Department of Physics & Astronomy

Undergraduate Labs
1
1/2/2012
RCCircuits
Whenacapacitorisconnected toavoltagesource,chargewill
accumulate on the plates of the capacitor until the voltage
across the capacitor is equal to the voltage across the source.
The charge on the capacitor plates is proportional to the
voltage I across the capacitors terminals. The constant of
proportionalityisthecapacitanceC.
= CI
Capacitance is a function of the geometry of the capacitor and the
material properties of the dielectric that is sandwiched between the
plates. For a capacitor with plate area A, separation J containing a
dielectricbetweentheplatesofdielectricconstant,thecapacitanceis
C =
e
0
A
J

Real capacitors (figure on the right) oftentimes look like plastic cans as
opposed to parallel plates. However, the plastic is simply insulation and the
insideconsistsoflongstripsofconductingfoilwoundaroundadielectric.This
configuration enables a large surface area A of conductor to be stored in a
smallamountofspace.
Capacitors are useful for many reasons, but most of all because they can be used to store electrical
energyintheformofastaticchargeontheplates.Capacitorscanbechargedbyconnectingthemtoa
voltage source and discharged at a later time. However, capacitors cannot be charged or discharged
instantaneously.Theamountoftimetocharge/dischargedependsontheresistanceofthecircuit.
Below is a diagram of a capacitor being charged by a voltage source. During charging, current will flow
throughtheresistorasnegativechargeaccumulatesonthebottomplate,whichrepelsanequalamount
ofchargeoffthetopplate.ChargewillaccumulateuntilthevoltageacrossthecapacitorisI
0
.

C
R
+(t)
-(t)
I(t)
I
0
C
I
I = C
+
-
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Summingvoltagedropsaroundthecircuitgives
I
0
-

C
- IR = u
Thiscanberewritten(substitutingI = JJt)asthedifferentialequation
J
Jt
+

RC
-
I
0
R
= u
Thishasthesolution
(t) = CI
0
(1 - c
-tRC
)
RecognizingthatCI
0
isthemaximumchargethatcanbestoredonthecapacitorwecanwrite
(t) =
max
_1 - c
-
t
RC
] (Chargtng a Capattur)
ThequantityRCistheRCtimeconstantthatdictateshowfastthecapacitorcanbecharged.The
figurebelowshowsafewplotsof(t)
max
forvariousvaluesofthetimeconstant = RC.

Disconnecting the capacitor from the voltage source leaves the capacitor with a charge
max
on the
plates. This charge can be used at a later time to power some electric device, for example. When the
capacitorisdischarged,asshownbelow,acurrentwillflowthroughtheresistoraselectronsflowfrom
theplatetothe+plate.Thiswillcontinueuntilthechargeonbothplatesiszero.

C R
+(t)
-(t)
I(t)
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Similartobefore,wecansumvoltagedropsaroundthecircuit:
-

C
- IR = u
Thiscanberewritten(substitutingI = JJt)asthedifferentialequation
J
Jt
= -

RC

Thishasthesolution
(t) =
max
c
-tRC
(Dtshargtng a Capattur)
Again,weseethequantityRCdictateshowfastchargeonthecapacitordecays.Thefigurebelowshows
afewplotsof(t)
max
forvariousvaluesofthetimeconstant = RC.

Inthislabyouwillobservechargeflowingtoandfromthecapacitorinrealtimeandobservesimilar
plotstothoseshownabove.
GoalsofthisLab
1. Understandhowacapacitorobtainsandstorescharge
2. Understandhowchargeflowsthroughacircuit
3. Understandhowthecapacitanceandresistanceofacircuitaffectschargeflow
4. Observechargeflowinrealtime
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LabMaterials
PowerSupply
The power supply will act as a battery that can provide a variable
(i.e.userdefined)voltage.

BananaConnectorPatchCord
Electrical connections can be made by the sticking the plug of one
intothesocketofanother.

AlligatorClips
Alligatorclipswillbeusedtomakeelectricalcontactinyourcircuit.

Switch
Electrical connection to two different circuits will be made via a
switch.

Multimeter
The multimeter will primarily be used for troubleshooting your
circuitandmeasuringresistances.

