Forced Response of

an RC Circuit

Jesus M. Martinez, Jr.

School of Electrical, Electronics, and Computer Engineering
Mapúa University
Circuit A – RC Circuit with a DC Source
• The circuit below can be described mathematically by applying
Kirchhoff’s Voltage Law (KVL).
i(t)
R +
v(t)= V vC(t) C
_

𝑣𝑅 𝑡 + 𝑣𝐶 𝑡 = 𝑣 𝑡
RC Circuit with a DC Source
• The KVL equation can be expressed entirely in terms of vC(t) by
𝑑𝑣𝐶 (𝑡)
substituting the relationship 𝑖 𝑡 = 𝐶
𝑑𝑡
i(t)
𝑣𝑅 𝑡 + 𝑣𝐶 𝑡 = 𝑉
R + 𝑅𝑖 𝑡 + 𝑣𝐶 𝑡 = 𝑉
𝑑𝑣𝐶 (𝑡)
V vC(t) 𝑅𝐶 + 𝑣𝐶 (𝑡) = 𝑉
𝑑𝑡
_
𝑑𝑣𝐶 (𝑡) 1 𝑉
+ 𝑣𝐶 (𝑡) =
𝑑𝑡 𝑅𝐶 𝑅𝐶
Nonhomogeneous Linear Differential Equation
• The resulting differential equation is a nonhomogeneous linear
differential equation

𝑑𝑣𝐶 (𝑡) 1 𝑉
+ 𝑣𝐶 (𝑡) =
𝑑𝑡 𝑅𝐶 𝑅𝐶
• The solution is of the form 𝑣𝐶 (𝑡) = 𝐾2 since the forcing
function is a constant.
Particular Solution
• The particular solution (forced response) can be determined by
substituting vC(t) and its derivative to the differential equation using
the Method of Undetermined Coefficients.

𝑑𝑣𝐶 (𝑡) 1 𝑉
+ 𝑣𝐶 𝑡 =
𝑑𝑡 𝑅𝐶 𝑅𝐶
1 𝑉
(0) + 𝐾2 =
𝑅𝐶 𝑅𝐶
𝐾2 = 𝑉
Particular Solution
• The resulting particular solution can also be used to solve for i(t) by
substituting the result to the fundamental equation

𝑑𝑣𝐶 (𝑡)
𝑖 𝑡 =𝐶
𝑑𝑡
𝑖 𝑡 =𝐶 0

𝑖 𝑡 =0