Undergraduate Journal of

Mathematical Modeling: One + Two

Volume 2 | 2010 Spring

Issue 2 | Article 3

Calculating the Time Constant of an RC Circuit

Sean Dunford
University of South Florida

Advisors:
Arcadii Grinshpan, Mathematics and Statistics
Gerald Woods, Physics
Problem Suggested By: Gerald Woods
Abstract. In this experiment, a capacitor was charged to its full capacitance then discharged through a resistor. By
timing how long it took the capacitor to fully discharge through the resistor, we can determine the RC time constant
using calculus.
Keywords. Time Constant, RC circuit, Electronics

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Recommended Citation
Dunford, Sean (2010) "Calculating the Time Constant of an RC Circuit," Undergraduate Journal of Mathematical Modeling: One + Two:
Vol. 2: Iss. 2, Article 3.
DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5038/2326-3652.2.2.3
Available at: http://scholarcommons.usf.edu/ujmm/vol2/iss2/3

Dunford: Calculating the Time Constant of an RC Circuit

SEAN DUNFORD

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Problem Statement................................................................................................................... 3
Motivation ................................................................................................................................... 3
Mathematical Description and Solution Approach .................................................... 3
Discussion ................................................................................................................................... 7
Conclusion and Recommendations ................................................................................... 7
Nomenclature............................................................................................................................. 8
References ................................................................................................................................... 9
Appendices ............................................................................................................................... 10

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Undergraduate Journal of Mathematical Modeling: One + Two, Vol. 2, Iss. 2 [2010], Art. 3

CALCULATING THE TIME CONSTANT OF AN RC CIRCUIT

PROBLEM STATEMENT
Using calculus, determine the time constant of an RC circuit for a recorded time with an
initial charge on the capacitor of

, and a voltage of

volts.

MOTIVATION
This project and derivation is designed to acknowledge the value of a circuits RC time
constant. Knowing the time constant of an RC circuit can allow it to be used as a hardware filter.
It can be utilized to only react to certain changes within the circuit. For instance windshield
wiper speed settings in modern cars are controlled by RC circuits. They allow a lower voltage to
reach the windshield wipers which makes them move slower. Electronic instruments, washing
machines, childrens toys, and many other pieces of technology all contain RC circuits.
(Koehler,1)(Sheets. 1)

MATHEMATICAL DESCRIPTION AND SOLUTION APPROACH

After setting up the circuit to match the schematic and picture of circuit, we place a max
charge on the circuit plate that is equal to that of the power supply (30 volts). The capacitance is
supplied by a decade box and is given as
DMM resistor as

(microfarads). The resistance is given by the

(megaohms). Our resistor is also used to measure voltages at specific

variable times. Charging the capacitor takes less than a second. We can determine the charge and
current equations by considering Kirchhoffs voltage law. It states that the summation of the
charges on all the pieces within a loop will always equal zero at any time (Serway,785), i.e.
.

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(1)

Dunford: Calculating the Time Constant of an RC Circuit

SEAN DUNFORD

The emf of the battery is taken to be

volts, the current at some instant is represented by ,

the potential drop across the resistor is

, the magnitude of the charge on the capacitor at

some instant is , the potential drop across the capacitor plates is shown as

(Serway,

745/767). We can now rewrite (1) as

.
Any time before the capacitor has a charge,

(2)

and (2) becomes

(3)

Once the capacitor has reached the full voltage of the power supply

since charge no longer

flows in the circuit. When this happens, (2) becomes

.

(4)

Current is the change in charge over the change in time (Serway,753), i.e.
.

(5)

By substituting (5) into (2) we have,

.

(6)

and implies that

.

(7)

If we integrate both sides, we achieve

which evaluates to
.
If

, then

Produced by The Berkeley Electronic Press, 2010

and (8) becomes

(8)

Undergraduate Journal of Mathematical Modeling: One + Two, Vol. 2, Iss. 2 [2010], Art. 3

CALCULATING THE TIME CONSTANT OF AN RC CIRCUIT

(9)
and simplifies to
.