DifferentialVoltageProbe
ThesecanbeinterfacedtoLoggerProforautomaticdatacollection
ofvoltagedifferencesinacircuit.

LoggerPro
LoggerProwillbeusedtorunthedifferentialvoltageprobeandused
fordataanalysis.

LoggerPro
Resistors
Resistorswillbeusedtoregulatetherateofchargingand
dischargingacapacitor.

Capacitors
Chargefromthepowersupplywillbestoredincapacitors.

Lightbulbs
Lightbulbswillbeusedtoensurethatcircuitsareproperly
connected.

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Overview
You will build the circuit shown below. The circuit consists of two branches and a central capacitor C.
The left branch contains a voltage source I
0
and a resistor R
1
. The right branch contains a resistor R
2

only.Thecapacitorcanbeconnectedtoeitherbranchbythrowingaswitchtotheleftorright.Closing
the switch on the left branch connects the capacitor to a voltage source and will charge the capacitor.
After the capacitor is charged, the switch can be opened. Charge is now stored on the capacitor. The
capacitorcanbedischargedbyclosingtheswitchontherightbranch.

During both charging and discharging you will monitor the charge on the plates by measuring the
voltage across the capacitor. You will connect a voltage probe across the terminals of the capacitor as
shownbelow

Thevoltageisrelatedtochargeviatherelationships(t) = CI(t).Thus,thevoltagewillalsoshowan
exponential rise or decay governed by the time constant RC as the capacitor is charged or discharged,
respectively.Wewillexploitthistomeasurethecapacitanceofseveraldifferentcapacitorsbyobserving
theseexponentialrisesanddecaysofvoltage.

C R
2
R
1

I
0

Voltage
Tocomputer
I(t)
C R
2
R
1
I
0

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LabProcedure
SetupthepowersupplyandLoggerPro
The voltage probes max out at 6V so we want to make sure we apply a lower voltage than this. If you
have a Vernier power supply (small black box), it automatically outputs 5V so go to step 4. If you are
usingthePASCOPowerSupplyfollowsteps13:
1. IfyouareusingthePASCOPowerSupplysetthefunctiongeneratortoDCmodebyclickingthe
downwardarrowbutton()onRangeuntilthedisplayshows00000.
2. Set the multimeter to DC voltmeter mode and connect probes to the terminals of the power
supply.
3. Dialupthevoltageonthepowersupplyto5.0V.Leavethedialatthissetting!
4. RunLoggerProandsetuptheexperimentforcontinuousdatacollectionat100samples/s.Goto
Experiment Data Collection and check Continuous Data Collection and set the Sampling
Rateto100samples/s.
Buildabranchedcircuitthatcanchargeordischargeacapacitor
1. ChoosetworesistorsR
1
and R
2
anda capacitor Cand buildthecircuit shownbelow. Measure
thevaluesofR
1
andR
2
withthemultimeter.
Note: You will use only one switch. The diagram shows two to help you visualize how the
physicalswitcheswork.Whenthephysicalswitchisclosed,itisequivalenttoclosingthetopand
bottomswitchesinthecircuitdiagrambelow.
Note: Some of the capacitors we are using are electrolytic capacitors that use an electrolyte
(insteadofmetal)foroneplate.Thesecapacitorshaveapolarity,meaningthatonesidemustbe
connectedtothepositiveterminalofthepowersupply.Thisterminalismarkedbya+.
2. Connect the voltage probe as shown and observe the voltage displayed in LoggerPro. The
voltage across the capacitor should be zero (with small fluctuations about zero). Discharge the
capacitorbyshortingouttheterminalswithwireifnecessary.

