Transient and Steady State Analysis

1. A 10 Ω resistor, a 1 H inductor and 1 µF capacitor are connected in parallel. The

combination is driven by a unit step current. Under the steady state condition, the source
current flows through.
(a) the resistor (c) the capacitor only
(b) the inductor (d) all the three elements
[GATE 1989: 2 Marks]

Soln. Under steady state condition, the capacitor is open circuit and inductor short
circuit. The source current flows through inductor.

Option (a)

2. If the Laplace transform of the voltage across a capacitor of value of ½ F is

𝑆+1
𝑉𝐶 (𝑆) = 3
𝑆 + 𝑆2 + 𝑆 + 1
The value of the current through the capacitor at t = 0+ is
(a) 0 A (c) (1/2) A
(b) 2 A (d) 1 A
[GATE 1989: 2 Marks]

Soln. Impedance of capacitor

𝟏 𝟐
= =
𝑪𝑺 𝑺
Current through the capacitor

𝑽𝑪 (𝑺)
=
𝒁𝑪 (𝑺)

(𝑺 + 𝟏) 𝑺 𝑺
= =
(𝑺𝟑 + 𝑺𝟐 + 𝑺 + 𝟏)𝟐 𝟐 (𝑺𝟐 + 𝟏)

𝒊(𝟎+ ) = 𝐥𝐢𝐦 𝑺 𝒊𝑪 (𝑺)

𝑺→∞
 𝑺𝟐 𝟏 𝟏
= 𝐥𝐢𝐦 = 𝐥𝐢𝐦 =
𝑺→∞ 𝟐 (𝑺𝟐 + 𝟏) 𝑺→∞ 𝟏 𝟐
𝟐 (𝟏 + 𝑺𝟐 )

Option (c)

3. A ramp voltage, v(t) = 100 t volts, is applied to an RC differentiating circuit with R = 5

kΩ and C = 4 µF. The maximum output voltage is

(a) 0.2 volt (c) 10.0 volts

(b) 2.0 volts (d) 50.0 volts
[GATE 1994: 1 Mark]

Soln. The output of an RC differentiating circuit

𝒅𝒗𝟏
= 𝑹𝑪
𝒅𝒕
𝒅
= 𝟓 × 𝟏𝟎𝟑 × 𝟒 × 𝟏𝟎−𝟔 (𝟏𝟎𝟎𝒕)
𝒅𝒕

= 𝟐𝟎 × 𝟏𝟎−𝟑 × 𝟏𝟎𝟎

= 𝟐 𝒗𝒐𝒕𝒍𝒔

Option (b)

4. In the figure, the switch was closed for a long time before opening at t = 0. The voltage
Vx at t = 0+ is
 2.5A
20

5H

20
- +
Vx
(a) 25 V (c) -50 V
(b) 50 V (d) 0 V
[GATE 2002 :1 Mark]

Soln. When the switch was closed for a long time, the steady state is reached and inductor
is short circuit.

𝑰𝑳 (𝟎− ) = 𝟐. 𝟓 𝑨

The current cannot change instantaneously in a inductor 𝑰𝑳 (𝟎− ) = 𝑰𝑳 (𝟎+ ) = 𝟐. 𝟓 𝑨

At 𝒕 = 𝟎+ inductor can be replaced by a current source of 2.5A. The equivalent

circuit for the same is drawn.

2.5A
20

2.5A

20
+ V -
 𝑽 = 𝟐𝟎 × 𝟐. 𝟓

= 𝟓𝟎 𝑽

𝑽𝑿 = 𝑽 is of opposite polarity

𝑽𝑿 = −𝟓𝟎𝑽

Option (c)

5. For the R-L circuit shown in the figure, the input voltage Vi(t) = u(t). Plot the current i(t)
1H

V1(t) i(t) 2

Soln.
𝑽𝟏 (𝑺) 𝟏
𝑰(𝑺) = =
𝑳𝑺 + 𝟐 𝑺(𝑺 + 𝟐)

