Objectives:

 To learn about charge and discharge of a capacitor

 To study the transient response types of an RLC circuit

Introduction:

Part one:
We connect the circuit using: R=10kΩ and C=4700μF and Vs=5v.

1) Using KVL:
d Vc
Vr+Vc=E \ Vr=R×I \ i=c×q =c
dt
d Vc
RC× +Vc=E
dt

Vc(t)=k1+k2est
After some calculations ,we get:
−t
Vc(t)=E-Ee RC
−t
Vc(t)=E(1-e RC )

2) we close the switch and start measuring the voltage across the capacitor as function of
time ,results are in table below :

T(s) 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 110 120

Vc1(t)(v) 0 0.78 1.45 2.00 2.42 2.81 3.13 3.39 3.63 3.80 3.97 4.13 4.24

Vc2(t)(v) 0 0.88 1.48 2.03 2.47 2.84 3.15 3.42 3.65 3.85 4.01 4.16 4.28

Vcavr(t)(v) 0 0.83 1.46 2.02 2.45 2.83 3.14 3.41 3.64 3.83 3.99 4.15 4.26

130 140 150 160 170 180 190 200 210 220 230 240
4.35 4.44 4.52 4.58 4.64 4.69 4.73 4.77 4.80 4.83 4.85 4.87
4.37 4.46 4.54 4.61 4.66 4.71 4.74 4.79 4.82 4.84 4.87 4.89
4.36 4.45 4.53 4.60 4.65 4.70 4.74 4.78 4.81 4.82 4.86 4.88
 6 3) we plot the graph Vc(t)
Vc(t) charging
5 Finding the time constant graphically:
4
When t=τ Vc(τ)=E(1-e) = 5×0.63
3 =3.15v

2 so from the graph when V= 3.15 .

t=60s
1
τ = 60s
0
0 50 100 150 200 250 300 theoretically τ = R×C =
10000×4700×10-6 =47s
60−47
error = =20%
60
the two values should have been the same ,but some errors occurred while measuring the
voltages and plotting the graph.

Part two:
First we charge the previous capacitor and we connect it with a resistor ,as is shown in the circuit
below :

We measure the voltage across the capacitor .results

are in the table:

T(s) 0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60
Vc1(t)(v) 5.07 3.41 2.52 1.83 1.39 1.02 0.75 0.56 0.42 0.31 0.24 0.18 0.14
Vc2(t)(v) 5.07 3.45 2.48 1.87 1.39 1.1 0.73 0.54 0.40 0.29 0.22 0.16 0.13
Vcavr(t)(v) 5.07 3.43 2.50 1.85 1.39 1.06 0.74 0.55 0.41 0.30 0.23 0.17 0.14

65 70 75 80 85 90 95 100 105 110 115 120

0.11 0.08 0.064 0.053 0.043 0.035 0.029 0.024 0.021 0.018 0.015 0.014
0.10 0.076 0.059 0.041 0.037 0.03 0.024 0.022 0.020 0.017 0.015 0.013
0.10 0.088 0.062 0.047 0.040 0.033 0.027 0.023 0.021 0.018 0.015 0.014

the time constant: 6 Vc(t) discharging

1- Theoretically
5
τ = R × c = 5100 ×4700 ×10 −6
= 23.97s
4
2- Graphically:
We know 3

When t= τ ,Vc = Vc0 × e−1 = 5.07 × 0.36 2

=1.82V
So from the graph ,when Vc = 1.82 t= 16s 1
So τ = 16s
23.97−16 0
The error = =33%
23.97 0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140
The capacitor discharges fatster then what we
expected be of the resistance of the wires used that was neglected ,also errors occurred while
measuring ,measurments were not accurate to 100%.