C R
2
R
1

I
0

Voltage
Tocomputer
I(t)
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Undergraduate Labs
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1/2/2012
PrelabExercise1:
Youaregiventhefollowingsetofcapacitorsandresistors.Whichcombinationwillcausethecapacitor
tochargeatthefastestratewhenyouclosethelefthandswitch?WhatresistanceR
1
shouldyouuseif
youwantacapacitortochargeattheslowestrate?WhatresistorR
2
shouldyouuseifyouwanta
capacitortodischargeatthefastestrate?
Capacitance Resistance
13010
6
F 500
150F 1M
1500pF 10k

Verifythatyourcircuitworksasexpected
1. ReplaceR
1
andR
2
withlightbulbs.
2. Throw the switch to the left. You should observe a flash of light through the bulb as your
capacitorischarged.DependingonhowlargeCis,theflashmaylastforseveralseconds.
3. Closetheswitchtotheright.Youshouldobserveaflashoflightwithidentical(providedthatthe
lightbulbsareaboutthesame)duration.
4. If you observed the flashes, your circuit is properly connected. Replace the light bulbs with R
1

andR
2
.
PrelabExercise2:
Why should you observe only a flash of light, as opposed to a continuous glow, when the switch is
throwntotheleft?Afterall,thelightbulbisdirectlyconnectedtothepowersupply.

Chargethecapacitor
1. Startcollectingdatawith .
2. Closetheswitchtothelefttochargethecapacitor.Observethevoltagevs.time.Autoscalethe
graphwith asneeded.
Note:DependingonyourvaluesofR
1
andC,thecapacitorcouldchargeveryfastorveryslow.
Ifnothinghappens,somethinginyourcircuitisntconnectedproperly.
3. Wait until your capacitor is fully charged (i.e. until the voltage is constant). This typically takes
about5timeconstants(SR
1
C).Dontstopcollectingdata!
PrelabExercise3:
Howmanytimeconstants(giveanintegernumber)willyouhavetowaitbeforethevoltageacrossthe
capacitoriswithin99%ofitsinitialvalue?

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Undergraduate Labs
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1/2/2012
Dischargethecapacitor
1. Throwtheswitchtotherighttodischargethecapacitor.Observethevoltagevs.time.
Note: Again, depending on your values of R
2
and C, the capacitor could discharge very fast or
veryslow.Ifnothinghappens,somethinginyourcircuitisntconnectedproperly.
2. Waituntilyourcapacitorisfullydischarged(i.e.untilthevoltageisaboutzero).Again,thistakes
about5timeconstants(SR
2
C).Stopdatacollection( )whenitisfullydischarged.
Analyzeyourresults
Youshouldobservetwocurvesshowingthecharginganddischargingofthecapacitor.Theyshouldlook
similartothecurvesintheintroduction.
1. Fit a Natural Exponential ( ) to the voltage rise curve (charging). Use the brackets [ ] on
eithersideofthedatatoselecttheregionforthefit.Youmayhavetorescalethehorizontalaxis
tozoominonthecurve.Dothisbyleftclickingthefirstandlastticklabelofthehorizontalaxis
andchangingthevalue.Dontincludetheflatregiontotheleftofthecurveinthefit!
2. FitaNaturalExponential( )tothevoltagedecaycurve(discharging).Usethebrackets[]on
eithersideofthedatatoselecttheregionforthefit.
3. DeterminethecapacitanceCofyourcapacitorfromeachofyourexponentialfits.
4. Create a column that calculates the charge (t) = CI(t) by going to Data New Calculated
Column and entering in the appropriate values in the Equation box. Use the average C value
youobtainedfromthepreviousstep,notwhatismarkedonthesideofthecapacitor!Youcan
usevaluesfromcolumnsthatcontaindata(i.e.thepotentialcolumn)byclicking .
5. Repeat this experiment using a different combination of R and C values. If you didnt do so,
choosevaluesthatwillfullycharge/dischargethecapacitoroverthetimescaleofminutes.
Questions
1. Attachplotsofthecharging/dischargingcurvesincludingfits.Labeltheresistancesforeachcurve.
2. MakeatablethatliststheresistancesR
1
andR
2
andyourmeasuredvalueofcapacitanceC.
3. Do your capacitance values match for charging and discharging? If not, what could be causing the
discrepancy?Doyourcapacitancevaluesmatchwithwhatislabeledonthesideofthecapacitor?
4. What was the maximum charge
max
stored on each capacitor? How many electrons does this
correspondto?Thechargeofanelectronisc = 1.6 1u
-19
C.

Feedback
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wrong?Whatdidyoufeellikeyoulearnedinthislab?