Chapter 2 Transients

Capacitors and Inductors

2.1.1 Capacitors
A capacitor is constructed using two conducting plates separated by an insulator called a
dielectric. When a voltage source is applied to a capacitor, electrons are attracted to the
positive terminal and the capacitor becomes charged. An electric field is established in the
dielectric and current flows through the capacitor.

Fig. 2.1 Electric flux distribution between two plates of a capacitor

The amount of charge stored by the capacitor is proportional to the applied voltage:
Q (couloumbs) C ( Farads ) V (volts)
Where C is called the capacitance of the capacitor measured in Farads. The Farad is a very
large amount. In practice, capacitance values are in pico-Farad(10-12), nano-Farad (10-9) and
micro-Farad (10-6).
For a parallel plate capacitor, the capacitance is given as:
A(m 2 )
C ( Farad )
d ( m)
Where: A is the area of either plate
d is the separation between the plates
is a property of the dielectric material called the permittivity.
The permittivity of vacuum is 0 8.85 10 12 F / m and the other materials are related to this
value as: r 0 where r is called the relative permittivity. The following table gives the
relative permittivity of some materials.

The circuit symbol for a capacitor is: where the bent terminal is the negative one.
2.1.2 Total capacitance
Given a parallel arrangement of capacitors, the arrangement can be replaced by a single
capacitor with capacitance: C C1 C 2 C 3 ... .
This comes from the fact that the total charge of the equivalent capacitor is the sum of the
individual charges.
For a series combination, the equivalent capacitance is found using :
1 1 1 1
....
C eq C1 C 2 C 3
2.1.3 Current-voltage relationships
Recall that: q Cv
Differentiating both sides gives:
dq dv
i C
dt dt
Notice that as the voltage changes, a current exists. If the voltage is constant, the current is
zero and the capacitor behaves as an open circuit.
2.1.4 Energy stored in a capacitor
The power at the capacitor is:
p vi
From the current-voltage relationship, we get:
dv
p Cv
dt
The energy being the integral of the power is then:
1 2
E W p(t )dt Cv (t )
t
2

2.1.5 Inductors
An inductor is constructed by coiling a wire around a core as shown in Fig.2.2.

Fig.2.2 Inductor construction with physical dimensions shown

As a current flows through the conductor, a magnetic flux results. According to Faraday’s
law, a voltage is induced:
d
e N with being the flux and N is the number of turns.
dt
This induced voltage is always such as to oppose the cause that produced it.
The voltage across the inductor is proportional to the rate of change in the current:
di
v L
dt
The constant of proportionality is called the inductance of the inductor and is given in Henry
(H).
In terms of physical dimensions, the inductance can be found as:
 N 2 A(m 2 )
L( H )
l ( m)
Where:
N is the number of turns; A is the area of the core and l is the mean length of the core.
is a property of the core material called the permeability. The permeability of vacuum is
Wb
0 4 10 7 . The permeability of other materials is given in terms of this value as:
A.m
r 0 . Where r is called the relative permeability of the material. Table 2.2 gives the
relative permeability of some materials.

The symbol of the inductor is: .

2.1.6 Total inductance
The total inductance for a series arrangement of inductors is simply the sum of the individual
inductances:
L L1 L2 L3 ...
For a parallel arrangement, the total inductance is found using:
1 1 1 1
...
Leq L1 L2 L3
2.1.7 Current-voltage relationship:
We have found that:
di
v (t ) L
dt
Notice that the polarity and the direction of the current follow the passive sign convention.

