RC ( 2)
dt C dt
• Since this equation says that i(t) is simply a scalar, -RC, times
di/dt, we guess that i(t) must take the form of an exponential
function. (Recall that the derivative of ex wrt x is also ex)
t
• Thus to solve (2), i(t) must take the form −
where A is a scalar constant i = Ae
RC
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Solution to Equations
t
−
i = Ae RC

• We solve for A by substituting back into (1) at time

t=0. q
− Vs + iR + = 0 (1)
C
t
-
at time t = 0, q = 0, and i = Ae RC
= A, yielding
− Vs + AR = 0 (1)
t
Vs −
• Thus A=Vs/R and the final solution is i= e RC
R
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Capacitor Voltage
• The voltage across the capacitor, v, is given by Vs
minus the voltage across the resistor given by VR=iR
R

v = Vs − iR
i
Vs − RCt
v = Vs − e R
Vs C R
 −
t

= Vs 1 − e 
RC

 

 −
t

v v = Vs 1 − e 
RC

 
t
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Final Voltages and Currents

• The quantity RC is called the time constant of the circuit denoted
by the Greek symbol,τ, (Tau)
• The time constant has the units of time (seconds).

R
 − 
t
v = Vs 1 − e τ 
i  
Vs C v
t
Vs −
i= e τ
R
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Voltage Characteristics
• If we plot normalised voltage (fraction of supply voltage) across
the capacitor against time expressed in multiples of the time
constants, τ =RC, we obtain the following graph.

τ After t=τ time constant

1 we obtain 63.2% of
0.9 final voltage. After t=5τ,
0.8
95.0% 98.2% 99.3% we obtain 99.3% of the
0.7 86.5% final voltage
Voltage

0.6
0.5 63.2%
0.4
0.3 Initial slope is Vs/τ.
0.2 This is a quick way to
0.1
estimate τ on an
0 0 1 2 3 4 5 oscilloscope.
Time

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Current Characteristics
Similarly, If we plot normalised current (fraction of initial
current, i0) through the capacitor against time expressed in
multiples of the time constants, τ =RC, we obtain the
following graph.
After t=τ time constant
1 we obtain 36.8% of
0.9 initial current. After t=5τ,
0.8 we obtain 0.6% of the
0.7
initial current
Current

0.6 36.8%
0.5
0.4 13.5%
0.3 4.98%
1.83% Initial slope is i0/τ.
0.2 0.6% This is a quick way to
0.1
estimate τ on an
0 0
τ 1 2
Time
3 4 5 oscilloscope.

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