Physics 222

Capacitance
Materials: variable voltage source, one well-known resistor, one capacitor, LabPro/computer, banana
cables, alligator clips, and voltage probe cable for LabPro
Purpose: to investigate the concept of capacitance and observe the proportional relationship between charge
and voltage across a capacitor.
Capacitance and capacitors: When a potential difference V is applied between two isolated conductors,
each conductor develops equal but opposite charge Q. Usually, Q is proportional to V and the constant of
proportionality is called the capacitance C. Thus, Q = CV. capacitance has units of Coulombs/volt which is
equal to a Farad (F). A device which is designed to have a specific value of capacitance is called a
capacitor.
Using a Resistor connected in series with a capacitor to measure the charge on the capacitor: The
voltage probe connected to the LabPro can be used to periodically record a voltage relative to Earth ground.
If the probe is connected across a resistor, a graph of voltage vs. time can be obtained. Dividing the voltage
by the value of the resistance provides a graph of current vs. time. Finding the area under the curve of I vs. t
provides a measure of the charge Q stored by the capacitor.
Figure: Fig. 2 shows the schematic circuit diagram for measuring the capacitance of a capacitor.

Fig. 1

Switch

C
When the switch is closed, the capacitor will charge up quickly because the conducting paths between the
plates of the capacitor and the terminals of the power supply have very little resistance. However, when the
switch is opened, the capacitor will discharge through the resistor much more slowly because the conducting
path between the plates of the capacitor becomes relatively large. Measuring the voltage across the capacitor
during the discharge phase provides a measure of the current flowing through the resistor. This current can
then be integrated to determine the charge stored on the capacitor at particular voltages.

Using the capacitor, resistor, multimeter, voltage supply, cables, alligator clips, LabPro/computer, and
voltage probe for LabPro, complete the following steps.
1) Configure the circuit schematically shown in Figure 1. Connect the voltage probe (Labpro) across the
resistor. The switch will be realized by simply connecting and disconnecting the banana cable from the
positive terminal of the voltage source.
2) Download and run the Logger Pro configuration file called RC Charge integration from the
instructors shared folder (sugarsync). Adjust the resistance parameter to match the measured value of
resistance of your resistor. Set the voltage of the power supply to 6 volts (no more or it may damage the
capacitor).
4) Press the collect button so that the computer can receive a keyboard trigger. Close the switch (by
connecting the positive cable) and then press the space bar on the keyboard. After about 1 or 2 seconds of
data has been recorded on the screen, open the switch (by disconnecting the positive cable). After the
switch is opened, the capacitor will discharge through the resistor. Allow the computer to record data for
the full 10 seconds. Repeats this step until an acceptable graph of I vs. t is obtained. The capacitor should
be fully discharged before the end of the data acquisition cycle.
5) Make a new column (in Logger Pro) representing the charge flowing from the capacitor. This new
charge column will be computed using the built-in integration feature to integrate the column of current vs.
time. The graph of charge vs. potential can then be used to determine the capacitance of the capacitor.
5.1) Remove the unwanted data: In the current vs. time graph, select the portion of the graph starting from
t=0 up to the moment just after the capacitor begins to discharge. Select the menu option Edit/Strike
Through Data Cells. If there is a long tail after the current reaches zero, select the extended tail region and
strike through the data cells.
5.2) Compute the total charge stored by the capacitor: Apply the integrate feature (Analyze/Integral) to the
current vs. time graph to compute the total charge stored by the capacitor. Record the value below (6 sig
figs)
total_charge = ___________________________________________
5.3) Compute charge from current: Select the menu option Data/New calculated column. It will open the
following window.

a) fill in the name, short name and units fields with appropriate text
b) Fill in the expression so that it looks like this:
(total_charge) - integral("Current", "Time")
such that (total_charge) is the value measured in step 2.
The reason for doing this step is that the capacitor is discharging and so the integration function computes
the charge leaving the capacitor instead of the charge remaining on the capacitor. Subtracting the charge
leaving the capacitor from the total charge provides the charge remaining on the capacitor.
c) Select Done.
6) Measure capacitance: Configure the graph such that the y-axis is charge and the x-axis is potential. You
should see a proportional line.
a) Do a linear fit to this graph to determine the value of the capacitance.
Measured C(F) = ________________
Expected C(F) = ________________
% difference = ___________________
Questions (answer the following questions in your report):
1) Describe the most significant similarity between the data obtained in the Ohms law activity (6.1)
and the data obtained in this activity.
2) Explain why the instantaneous charge stored on the capacitor was calculated by subtracting the
integrated current from the total charge of the capacitor.