2.1.8 Energy stored in an inductor:

The power is given as: p vi
di
Using the current-voltage relationship, we get: p L i (t )
dt
Hence, the energy in an inductor is:
1 2
E W p (t )dt Li (t )
t
2
2.2 Transients
2.2.1 Transients in capacitive circuits
Charging phase
Consider the circuit
At t=0, the switch is put at position 1 and the capacitor starts to charge.
KVL around the loop gives:
vc (t ) v R (t ) E
dvC
We have iC iR C
dt
dv dv (t ) 1 E
Hence, vC (t ) RC C E or C vC (t )
dt dt RC RC
The solution of this first order differential equation takes the form:
vC (t ) k1 k 2 e st
k1, k2 and s are constants to be determined.
Replacing in the differential equation, we get
1
(1 RCs )k 2 e st k1 E so that: s and k1 E
RC
At t=0+, vC=0; replacing we get: E k 2 e 0 0 or k 2 E
Hence:
t
RC
vC (t ) E (1 e )

(a)

(b)
Transients in capacitive circuit: (a) voltage; (b) current

The constant RC is called the time constant of the RC circuit. If t is replaced by , the
amount of voltage is : vC E (1 e 1 ) 0.632 E . Notice that once the capacitor is fully
charged, it can be replaced by an open circuit. This happens as time approaches infinity. A
plot of vC and iC for different intervals spaced by a time is shown below:
 Fig. 2. plot of normalized capacitor voltage and current for different time intervals
The current is less than 1% the maximum value after 5 time constants. Hence, it can be
considered to be zero after 5-time constants time or equivalently, the capacitor is fully
charged after 5 time constants.
Discharge phase

Once the capacitor has been fully charged, the switch is moved to position 2 in the previous
circuit. The capacitor starts to discharge through the resistor. At t=0, vC=E
dv
Applying KVL: vC v R 0 using iC C , we get
dt
dv C dvC
vC RC 0 (note that iC )
dt dt
The solution to this differential equation takes the form: ke st . Replacing gives:
1
ke st RCske st 0 s ;
RC
To find k, we set the values at 0 to be equal to E. vC (0 ) E . This gives: k E
t

Hence: vC (t ) Ee RC
RC is the time constant in the same way as the charging phase. The capacitor is
considered to be fully discharged after a time equal to 5 has passed.
2.2.2 Transients in inductive circuits:
Storage cycle:
Consider the circuit
As the switch is closed, the inductance of the coil
prevents the instantaneous change in current.
The voltage across the inductor starts to build up
until all the voltage appears simply across the resistor R.
At start up (t=0+), the voltage E exists across the inductor.
After the whole voltage appears across the resistor, no voltage is across the inductor and it can
be considered as a short circuit.
Similar to the capacitive circuit, the equation of the charging current can be obtained as:
di
Ri L E setting i (t ) k1 k 2 e st
dt
t
E L
R
In a similar way, we find: i (t ) (1 e )
R
L
The time constant for the inductive circuit is defined as: .
R
Again, the storage phase is considered over after a 5 time constant-time has passed.
t
di
The voltage across the inductor is: v L L Ee
dt
Decaying phase
The switch in the previous circuit cannot be opened once the storage phase has passed since
the inductor will lose the stored energy quickly (arching). Consider instead the circuit:

After the storage phase has passed, the switch is opened and the inductor starts discharging.
KVL (at t=0+): v L v R1 v R2 0
E R2
or v L I L ( R1 R2 ) ( R1 R2 ) E (1 )
R1 R1

Note that R2 is shorted out by the short circuit at E used to determine RTH.

After t=0+, the inductor starts to discharge and acts as a source and we can write:
di
v L v R1 v R2 or L L ( R1 R2 )i L 0
dt
t
E ' L
This produces the solution: i L e with '
R1 R1 R2
t
' R2
Hence: v L Vi e and Vi
)E (1
R1
Once more, the decaying phase of the inductor is considered to be over if a time 5 has
passed.
Examples
 a- Consider the circuit below. Find the indicated voltages and currents at t=0+ and after a
long time has passed.

