CIRCUIT ANALYSIS-II

LAB REPORT 02

S.NO CONTENT MARKS

1. objective
2. equipments
3. introduction
4. procedure
5. observations
6. readings
7. Conclusion

OBJECTIVE:
1. Examine the behavior of a capacitor when a DC source voltage is applied.

2. Understand the charging discharging of a capacitor and its measurement.

EQUIPMENTS:
1. breadboard

2. voltmeter

3. DC power supply
4. stop watch

5. capacitor(680µF)

6. resistor(1MΩ)

7. connecting wires

INTRODUCTION:
An RC circuit is one containing a resistor R and a capacitor C. The capacitor is an electrical
component that houses electric charge.Capacitors are devices that can store electric charge
and energy.

Charging:The capacitor is initially uncharged. As soon as the switch is closed, current flows to
and from the initially uncharged capacitor. As charge increases on the capacitor plates, there is
increasing opposition to the flow of charge by the repulsion of like charges on each
plate.Initially, voltage on the capacitor is zero and rises rapidly at first since the initial current is
a maximum. The voltage approaches emf asymptotically since the closer it gets to emf the less
current flows.

Discharging:Discharging a capacitor through a resistor proceeds in a similar fashion, as

illustrates. Initially, the current is I0=V0/R, driven by the initial voltage V0 on the capacitor. As
the voltage decreases, the current and hence the rate of discharge decreases, implying another
exponential formula for V.

PROCEDURE:
1. The circuit connections are made as R selected as 1MK and Capacitor of 680µF.

2. The stop watch is reset.The display indicates 00.0.

3. The digital DC voltmeter and 25V-power supplies are connected to the circuit.

4. Switch on the voltage supply.

5. Keep watching the stop watch and the voltmeter.

6. The watch is stopped when the capacitor was fully charged(18V ) and the voltmeter
reading is noted. The capacitor is charged for 80 seconds and voltage across the capacitorafter
80 second is noted from the voltmeter in Table below.

7. The capacitor is further charged by starting the watch. Instesd of stopping at different
intervals for noying down the readings we simply took a video so that at the end readings can
be noted from there.

8.When the capacitor is charged to maximum voltage (18V and above), the charging isstopped
and the charge discharge switch is thrown to discharge position(remove voltage source) and
watch isreset.

10. The voltage across the discharging capacitor is noted for 70 seconds This is done until the
capacitor is discharged fully.

OBSERVATIONS:
First connect the circit with DC voltage , the capacitor draws a charging current and “charges
up”, and when the voltage is reduced, the capacitor discharges in the opposite direction.
Because capacitors are able to store electrical energy they act like small batteries and can store
or release the energy as required. The figure below shows a capacitor, ( C ) in series with a
resistor, ( R ) forming a RC Charging Circuit connected across a DC battery supply ( Vs ) via a
mechanical switch. When the switch is closed, the capacitor will gradually charge up through
the resistor until the voltage across it reaches the supply voltage of the battery. The manner in
which the capacitor charges up.

The capacitor now starts to charge up , with the rise in the RC charging curve steeper at the
beginning because the charging rate is fastest at the start and then tapers off as the capacitor
takes on additional charge at a slower rate.

As the capacitor charges up, the potential difference across its plates slowly increases with the
actual time taken for the charge on the capacitor to reach 63% of its maximum possible voltage,
in our curve 0.63Vs being known as one Time Constant, ( T ).

This 0.63Vs voltage point is given the abbreviation of 1T, (one time constant).

The capacitor continues charging up and the voltage difference between Vs and Vc reduces, so
to does the circuit current, i. Then at its final condition greater than five time constants ( 5T )
when the capacitor is said to be fully charged, t = ∞, i = 0, q = Q = CV. Then at infinity the
current diminishes to zero, the capacitor acts like an open circuit condition therefore, the
voltage drop is entirely across the capacitor.
This fully charged capacitor was now disconnected from its DC battery supply voltage it would
store its energy built up during the charging process indefinitely (assuming an ideal capacitor
and ignoring any internal losses), keeping the voltage across its terminals constant.

The battery was now removed and replaced by a short circuit, when the switch was closed
again the capacitor discharge itself back through the resistor, R as we now have a RC
discharging circuit. As the capacitor discharges its current through the series resistor the stored
energy inside the capacitor is extracted with the voltage Vc across the capacitor decaying to
zero.

As with the previous RC charging circuit, in a RC Discharging Circuit, the time constant ( τ ) is still
equal to the value of 63%. Then for a RC discharging circuit that is initially fully charged, the
voltage across the capacitor after one time constant, 1T, has dropped by 63% of its initial value.

As the capacitor discharges, it loses its charge at a declining rate. At the start of discharge the
initial conditions of the circuit, are t = 0, i = 0 and q = Q. The voltage across the capacitors plates
is equal to the supply voltage and Vc = Vs. As the voltage across the plates is at its highest value
maximum discharge current flows around the circuit.

With the switch closed, the capacitor now starts to discharge, with the decay in the RC
discharging curve steeper at the beginning because the discharging rate is fastest at the start
and then tapers off as the capacitor looses charge at a slower rate. As the discharge continues,
Vc goes down and there is less discharge current.

READINGS:

CHARCHING

Time(t) Voltage(V)
10s 10V
20s 12.8V
30s 14.8V
40s 16.5V
50s 16.9V
60s 17.5V
70s 18V
 80s 18.4V

GRAPH:

Time constant for Time constant for Voltage at 63.2% Voltage for 100%
63.2% charging 100% charging Charging Charging

Calculate Observed Calculate Observed Calculate Observed Calculated Observed

d d d
10s 15s 50s 75s 16V 11.6V 25V 18.4V

DISCHARGING

Time(t) Voltage(V)
10s 7.1V
20s 2.9V
30s 1.23V
40s 0.56V
50s 0.25V
60s 0.13V
70s 0.06V
 GRAPH:

Time constant for Time constant for Voltage at 63.2% Voltage for 100%
63.2% discharging 100% discharging Discharging discharging

Calculate Observed Calculate Observed Calculate Observed Calculated Observed

d d d
44.24s 10s 47.4s 70s 15.8V 15.1V 0V 0.06V

CONCLUSION:
If we connect RC circuit with DC source then current will not flow else it store energy and acts
as a voltage source.