Faculty of Technology – Course work Specification 2018/19

Module name: Electrical and Electronic Principles

Module code: ENGD1004

Title of the Assignment: RC Circuit with Signal Generator and Oscilloscope;

Charging and Discharging of Capacitors and
Equivalent Capacitance

This coursework item is: (delete as appropriate) Summative Formative

This summative coursework will be marked anonymously Yes No

The learning outcomes that are assessed by this coursework are:

1. To become more familiar with the the charging and discharging cycles of capacitors
2. To understand the operation and use of oscilloscope and function generators.
3. To verify the relation between capacitance, charge and voltages in series and parallel
capacitor circuits
4. To verify the concept of equivalent capacitance
This coursework is: (delete as appropriate) Individual Group

If other or a mixed ... explain here:

This coursework constitutes 30% to the overall module mark

Date Set: Week beginning 12th November 2018

Date & Time Due: Week beginning 28th January 2019

The ‘normal’ coursework return date for this work is: By 28 Jan-1 Feb 2019

When completed you are required to submit your coursework to:

You only need to submit the electronic version of the report via Turnitin! to be provided on
BlackBoard at least a week before the deadline.

Late submission of coursework policy: Late submissions will be processed in accordance

with current University regulations which state:

“the time period during which a student may submit a piece of work late without authorisation and
have the work capped at 40% if passed is 14 calendar days. Work submitted unauthorised more
than 14 calendar days after the original submission date will receive a mark of 0%. These
regulations apply to a student’s first attempt at coursework. Work submitted late without
authorisation which constitutes reassessment of a previously failed piece of coursework will always
receive a mark of 0%.”

Academic Offences and Bad Academic Practices:

These include plagiarism, cheating, collusion, copying work and reuse of your own work, poor
referencing or the passing off of somebody else's ideas as your own. If you are in any doubt about
what constitutes an academic offence or bad academic practice you must check with your tutor.
Further information is available at:

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http://www.dmu.ac.uk/dmu-students/the-student-gateway/academic-support-office/academic-
offences.aspx and

http://www.dmu.ac.uk/dmu-students/the-student-gateway/academic-support-office/bad-academic-
practice.aspx

Tasks to be undertaken: See coursework attachment

Deliverables to be submitted for assessment: See coursework attachment

N/A

How the work will be marked:

Part I Part II Part III Part IV Part V Part VI Total

Results /
Calculation 10 % 20 % 20 % 20 % 20 % 10 % 100 %
s/
Analysis /
Pictures

The lab sheet will be marked based on the correctness and logical manner of the results
obtained from the experiments; and based on the comments, explanations, verifications
and analysis presented. Keep your answer clear, concise, complete, technically correct,
with reference to the theories learnt.
Module leader/tutor name:
Vijay Pakka (VP) – Q1.11 T: 01162078835
E: vpakka@dmu.ac.uk
Krishna Nama – Q0.38b T: Extension 3941
E: krishna.namamanjunatha@dmu.ac.uk
Seng Chong – Q3.14 T: Extension 8011
E: skchong@dmu.ac.uk
prakash.pandey – Q0.38b T: Extension 3941
E: prakash.pandey@dmu.ac.uk
Sridhar Govindarajan – Q3.05
E: sridhar.govindarajan@dmu.ac.uk

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 De Montfort University
Electrical and Electronics Principles (ENGD1004)
CourseWork
Time allocated: Two lab sessions
RC Circuit with Signal Generator and Oscilloscope
________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Name: Nimi Lawson

Registration Number: P2427157

Date: 6/12/2018
________________________________________________________________________________________________________

ASSESSMENT:
Please complete this coursework by completing this lab sheet (word processed – try to
limit your comments, anwers to the allocated textboxes, expanding only if necessary).
Deadline for submission: Midnight of the day of your lab session – week beginning 28th Jan
(submission only via TurnItIn).

OBJECTIVES:
1. To investigate the characteristics of charging and discharging of a capacitor through a
resistor.
2. To develop an understanding of capacitors in series and parallel and the relation
between charge, voltage and capacitance.

INTRODUCTION:
You could charge and discharge a capacitor manually by making connections to a battery
and then switching the connection to allow discharge through the resistor.

www.kpsec.freeuk.com

Graphs showing the current and Graphs showing the current and
voltage for a capacitor charging voltage for a capacitor discharging
time constant, τ = RC time constant τ = RC

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In this lab a signal generator is employed to perform the switching, and an oscilloscope
to display the voltage across the capacitor.