𝟏 𝟏 𝟏
= [ − ]
𝟐 𝑺 𝑺+𝟐

𝟏 𝟏 −𝟐𝒕
𝒊(𝒕) = − 𝒆
𝟐 𝟐

𝟏 𝟏
𝒂𝒕 𝒕 = 𝟎, 𝒊(𝟎) = − =𝟎
𝟐 𝟐

𝟏
𝒂𝒕 𝒕 = ∞, 𝒊(∞) = = 𝟎. 𝟓
𝟐

𝟏 𝟏 𝟏
𝒂𝒕 𝒕 = , 𝒊 ( ) = (𝟏 − 𝒆−𝟏 )
𝟐 𝟐 𝟐
 𝟏 𝟎. 𝟔𝟑𝟐
= (𝟏 − 𝟎. 𝟑𝟔𝟖) =
𝟐 𝟐

= 𝟎. 𝟑𝟏𝟔

i (t)

0.500

0.316

1/2 t

6. The circuit shown in the figure has initial current iL(0-) = 1 A through the inductor and an
initial voltage VC (0-) = -1 V across the capacitor. For input v(t) = u(t) find the laplace
transform of the current i(t) for 𝑡 ≥ 0
1 1H
+

i(t) +
V1(t)
- 1F
-
[GATE 2004 :2 Marks]
Soln. Writing KVL
𝒕
𝒅𝒊 𝟏
𝑽(𝒕) = 𝑹𝒊 + 𝑳 + ∫ 𝒊𝒅𝒕
𝒅𝒕 𝑪
−∞

Taking Laplace transform on both sides

𝟏 𝑰(𝑺) 𝒒(𝟎− )
𝑽(𝑺) = 𝑹𝑰(𝑺) + 𝑳[𝑺𝑰(𝑺) − 𝒊(𝟎+ )] + [ + ]
𝑪 𝑺 𝑺

𝒒(𝟎− )
Where 𝒊(𝟎+ ) is the initial current and is the initial voltage of the capacitor.
𝑪

𝟏 𝑰(𝑺) 𝟏
= 𝑰(𝑺) + 𝑺𝑰(𝑺) − 𝟏 + −
𝑺 𝑺 𝑺

𝟐 𝟏
+ 𝟏 = 𝑰(𝑺) [𝟏 + 𝑺 + ]
𝑺 𝑺

𝑺+𝟐
𝑰(𝑺) =
𝑺𝟐 +𝑺+𝟏

7. A square pulse of 3 volts amplitude is applied to C-R circuit shown in the figure. The
capacitor is initially uncharged. The output voltage V2 at time t = 2 sec is
 Vi
0. 1 µF
3 + +

V1 1k V2

t
- -
2 sec

(a) 3 V (c) 4 V
(b) -3 V (d) -4 V
[GATE : 2005 2 Marks]

Soln. Time constant

𝑹𝑪 = 𝟏 × 𝟏𝟎𝟑 × 𝟎. 𝟏 × 𝟏𝟎−𝟔

= 𝟎. 𝟏 × 𝟏𝟎−𝟑 𝒔𝒆𝒄

= 𝟎. 𝟏 𝒎 𝒔𝒆𝒄

Steady state will be reached in time ≥ 𝟓 time constant (0.5 m sec). The capacitor
gets charge to + 3 volts 𝑽𝟐 = −𝟑 𝒗𝒐𝒍𝒕𝒔

Option (b)

8. A 2 mH inductor with some initial current is in figure. Where s is the laplace transform
variable. The value of initial current is.

