
Observe the filtering effects of an RC circuit.ġ. if f View more.In this part of the experiment, you will make measurements to VC will increase (if I > 0) or decrease (if I > 1/RC), then VC and VR will not have enough time to reach their asymptotic values. This current flows through the capacitor and causes VC to change (Eq. If a voltage difference exists across the resistor (i.e. 4) Vin = VC + RC C dt If VIN is a step function at time t=0, then VC and VR are of the form: Equation 1 (above) is the defining I-V characteristicĮquation for a capacitor, and Equation 3 is the defining I-V characteristic equation for a resistor (Ohm’s Law).Ĭombining Equations 1 and 3 into 2, we obtain the following first-order linear differential equation: dV (Eq. Equation 2 is obtained from Kirchhoff’s Voltage Law, which states that the algebraic sum of voltage drops around a closed loop is zero. A simple RC circuit is drawn in Figure 1 with currents and voltages defined as shown. This is especially true in integrated circuits (ICs).

The characteristic “exponential decay” associated with an RC circuit is important to understand, because complicated circuits can oftentimes be modeled simply as resistor and a capacitor. When the time has reached a value equal to the time constant, τ, then the voltage is Be !" RC = Be ! l = 0.368 * B volts away from the final value A, or about 5/8 of the way from the initial value (A+B) to the final value (A). ( e x is e to the x power, where e =2.718, the base of the natural logarithm) The product RC is called the time constant (whose units are seconds) and is usually represented by the Greek letter τ.

V (t ) = A + Be RC where constant A is the final voltage and constant B is the difference between the initial and the final voltages. RC Circuits An RC (resistor + capacitor) circuit will have an exponential voltage response of the form !t Q = CV Since Q is the integration of current over time, we can write: v (t ) =ĭifferentiating this equation, we obtain the I-V characteristic equation for a capacitor:Ģ. The voltage V across the capacitor (capacitance C) is directly proportional to the charge Q stored on the plates:

When current flows into one plate of a capacitor, the charges don't pass through (although to maintain local charge balance, an equal number of the same polarity charges leave the other plate of the device) but instead accumulate on that plate, increasing the voltage across the capacitor. Recall that a current is a flow of charges. Practical capacitor values usually lie in the picofarad (1 pF = 10-12 F) to microfarad (1 ♟ = 10-6 F) range. The unit of capacitance is the farad (coulomb/volt).

Capacitors A capacitor is a passive electronic component that stores energy in the form of an electrostatic field.