APPARATUS:
 Power Supply
 Signal generator
 Oscilloscope
 Carbon Resistor: 820Ω (measure and record the real value, make sure not 820K Ω)
 Capacitor: 1µF

PROCEDURE:
I) The oscilloscope and signal generator:
Connect the signal generator (use the 50Ω output) to the oscilloscope (CH1) so that it
displays a sine wave signal of 100Hz frequency with a peak to peak amplitude of 10V, by
adjusting the amplitude of the signal.
Select the sine wave output from the signal generator by pushing the FUNCTION button.
Ensure both switches on the ATTENUATOR (which suppress the signal output) are not
pressed in to enable 10V peak to peak setting.

Circuit 1

The display should be steady with the peak positive signal positioned 2.5cm above the
central horizontal line and the peak negative signal 2.5cm below the central horizontal line
(consider pressing the AUTOSET button to start with if necessary).
Adjust the TIME/DIV switch (the time base) so that exactly two waves are displayed in the
10cm across the display.
You can adjust the LEVEL and X-POS knobs to get a better view of the signal.

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Take a picture from the oscilloscope of the outcome and append it in the following box:

What is your VOLTS/DIV

setting? 10V
9.99 ms
What is your TIME/DIV setting?

II) The Time Constant, τ=RC:

Construct the circuit below using a 820Ω resistor and a 1μF capacitor. The black lead
from the signal generator is already grounded electrically inside the signal generator (as
indicated by the ground symbol in the diagram).

Circuit 2a

Select the square wave output from the signal generator by pushing the FUNCTION button
that looks like a square wave. Set the amplitude to 10V and the frequency for 100Hz.

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Using the oscilloscope to display voltage as a function of time:
Attach the oscilloscope probe as shown below to record the voltage from the signal
generator.
(You don’t need to attach the alligator clip to the grounded side of the signal generator
since the clip is already grounded at the oscilloscope.)

Set the TIME/DIV to 1ms, the VOLTS/DIV to 2V or to an appropriate values such that 1
cycle of charging and discharging is displayed. Make sure you click on the switches
adjacent to the both CH1 and CH2 INPUTs to set them to DC (notices 2 horizontal bars on
Y1:2V= and Y2:2V=).
Adjust the Y-POS knob so that the square wave can be seen.

Circuit 2b

When you get the square wave on the scope, change its frequency and amplitude by
adjusting those knobs on the signal generator.
Make sure that the result you see on the screen makes sense to you. If the square wave is
not centred use the POSITION knob so that it goes above and below the centre line by
equal amounts.
Now attach the Channel 2 probe to show the voltage across the capacitor.
Centre and align both signals on the screen, ensure the same VOLTS/DIV setting is used.
You should see both signals well aligned.

Circuit 2c

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 Take a picture from the oscilloscope of the outcome and append it in the following box:

Carefully sketch the signals in the graph below and label both axes.

Volts
(V)

Time (µs)

ANALYSIS:
From the graph, determine the time constant for both charging and discharging. Recall
that the time constant for charging is the time to get to (1 - e -1) = 0.632 = 63.2% the
final voltage, and for discharging it is the time to decay to e -1 = 0.368 = 36.8% of the
initial voltage.
Clearly indicate on the graph how you determine the time constants.

Time constant for charging:

Time constant for
discharging:

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III) Comparison between Theoretical & Experimental values

For an input voltage of 10Vp-p complete the following tables. The theoretical value of R =
820Ω and C = 1μF. Note that the Exponential term will remain the same for both
theoretical and experimental values.

Theoretical Experimental

n*Time Exponential Voltage Vc Measured Voltage Vc

Constant term
(Volts) Time Constant (Volts)
(1 - e-n) (ms)
Vs(1 - e−n)

0RC = 0 ms 0 0 0 0

1RC = 0.82ms 0.63 6.32 820µs =0.82ms 6.08V

2RC = 1.64ms 0.86 8.64 1.64ms 8.32V

3RC =2.46ms 0.95 9.50 2.46ms 9.20V

4RC =3.28ms 0.98 9.81 3.28ms 9.52V

5RC =4.10ms 0.99 9.93 4.10ms 9.68V

Repeat the above procedure for the discharging cycle and fill the below table.