I(s)
0.002s

-
1 mV
+
 (a) 0.5 A (c) 1.0 A
(b) 2.0 A (d) 0.0 A
[GATE : 2006 1 Mark]

Soln. Voltage across inductor L

𝒅𝒊
𝑳=𝑳 = 𝑳[𝑺𝑰(𝑺) − 𝒊(𝟎+ )]
𝒅𝒕

𝑳 𝒊(𝟎+ ) = 𝟏 𝒎𝒗

𝟏 𝒎𝒗
𝒊(𝟎+ ) = = 𝟎. 𝟓𝑨
𝟐 𝒎𝑯
Option (a)

9. In the figure shown below, assume that all the capacitors are initially uncharged. If Vi (t)
= 10 u(t) Volts, V0(t) is given by
1K

+ +
4 µF
V1(t) 4K 1 µF V0(t)

- -
(a) 8e-t/0.004 Volts (c) 8u(t) Volts
(b) 8 (1 – e-t/0.004) Volts (d) 8 Volts
[GATE : 2006 1 Mark]

Soln. Let
𝑹𝟏
𝒁𝟏 = 𝟏𝑲‖𝟒 𝝁𝑭 =
𝑹𝟏 𝑪𝟏 𝑺 + 𝟏

𝟏𝟎𝟑
𝒁𝟏 =
𝟒 × 𝟏𝟎−𝟑 𝑺 + 𝟏
 1K
R1
+ C1 +
4 µF C2
V1(t) 4K 1 µF V0(t)
R2

- -

𝒁𝟐 = 𝟒𝑲‖𝟏𝝁𝑭

𝑹𝟐
𝒁𝟐 = = 𝟒 𝒁𝟏
𝑹𝟐 𝑪 𝟐 𝑺 + 𝟏

𝒁𝟐
𝑽𝟎 𝒕 = 𝑽 (𝒕)
𝒁𝟏 + 𝒁𝟐 𝟏

𝟒𝒁𝟏
= 𝑽 𝒕 = 𝟎. 𝟖𝑽𝟏 (𝒕)
𝟓𝒁𝟏 𝟏

= 𝟎. 𝟖 × 𝟏𝟎𝒖(𝒕)

= 𝟖𝒖(𝒕)
Option (c)

10. In the following circuit, the switch S is closed at t = 0. The rate of change of current
𝑑𝑖 +
(0 ) 𝑖𝑠 𝑔𝑖𝑣𝑒𝑛 𝑏𝑦
𝑑𝑡
 S
R

i(t) L
IS RS

(a) 0 (𝑅+𝑅𝑆 )𝑙𝑆

(c)
𝑅𝑠 𝑙𝑆 𝐿
(b) (d) ∞
𝐿
[GATE : 2008 1 Mark]

Soln. Drawing the equivalent circuit as the switch is closed

RS R

IS DC I(S) RS L
i(t)

𝒅𝒊
𝑰𝑺 𝑹𝑺 = (𝑹 + 𝑹𝑺 )𝒊(𝒕) + 𝑳
𝒅𝒕

𝒅𝒊
𝑭𝒐𝒓 𝒕 = 𝟎+ , 𝑰𝑺 𝑹𝑺 = (𝑹 + 𝑹𝑺 )𝒊(𝟎+ ) + 𝑳 (𝟎 )
𝒅𝒕 +
Since current can not change instantaneously in a inductor so 𝒊(𝟎+ ) = 𝒊(𝟎− ) = 𝟎

𝒅𝒊 𝑰 𝑺 𝑹𝑺
(𝟎+ ) =
𝒅𝒕 𝑳
Option (b)

11. For t > 0, the voltage across the capacitor is:

 1H 1

δ (t) DC
1F VC (t)

√3 1
1
(a) (𝑒 − 2 𝑡 − 𝑒 −2𝑡 )
√3
1
√3 𝑡 1 √3 𝑡
(b) 𝑒 −2𝑡 [𝑐𝑜𝑠 ( ) − 𝑠𝑖𝑛 ( )]
2 √3 2

1
2 √3 𝑡
(c) 𝑒 −2𝑡 𝑠𝑖𝑛 ( )
√3 2

1
2 √3 𝑡
(d) 𝑒 −2𝑡 𝑐𝑜𝑠 ( )
√3 2

[GATE: 2008 2 Marks]

