The RC time constant, also called tau, the time constant (in seconds) of an RC circuit, is equal

to the product of the circuit resistance (in ohms) and the circuit capacitance (infarads), i.e.

It is the time required to charge the capacitor, through the resistor, by 63.2 percent of the
difference between the initial value and final value or discharge the capacitor to 36.8
percent. This value is derived from the mathematical constant e, specifically

, more

specifically as voltage to charge the capacitor versus time

Charging

[1]

Discharging
Contents
[hide]

1Cutoff frequency

2Delay

3See also

4References

5External links

Cutoff frequency[edit]
The time constant

is related to the cutoff frequency fc, an alternative parameter of

the RC circuit, by

or, equivalently,

where resistance in ohms and capacitance in farads yields the time constant
in seconds or the frequency in Hz.
Short conditional equations:

fc in Hz = 159155 / in s
in s = 159155 / fc in Hz
Other useful equations are:

rise time (20% to 80%)