CHAPTER 4

Time domain response of

First order RL and RC
circuits
TOPICS COVERED IN THIS
CHAPTER
• Transient response
• First order circuit
• The Source-Free RC Circuit
• The Source-Free RL Circuit
• Unit-step Function
• Step Response of an RC Circuit
• Step Response of an RL Circuit
• DC response of first order circuits
2
 TYPES OF CIRCUIT EXCITATION
Linear Time- Linear Time-
Invariant Invariant
Circuit Circuit
Steady-State Excitation OR
(DC Steady-State)
Digital Linear Time-
Linear Time- Pulse Invariant
Source Circuit
Invariant
Circuit
Sinusoidal (Single- Transient Excitation
Frequency) Excitation
AC Steady-State 3
 FIRST-ORDER CIRCUITS
• A circuit that contains only sources, resistors and an
inductor is called an RL circuit.
• A circuit that contains only sources, resistors and a
capacitor is called an RC circuit.
• RL and RC circuits are called first-order circuits because
their voltages and currents are described by first-order
differential equations.
R R

+ i + i
vs – L vs – C

4
FIRST-ORDER CIRCUITS
• Any first-order circuit can be reduced to a Thévenin
(or Norton) equivalent connected to either a single
equivalent inductor or capacitor. R Th

+
IN RN L VTh – C

– In steady state, an inductor behaves like a short circuit

– In steady state, a capacitor behaves like an open circuit
5
 7.3 UNIT-STEP FUNCTION (1)
• The unit step function u(t) is 0 for negative values
of t and 1 for positive values of t.

 0, t0
u( t )  
1, t0

 0, t  to
u(t  to )  
1, t  to

 0, t   to
u(t  to )  
1, t   to
6
 7.3 UNIT-STEP FUNCTION (2)
Represent an abrupt change for:

1. voltage source.

2. for current source:

7
 RESPONSE CLASSIFICATION
• The natural response of an RL or RC circuit is its
behavior (i.e., current and voltage) when stored energy
in the inductor or capacitor is released to the resistive
part of the network (containing no independent
sources).
• The step response of an RL or RC circuit is its
behavior when a voltage or current source step is
applied to the circuit, or immediately after a switch
state is changed.

8
 NATURAL RESPONSE OF AN RL
CIRCUIT
• Consider the following circuit, for which the switch is closed for t
< 0, and then opened at t = 0:
t=0 i +
Io Ro L R v
–

Notation:
0– is used to denote the time just prior to switching
0+ is used to denote the time immediately after switching
• The current flowing in the inductor at t = 0– is Io

9
SOLVING FOR THE CURRENT (T 
0)
i +

Io Ro L R v
–

• For t > 0, the circuit reduces t

• Applying KVL to the LR circuit yields first-order D.E.:
• Solution:
i (t )  i ( 0 ) e  ( R / L ) t
= I0e-(R/L)t
10
 SOLVING FOR THE VOLTAGE (T >
0)
i (+t )  I o e  ( R / L ) t

Io Ro L R v
–

• Note that the voltage changes abruptly (step

response):
-
v (0 ) = 0
-( R / L ) t
for t > 0, v (t ) = iR = I o Re
+
Þ v(0 ) = I0R
11
TIME CONSTANT T
• In the example, we found that

i ( t )  I o e  ( R / L ) t and v ( t )  I o Re  ( R / L ) t

L (sec)
• Define the time constant  
R
– At t = t, the current has reduced to 1/e (~0.37) of its
initial value.
– At t = 5t, the current has reduced to less than 1% of its
initial value.
12
 CAPACITORS AND STORED
CHARGE
• Current doesn’t really “flow through” a capacitor. No
electrons can go through the insulator.
• But, we say that current flows through a capacitor. What
we mean is that positive charge collects on one plate and
leaves the other.
• A capacitor stores charge. Theoretically, if we did a KCL
surface around one plate, KCL could fail. But we don’t
do that.
• When a capacitor stores charge, it has nonzero voltage.
In this case, we say the capacitor is “charged”. A
capacitor with zero voltage has no charge differential,
13
and we say it is “discharged”.
CAPACITORS IN CIRCUITS
• If you have a circuit with capacitors, you can use
KVL and KCL, nodal analysis, etc.
• The voltage across the capacitor is related to the
current through it by a differential equation instead
of Ohm’s law.
dV
iC
dt

14
CAPACITORS
+V 
|(
C
i(t)

capacitance is defined by

dV dV i
iC So 
dt dt C

15
CHARGING A CAPACITOR WITH A CONSTANT
CURRENT
+ V(t) 
|(
C
i

dV(t) i

dt C
t t
dV(t) i
0 dt dt  0 C dt
voltage

t
i i t
V(t)   dt 
0
C C time

16
DISCHARGING A CAPACITOR
THROUGH A RESISTOR
 V(t) + i

i C R

dV(t) i(t) V(t)

 
dt C RC
This is an elementary differential equation,
whose solution is the exponential:
d t /  1 t / 
V (t )  V0 e  t /
Since: e  e
dt 

17
 VOLTAGE VS TIME FOR AN RC
DISCHARGE
1.2

Voltage 1

0.8

0.6

0.4

0.2

0
0 1 2 3 4
Time

18
NATURAL RESPONSE OF AN RC
CIRCUIT
• Consider the following circuit, for which the switch is closed
for t < 0, and then opened at t = 0:

Ro t=0
+ +
Vo  R
C v
–
Notation:
0– is used to denote the time just prior to switching
0+ is used to denote the time immediately after switching
• The voltage on the capacitor at t = 0– is Vo

19
TIME CONSTANT T
• In the example, we found that

 t / RC V o  t / RC
v (t )  V o e and i (t )  e
R
(sec)
  RC
• Define the time constant
– At t = t, the voltage has reduced to 1/e (~0.37) of its
initial value.
– At t = 5t, the voltage has reduced to less than 1% of its
initial value.

20
NATURAL RESPONSE SUMMARY
RL Circuit RC Circuit
i +
L R C v R
–

• Inductor current cannot change • Capacitor voltage cannot

instantaneously
  change instantaneously
i (0 )  i (0 ) 
v (0 )  v (0 ) 

i (t )  i (0)e t / v(t )  v(0)e t /

L
    RC
• time constant R
• time constant 21