Solution
At t=0+, all capacitors have 0V across them and can be replaced by short circuits. So:
v1 (0 ) v4 (0 ) 0V . The 100-V source is across the 25 and 50 resistors
( v2 (0 ) v3 (0 ) 100V ). It follows that:
100 100
i1 (0 ) 0 A ; i3 (0 ) 4 A and i4 (0 ) 2A
25 50
Then
i2 (0 ) i3 (0 ) 4 A
After a long time has passed, all capacitors are fully charged and can be replaced by open
circuits. So, i2 ( ) i4 ( ) 0 A . The 10 and 25 resistors are in series across the 100-V
source. Or:
100
i1 ( ) i3 ( ) 2.86 A
35
It follows that:
v1 ( ) 10 2.86 28.6V and v2 ( ) 25 2.86 71.4V and v3 ( ) 50 0 0V
Finally: v4 ( ) 100V
b- Find in the circuit below the indicated currents a long time after the switch has been in
position 1.

Solution
A long time after the switch has been in position 1, the storage phase of the inductor has
passed and it can be replaced by a short circuit. Hence, i1 0 A .
RT 18 / /12 6.8 14 .
140
So the source current is: is 10 A
14
Using current division
12 10 18 10
i2 4 A and i3 6A
12 18 12 18
3. Thevenin’s equivalents
For circuits made up of one capacitors and a series/parallel arrangement of resistors, the
behaviour is similar to circuits with one resistor except that the time constant is found as:
 RThC
Where RTh is the Thevenin’s equivalent resistance seen at the terminals of the capacitor.
Equivalently, for circuits made up of one inductor and a combination of resistors, the
behaviour is similar to having one resistor with the time constant being:
L
RTh
RTh is the Thevenin’s equivalent resistance seen at the terminals of the inductor.
Examples
a- Find the time constant of the circuit

Solution
With the 250-V supply turned off, the equivalent resistance seen by the capacitor is:
RTh [30 / /70 9] / /20 8 20k
And
20 103 6 10 6 0.12s
b- Find the time constant of the circuit

Solution
With the 100-V supply off, the equivalent resistance seen by the inductor is:
RTh (50 30) / /20 14 (150 / /75) 80k
And
50 10 3
0.625 s
80 103
4. Initial values
The analysis in the previous sections has been done with the capacitor being initially fully
uncharged or fully charged. If the capacitor has initially some charge in it at switching time,
the transient phase looks like:

The voltage is given as:

 t
v(t ) Vi (V f Vi )(1 e )
t
Or: v(t ) V f (Vi V f )e
The last equation cane be used to analyze any transient behaviour (in the charging or
discharging phases) given three quantities: the initial voltage, the final voltage and the time
constant.
In a similar way, the behaviour of an inductive circuit can be found as:
t
i (t ) If ( Ii I f )e
Example
The switch in the circuit below closes at t = 0. Find vC and i for t>0 if vC(0)=100V.

Solution
The expression of vC is:
t
vC (t ) V f (Vi V f )e
Vi 100V
To get Vf, the capacitor is charged and replaced by an open circuit. Using voltage divider
rule:
60 300
vC ( ) V f 180V
40 60
RThC (40 / /60) 16 2.5 10 3 0.1s
Hence
t
vC (t ) 180 (100 180)e 180 80e 10t
0.1

To get i(t), we apply KCL at the top node:

