Electric Circuits (EET1411) HW11

Reading:
1. Chapter 9

Practice Problems:

P1: A capacitor of 2.6 F was totally discharged initially. IT was then charged from a dc
voltage source of 9V through a resistor of 2.2 k (series connection).
(1) What is the initial charging current? (4.1 mA)
(2) What is the time constant of the RC network?
(3) What is the voltage across the capacitor after three time-constant? And charging current?
(8.55V, 0.2mA)
(5) What is the voltage across the capacitor when it is fully charged? And the charging current?

P2: The following three traces are the capacitor voltages in two separate RC networks. Estimate
the time constants of RC networks. Explain the procedures used for the estimation.
(a)

(b)

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Electric Circuits (EET1411) HW11

(c)

P3: A RC network is shown below.

(1) Derive the expression for the time constant of this network [ Hint: applying Thevenin’s
𝑅 𝑅
Theorem. Ans. :𝑅 1+𝑅2 ∙ 𝐶1 ]
1 2
C1
(2) If R1 = 1.2 kΩ, R2 = 2.7 kΩ, C1 = 1.2
µF. simulate this network by connecting
a DC voltage source across terminals A
and B. R1
a. Chart out the trace of capacitor A
voltage and determine the time
constant based on the trace. R2
b. Calculate the time constant based
on the expression of time
constant derived in (1). B
c. Compare the time constant
values from (a) and (b).

P4: In the figure below, let V(0) = 15V, determine the expressions for vc(t), vx(t), and ix(t) for
t >0.

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Electric Circuits (EET1411) HW11

R2

2
U1
TCLOSE = 0
ix

1
R1
5
+
vc C1
+ R3
_ 0.1F
vx 12
_

P5:
The initial voltage (when t = 0 ) of the capacitor in the following circuit diagram was zero. At
time t = 0 second, Switch U2 was closed and Switch U1 remained to be closed. Capacitor C1
was being charged up until t = 10 ms when Switch U1 became open. Then the capacitor started
the discharge phase.
a) Conduct a time-domain simulation of the circuit for a sufficient period of time and obtain the
trace of capacitor voltage during the charging and discharging phases.
b) Determine the time constants for the charging and discharging phases based on the trace
obtained above. (Note that as the charging and discharging paths are different, the time
constant for charging is different from that of discharging).
c) Determine the Thevinin equvalent circuit for the part external to the capacitor C1 ( the part in
the dashed box) for the time period of 0 ~10 ms and then deternine calculate the time
constant of the charging phase charging .
d) Determine the Thevinin equvalent circuit for the part external to the capacitor C1 for the
tome period of t >10 ms and then deternine calculate the time constant of the discharging
phase discharging.
e) Compared the time constants obtained in (b) with the ones obtained in (c) and (d).

TOPEN = 10m R2 TCLOSE = 0

1 2 1 2
U1 U2
1k
V

V2
9V dc
R3 C1
1k 1.2u

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Electric Circuits (EET1411) HW11

f) Consider the charging phase, analytically determine the following

(1) capacitor charing current at t = 0 sec.
(2) Capacitor voltage when t = 10 ms.