Charging

Chargingand
anddischarging
dischargingofofaacondenser
condenser
through
throughaaresistance
resistance

By

Vinaya K. Jha

B.Sc. 1st Yr.

Department of Physics
St. Xavier’s College, Maitighar,
Kathmandu
 Outline of lecture
 Charging of a condenser through a resistance
 Discharging of a condenser (or capacitor)

B.Sc. 1st Yr., Physics, St. Xavier’s College, Maitighar, Kathmandu

 Charging of a condenser through a resistance
• Let’s imagine we have an electric circuit containing a condenser of
the capacitance C which charges itself through a resistor with a
known resistance R from an electricity source with a constant
voltage V0 (Fig. 1).

• The voltage V on the condenser with a

charge Q can be derived from the
Q
condenser capacity formula C =
V
• According to Kirchhoff’s law for this closed electric circuit
V0 – V = RI , ---(1) is valid,
where I is the charging current of the condenser, that is when
dQ dV
I C ,  (2)
dt dt
• Combining these two equations we receive the following
equation dV
Vo  V  IR  RC ,  (3)
dt
 Charging of a condenser through a resistance
• By re-arranging Eq. (3) and after separating the variables, we get
dt dV
 ,  (4)
RC Vo  V
• Characteristics of a circuit in this equation are represented by a
product of the capacity and resistance τ = RC.
• The unit of this product has a value with a time dimension. So, it’s
called the time constant of a circuit.
• Eq. (4) is dimensionless, that means that only quantities of the
same dimensions occur in this equation. We can get after its
integration as  t
 ln Vo  V   K ,  (5)
RC
 Charging of a condenser through a resistance

We determine the integration constant K from the initial conditions.

• Initial voltage (time t = 0) on the condenser will be marked Vp.

• We will obtain after substitution for K = - ln (V0 – Vp) into Eq. (5).
 ln Vo  V   ln Vo  V p  ,  ( 6 )
t

RC

• Now we can express the voltage on the condenser using the

following equation  
t
 
t
V  Vo 1  e RC   V p e RC ,  (7)

 
 Charging of a condenser through a resistance

 
t
 
t
V  Vo  1  e RC   V p e RC ,  ( 7 )
 
•We can check the validity of eq. (7 ) or (6) and determine the time
constant by measuring the voltage V and time t.
• Kirchhoff’s laws for electric circuits determine the time dependency
of condenser discharging i. e. dependency of the electric current or
voltage on the condenser in an RC circuit
ε = IR ------- (8)
It might be useful to realize that the electric current I is the decrease of
the electric charge dQ on the condenser during a time period dt,
I = dQ / dt
and the e.m.f. ε is a ratio of the charge Q on the condenser and its
capacity C.
 Charging of a condenser through a resistance

 After substituting into Eq. (8) we get a differential equation we

solve by separating the variables
Q dQ dQ dt t
 R    ln Q    ln K
C dt Q RC RC
 In beginning when t = 0, ln K= lnQ0 (where Q0=CV0 is the flow of
charge in beginning). Then we get,
t Q t t

ln Q  ln QO    ln   Q  QO e RC
,  ( 9 )
RC QO RC

 After simplification for the voltage on the condenser V = Q / C,

t t t
K
we get, V  e RC  V e RC  V e  ,  ( 10 )
  
O O
C
 where V0 is the initial voltage and the task is to determine the time
constant of the circuit
τ = RC ,----- (11)
 Charging of a condenser through a resistance
 In beginning at t=0, Primary voltage across plate of
capacitor Vp= V(0), Eq. (7) can be written as
 
t
 
t
V ( t )  Vo  1  e RC   V ( 0 )e RC

 
• V (t) starts at V (0) and goes to maximum value V0 asymptotically.
• The difference between the two values decays exponentially.
• The rate of convergence depends on RC. The bigger RC is, the
slower the convergence.
V V
V0 V(0)

Bigger RC Discharging

Charging
V(0) V0
0 Time 0 Time
0 Fig.-2 0 Fig.-3
 Charging of a condenser through a resistance
Time Constant  
t
 
t
V ( t )  Vo  1  e RC   V ( 0 )e RC
 
• The value RC is called the time constant.
• After 1 time constant has passed (t = RC), the above works out to:

V ( t )  0.63 V0  0.37 V ( 0 )
• So after 1 time constant, V (t) has completed 63% of its transition,
with 37% left to go.
• After 2 time constants, only 0.372 left to go.
V V
V0 V0

0.63 V0 Charging Discharging

0.37 V0

0 t 0 t
0 Time 0 Time
 Charging of a condenser through a resistance
 Transient vs. Steady-State

• When V0 does not match up with V , due to an abrupt change in V0 for

example, V will begin its transient period where it exponentially decays to
the value of V.
• After a while, V will be close to Vo and be nearly constant. We call this
steady-state.
• In steady state, the current through the capacitor is (approx) zero. The
capacitor behaves like an open circuit in steady-state.

• Why? I = C dV/dt, and V is constant in steady-state. H/A

 Charging and discharging of a condenser
through a resistance

 Rise and decay of current in LR circuit and LC circuit,

 Charging and discharging of a capacitor through inductance and
resistance.
 Syllabus in detail
Elementary Vector Analysis
Gradient of a Scalar, Divergence and Curl of Vector in Cartesian co-ordinates, Divergence in polar co-ordinates, Gauss’s, Stoke’s and Green’s
theorems, Laplacian in polar co-ordinates, Laplace’s and Poisson’s equation.
Electrostatic Potential and Field
Coulomb’s law, Electric potential energy of a system of charges, Electric field strength, Electric flux, Gauss’s law and its applications, Electric
potential and the line integral of the electric field, Equipotential surface, Potential field due to an electric dipole, Potential due to an infinitely long
charged wire, Potential and field due to an uniformly charged disc, Force on a surface charge, Method of electrical images.
Electric Fields in Dielectrics
A dipole in an electric field, Polar and non-polar molecules, Dielectric polarization, Electric field due to a polarized dielectric (three electric
vectors), Gauss’s law in dielectric, Energy stored in an electric field in the presence of dielectric, Boundary conditions on field vectors, Molecular
field in a dielectric, The Clausius-Mossotti relation, Polar molecules and The Langevin Debye formula.
Magnetic Fields of a Moving Charges
Magnetic field and the magnetic flux, Biot-Savart’s law and its applications, Lorentz force, Ampere’s circuital law and its applications,
Curl B and Div B, Magnetic vector and Scalar potentials, Magnetic dipole, Force between current carrying parallel wires.
Magnetic Properties and Fields
The absence of isolated magnetic dipoles, Magnetic dipole moment of current loop and angular momentum, Magnetization, Langevin’s theory of
diamagnetism and paramagnetism, Theory of ferromagnetism, Energy loss due to hysteresis, Magnetic susceptibility and permeability and Ferrites.
Electromagnetic Inductions
Faraday’s law, Skin effect, Moving coil ballistic galvanometer, Search coil, Flux meter and Earth inductor, Self and mutual induction, Reciprocity
theorem of mutual inductances, Self inductance of a Solenoid, Toroid and two long parallel wires, Energy stored in magnetic field and transformer.
Varying Currents
Charging and discharging of a condenser through a resistance, Rise and decay of current in LR circuit and LC circuit, Charging and discharging of a
capacitor, inductance and resistance.
Alternating Current Circuit
The complex number method for AC analysis, Impedance, Reactance and Admittance, LCR series circuit, Phase diagrams, Sharpness of resonance,
and Quality factor and Power factor.
Maxwell’s Electromagnetic Equations
The displacement currents; Maxwell’s equations and their use in propagation of electromagnetic wave; Poynting vector; Derivation of Gauss’s
theorem, Faraday law, Biot-Savart law and Ampere’s circuital law; Energy of a charged particle in electromagnetic field; Reflection and refraction
of electromagnetic waves at the interface between two media; Plane wave solution of Maxwell’s equations; The wave equation and
Plane electromagnetic waves in isotropic dielectric and in conducting media.
Prescribed Text Books