Theoretical Experimental

n*Time Exponential Voltage Vc Measured Voltage Vc

Constant term
(Volts) Time Constant (Volts)
-n
(e ) (ms)

0RC = 0 ms 1 10 0 10V

1RC = 0.82ms 0.368 3.68 824µs =0.82ms 3.92V

2RC = 1.64ms 0.135 1.35 1.64ms 1.68V

3RC =2.46ms 0.049 0.49 2.46ms 0.8V

4RC =3.28ms 0.018 0.18 3.28ms 0.48V

5RC =4.1ms 6.73 ×10−3 0.067 4.1ms 0.32V

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 IV) DISCUSSIONS

 Compare the experimental and theoretical results

 Write the expression for capacitor voltage during the charging phase and
 Explain the effect of different values of R and C
Using data from the table above you can see that during the charging phase the
theoretical values of Voltage Vc is higher than that of experimental values. The
experimental values have Random errors, Systematical errors and human error which
changes the end result of experiments.
−t
The Capacitor voltage equation during the charging is Vc=V (1−e RC )

If there was an increase in either R or C the value of Vc will decrease and and if you
decrease R and C the value of Vc will increase.
On the table above you can see the Time Constant (RC) increasing, when the time
constant increases during the charging phase Vc increases with it.
During the Discharching phase as the time constant increases the value of Vc decreases.

CONCLUSIONS:
 What can you conclude from the results of the capacitor voltage during charging
and discharging?
 Find out the true value of R and C using the LCR databridge and use these values in
your explanation of why the measured time constants are slightly different than the
theoretical ones.
The value of Vc increases during charging and decreases during discharging.

The experimental values were different from the theoretical values, there are many reasons for
this but the main ones are errors; errors such as:
 Calibration erros
 Reading errors
 Errors in the machines
 Wires are not working properly
 Assumed voltage was exactly 10V

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V) Series and Parallel Capacitors

NOTE: These capacitors have polarity and need to be connected the right way. If you
connect them the wrong way around the capacitors will blow up.
The Diode is a MUST.

The +ve of the capacitors should be connected to the +ve of the supply.

PLEASE DO NOT connect the power supply until you have been approved by the lab
tutor or the lab technician.

1. Build the above circuit.

2. Measure the voltages across the capacitors using voltmeter.
3. Calculate the charges across each capacitor using experimental values of voltages.
4. Comment on any observations you can make about voltages and charges on the
series and parallel capacitors.
5. Also comment on the voltage drop across the diode.
6. Take second round of measurements 5 minutes after the first. Comments on the
values of voltages.

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Experimental Value (Voltage)
V1 = 3.7V
V2 = 5.7V
V3 = 2.2V
V4 = 2.2V
V5 = 11.7V

Charges
QT =CV
¿ 6.29 ×11.7=73.593 µC

Q1=Q2=35.28 µC (using Theoretical values of voltage)

Q1=10 ×3.7=37 µC

Q2=6.8 × 5.7=38.76 µC

4.7
Q 3=Q 2 × =15.84 µC
4.7+ 6.8

6.8
Q 4 =Q 2 × =22.92 µC
4.7+6.8

Q5=3.3 ×11.7 =38.61 µC

Voltage drop across the Diode = -0.2V

Experimental Voltage Values after 5 minutes of waiting:

V1 = 3.9V
V2 = 5.7V
V3 = 2.2V
V4 = 2.2V
V5 = 11.7V

I found that the values of the voltage was basically the same, only one value was a bit higher than
the previous values. I think overtime the voltages increases in value.

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VI) Equivalent Capacitance

1. What is the value of the total capacitance in the circuit. Show the calculations.
2. Calculate the charges and voltages on each capacitor using an analytical approach
(assume the voltage drop across the diode to be 0.2 volts).
3. Compare the values obtained analytically to those obtained experimentally and
comment.

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Total Capacitance
1 1 1 1
= + +
CT C 1 C2 (C3 +C 4 )
1

1 1 1 1
= + + =0.33 µC
CT 10 6.8 (4.7+6.8)
1

C T =C T +C 5=0.33+3.3=6.29 µF
1

Voltages and Charges (Voltage drop of 0.2V)

V 5=V T =11.8 V

Q T =CV
¿ 6.29 ×11.8=74.22 µC

So Q 5=V 5 +C 5=11.8 × 3.3=38.94 µC

Q1=Q2=QT −Q5 =74.22−38.94=35.28 µC

4.7
Q 3=Q 2 × =14.42 µC
4.7+ 6.8

6.8
Q 4 =Q 2 × =20.86 µC
4.7+6.8

Q1 35.28
V 1= = ( µ cancels out)=3.528 V
C1 10

Q2 35.28
V 2= = (µ cancels out )=5.18 V
C2 6.8

Q3 14.41
V 3= = ( µ cancels out)=3.06 V
C3 4.7

Q 4 20.86
V 4= = (µ cancels out)=3.06 V
C4 6.8
The theoretical values for Charge was generally lower than the experimental and and as for
Voltage it varied from high to lower. These changes are caused by errors.

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