Soln. Writing KVL

𝒕
𝒅𝒊 𝟏
𝜹(𝒕) = 𝑹𝒊 + 𝑳 + ∫ 𝒊𝒅𝒕
𝒅𝒕 𝑪
𝟎

Taking laplace transform on both sides

𝟏
𝟏 = 𝑰(𝑺) [𝑹 + 𝑳𝑺 +
]
𝑪𝑺
𝟏 𝑺
𝑰(𝑺) = 𝟏
= 𝟐
(𝑺 + 𝟏 + ) (𝑺 + 𝑺 + 𝟏)
𝑺
𝑰(𝑺) 𝑺
𝑽𝑪 (𝑺) = = 𝟐
𝑪𝑺 (𝑺 + 𝑺 + 𝟏)𝑺
𝟏
= 𝟐
(𝑺 + 𝑺 + 𝟏)

𝟏
= 𝟐
𝟏 𝟐 √𝟑
(𝑺 + 𝟐) + ( 𝟐 )

𝝎
𝑳𝒂𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒄𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝒆−𝒂𝒕 𝐬𝐢𝐧 𝝎𝒕 =
(𝑺 + 𝒂)𝟐 + 𝝎𝟐
 √𝟑
𝟐
𝑽𝑪 (𝑺) = 𝟐
√𝟑 𝟏 𝟐 √𝟑
[(𝑺 + 𝟐) + ( 𝟐 ) ]
𝟐

𝟐 𝒕 √𝟑
𝑽𝑪 (𝒕) = 𝒆−𝟐 𝐬𝐢𝐧 ( 𝒕)
√𝟑 𝟐

Option(c)

12. The switch in the circuit shown was on position a for a long time, and is moved to
position b at time t = 0. Find the current i(t) for t > 0
10k a b
i(t)

100 V DC
0.2µF 5k

0.5µF 0.3µF

[GATE : 2009 2 Marks]

Soln. Total capacitance : C

𝟏 𝟏 𝟏
= +
𝑪 𝟎. 𝟐 𝟎. 𝟖

𝟏𝟎
=𝟓+
𝟖

𝟓𝟎
=
𝟖
 𝟖
𝑪= = 𝟎. 𝟏𝟔𝝁𝒇
𝟓𝟎
The switch is in position a for a long a for a long time, the capacitor C is fully
charged to 100 volts.
When switch is in position b, the equivalent circuit for the same is

1 / CS
R 5K
I(S)

V (0+) / S
DC

100 / S

𝟏𝟎𝟎⁄
𝑰(𝑺) = 𝑺
𝟏
𝑹 + 𝑪𝑺

𝟏𝟎𝟎
= 𝟏
𝑺 [𝑹 + 𝑪𝑺]

𝟏𝟎𝟎
= 𝟏
𝑹 [𝑺 + 𝑹𝑪]

𝟏𝟎𝟎 −𝒕⁄
𝒊(𝒕) = 𝒆 𝑹𝑪
𝑹
= 𝟐𝟎 𝒆−𝟏𝟐𝟓𝟎𝒕 𝒎𝒂

= 𝟐𝟎 𝒆−𝟏𝟐𝟓𝟎𝒕 𝒖(𝒕) 𝒎𝒂

13. The time domain behavior of an RL circuit is represented by

𝑑𝑖 𝑅𝑡
𝐿 + 𝑅𝑖 = 𝑉0 (1 + 𝐵𝑒 − 𝐿 𝑠𝑖𝑛 𝑡) 𝑢(𝑡)
𝑑𝑡
𝑉
For an initial current of 𝑖(0) = 𝑅0 the steady state value of the current is given by
𝑉0 𝑉0
(a) 𝑖(𝑡) → (c) 𝑖(𝑡) → (1 + 𝐵)
𝑅 𝑅
2𝑉0 2𝑉0
(b) 𝑖(𝑡) → (d) 𝑖(𝑡) = (1 + 𝐵)
𝑅 𝑅
[GATE : 2009 2 Marks]
Soln.
𝒅𝒊 𝑹𝒕
𝑳 + 𝑹𝒊 = 𝑽𝟎 (𝟏 + 𝑩𝒆− 𝑳 𝒔𝒊𝒏 𝒕) 𝒖(𝒕)
𝒅𝒕
Taking Laplace transform