v 300 v v vC
0
40 60 16
Raising to a common denominator (240 in this case) gives:
6v 1800 4v 15v 15vC 0
15vC (t ) 1800 3 3
v (t ) vC (t ) 72 (180 80e 10t ) 72
25 5 5
10 t
v(t ) 180 48e V
From which
v (t )
i (t ) 3 0.8e 10t A
60
Example 2
The switch in the circuit below has been in position a for a long time. At t = 0 it moves to
position b and goes back to position a at t=2s. Calculate i(t) for all t > 0.
Solution
The time interval [0, [ is divided into two sub-intervals:
- t [0, 2] (switch in position b)
The equivalent resistance seen by the capacitor is
6 / /3 2
RThC 2 2 4s
t
vC (t ) V f (Vi V f )e
Using voltage divider rule
3 30 3 12
Vi 10V and V f 4V
3 6 3 6
t
4 0.25t dvC (t ) 0.25 t
vC (t ) 4 (10 4) e 4 6e V and i C 3e A
dt
- t [2, [ (switch in position a)
( t 2)
'
vC (t ) V f (Vi V f )e
Note that t-2 has been added as a new interval has been stared where t starts from 2.
3 30
Vf 10V
3 6
Vi vC (2) 4 6e 0.25 2 7.64V
'
RThC 2 2 4s
( t 2)
vC (t ) 10 (7.64 10)e 4 10 2.36e 0.25( t 2)V
And
dv
i C C 0.59e 0.25(t 2) A
dt
3e 0.25 t A for 0 t 2
So; i
0.59e 0.25(t 2) A for t 2
It should be noted that the voltage vC(t) is continuous at t=2 while i is not.
5. Second order transients
Circuits containing two storage elements are known as second order circuits. They are
characterized by a second order differential equation.
a- The source-free series RLC circuit
Consider the RLC circuit shown. The values V0 and I0 represent the initial capacitor voltage
and initial inductor current, respectively.
 1 0
At t=0: v(0) i (t )dt V0 and i (0) I 0
C
Applying KVL
di 1 t
Ri L i( )d 0
dt C
Differentiating with respect to t and rearranging gives:
d 2i R di 1
i 0
dt 2 L dt LC
To solve this differential equation, knowledge of the initial conditions is necessary. We
already have: i (0) I 0 and v(0) V0
The initial condition on the rate of change in the current is found using the evaluation of the
differential in its first form as:
di 1 0 di
Ri(0) L (0) i( )d RI 0 L (0) V0 0
dt C dt
Or
di 1
(0) ( RI 0 V0 )
dt L
The solution of the differential equation takes the form
i Ae st
Replacing
R 1 R 1
As 2 e st Ase st Ae st Ae st [ s 2 s ] 0
L LC L LC
The quadratic equation has two roots
2
R R 1
s1
2L 2L LC
2
R R 1
s2
2L 2L LC
To simplify the expressions, the roots can be written otherwise as:
R
2 2
s1 0 2L
With
s1 2 2
2 1
0
0
LC
0 is called the undamped natural frequency and is called the damping factor.
Hence, there are two possible solutions:
i1 A1e s1t and i2 A2e s2 t
The complete solution is then,
i (t ) A1e s1t A2e s2t
A1 and A2 are determined from initial conditions.
The expressions of the solutions suggests three types:
- If 0 (two real solutions), this is the overdamped case.

- If 0 (two overlapping solutions), this is the critically damped case.

- If 0 (two complex solutions), this is the underdamped case.

The damping factor determines the type of the circuit and it is controlled by varying R.
b- The driven series RLC circuit
Consider the series RLC circuit fed by a DC source.

Applying KVL for t>0

di
L Ri v Vs
dt
dv
Since i C , we get
dt
d 2 v R dv 1 Vs
2
v
dt L dt LC LC
This a differential equation similar to the one already obtained for the source-free circuit but
written in terms of the capacitor voltage and having the second term different from zero. This
is a non-homogeneous differential equation and its solution contains two parts:
v(t ) vn (t ) v f (t )
vn (t ) is the natural response that decays (damps) after some time and hence called the
natural or transient response .
v f (t ) is the forced response and takes the same form as the forcing voltage and hence called
the steady state response.
v f (t ) v( ) Vs
Depending on the case (solution type), the solution may take one of the forms:
v (t ) Vs A1e s1t A2 e s2t Overdamped
v (t ) Vs ( A1 A2t )e t Critically damped
t 2 2
v(t ) Vs [ A1 cos d t A2 sin d t ]e ( d = 0 ) Underdamped
The different solutions are plotted simultaneously on the following graph for Vs=24V.