𝟏 𝑩
𝑳[𝑺𝑰(𝑺) − 𝒊(𝟎+ )] + 𝑹𝑰(𝑺) = 𝑽𝟎 [ + ]
𝑺 𝑹 𝟐
(𝑺 + 𝑳 ) + 𝟏

𝟏 𝑩
𝑰(𝑺)[𝑹 + 𝑳𝑺] − 𝑳 𝒊(𝟎+ ) = 𝑽𝟎 [ + ]
𝑺 𝑹 𝟐
(𝑺 + 𝑳 ) + 𝟏

𝑽𝟎 𝟏 𝑩
𝑰(𝑺) = [ + ] + 𝑳 𝒊(𝟎+ )
𝑳𝑺 + 𝑹 𝑺 𝑹 𝟐
(𝑺 + 𝑳 ) + 𝟏

The steady sate value of current is

𝐥𝐢𝐦 𝒊(𝒕) = 𝐥𝐢𝐦 𝑺𝑰(𝑺)

𝒕→∞ 𝑺→𝟎

𝑽𝟎 𝑩𝑺 𝑽𝟎
𝑺𝑰(𝑺) = [𝟏 + 𝟐 ] + 𝑳 𝑺
𝑳𝑺 + 𝑹 𝟐 𝑹
𝑺 + +𝟏 𝑹
𝑳𝟐

𝑽𝟎
𝐥𝐢𝐦 𝑺𝑰(𝑺) = [𝟏 + 𝟎] + 𝟎
𝑺→𝟎 𝑹

𝑽𝟎
𝐥𝐢𝐦 𝒊(𝒕) =
𝒕→∞ 𝑹
Option (a)
 14. In the circuit shown below, the initial charge on the capacitor is 2.5 mC, with the voltage
polarity as indicated. The switch is closed at time t = 0. The current i(t) at a time t after
the switch is closed is
i(t)

10
100 V DC
- 50 µF
+

(a) 𝑖(𝑡) = 15 exp(−2 × 103 𝑡)𝐴 (c) 𝑖(𝑡) = 10 exp(−2 × 103 𝑡)𝐴
(b) 𝑖(𝑡) = 5 exp(−2 × 103 𝑡)𝐴 (d) 𝑖(𝑡) = −5 exp(−2 × 103 𝑡)𝐴
[GATE : 2011 2 Marks]

Soln. Initial charge = 2.5 mc

Initial voltage on capacitor

𝟐. 𝟓 × 𝟏𝟎−𝟑
= = 𝟓𝟎𝑽
𝟓𝟎 × 𝟏𝟎−𝟔
Net voltage
= 𝟏𝟎𝟎 + 𝟓𝟎 = 𝟏𝟓𝟎

𝒗 −𝒕⁄
𝒊(𝒕) = 𝒆 𝑹𝑪
𝑹
Where
𝑹𝑪 = 𝟏𝟎 × 𝟓𝟎 × 𝟏𝟎−𝟔 = 𝟓 × 𝟏𝟎−𝟒 𝒔𝒆𝒄

𝟏𝟓𝟎 −𝒕⁄
𝒊(𝒕) = 𝒆 𝟓×𝟏𝟎−𝟒
𝟏𝟎

𝟑
= 𝟏𝟓𝒆(−𝟐×𝟏𝟎 𝒕)
𝑨

Option (a)

15. In the following figure C1 and C2 are ideal capacitors. C1 had been charged to 12V before
the ideal switch S is closed at t = 0. The current i(t) for all t is
 S t=0

C1 i(t) C2

(a) Zero
(b) A step function
(c) An exponentially decaying function
(d) An impulse function
[GATE : 2012 1 Mark]

Soln. Since there is no resistance so time constant is zero. This means as the switch is
closed, C2 will get charge. Charging and discharge time constant is zero. Sudden
change of voltage exists only if impulse of current passes through it.

Option (d)