(10)

Note that we may substitute (10) into (5) to get an equation for current:
.

(11)

Our main goal is to determine the exact value of the time constant

. At time

equation (10) tells us that

.

(12)

We can determine the time constant more accurately by considering similar equations for the
discharging process. At time

the emf from the battery is present on the plates of the

capacitor. After the battery is disconnected from the circuit, the emf on the plates begins to
dissipate. This discharging equation for

is similar to (2) and is given by

(13)

which via (11) reduces to

.

(14)

During this discharge process is constant as the battery is disconnected from the circuit. Also,
note that the current switches direction away from the capacitor becoming negative. This
transforms (5) into
.

(15)

In light of equation (14) and (15) we still get the same positive current equation as in (11)
.

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(16)

Dunford: Calculating the Time Constant of an RC Circuit

SEAN DUNFORD

During the discharge process, voltages were recorded at various time intervals (see Table
1.2 in the Appendix). Graphing the voltage versus time yielded an exponentially decaying graph.
To determine the time constant, we must establish a linear relationship (

) of voltage

and time. If we consider that relationship between charge and voltage

(17)
where

is voltage,

is charge and

is capacitance, (14) becomes

.

(18)

By taking the natural logarithm of both sides of (18), we establish a linear relationship between
and time :
.

(19)

Using linear regression implemented in Excel (Graph 2.1), we find that

which means
.

and

From (18) we know that the voltage is

process. Since we know the initial value is equal to

(20)

of the initial charge during the charging

, the emf of the battery the capacitor

at time will read

volts.
Charging the capacitor and timing how long it took to reach our target value of
yielded the experimental value of RC.

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(21)
volts

Undergraduate Journal of Mathematical Modeling: One + Two, Vol. 2, Iss. 2 [2010], Art. 3

CALCULATING THE TIME CONSTANT OF AN RC CIRCUIT

DISCUSSION
This project found that the RC time constant of our circuit was

seconds. The

objective of the project was met. According to our theoretic results, the voltage at the time
should be

volts which was shown in Graph 1.1 to have occurred (see Appendix). With this

time constant we could direct certain frequencies of voltages through our circuit and control a
multitude of different objects.

CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS

This project exploited the use of calculus to determine the RC time constant of a circuit.
The time constant is a time in which it takes the capacitor to lose

of its initial charge. With

a maximum initial voltage across a set of capacitor plates, a capacitance of

resistor, we calculated the time constant to be around

and a

seconds. Our theoretical results were

compared with the experimental quantities. We measured the time constant by using a stop
watch to record the time it takes for the voltage to drop from

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to a target voltage of

Dunford: Calculating the Time Constant of an RC Circuit

SEAN DUNFORD

NOMENCLATURE

Symbol

Produced by The Berkeley Electronic Press, 2010

Name

Measured Units

Time Constant

Seconds (sec)

Capacitance

Farads (f) or Microfarads (f)

Voltage

Volts (V)

Resistance

Megaohms (M)

Emf of Battery

Volts (V)

Charge

Coulombs (C)

Time

Seconds (sec)

Undergraduate Journal of Mathematical Modeling: One + Two, Vol. 2, Iss. 2 [2010], Art. 3

CALCULATING THE TIME CONSTANT OF AN RC CIRCUIT

REFERENCES

Larson, Ron, Robert Hosteteler, and Bruce Edwards. Calculus: Early Transcendental functions.
New York: Houghton Mifflin Company, 2007.

Raymond A., Serway, and John W. Jewett, Jr.. Physics: for Scientist and Engineers. Belmont,
Ca: David Harris, 2005

Koehler , Kenneth R. "Capacitors and RC Circuits". College Physics for Students of Biology and
Chemistry. 04/28/2010 <College Physics for Students of Biology and Chemistry>.

Bill Sheets and Rudolf F. Graf, "RC Timers and Timing Circuits." North Country Radio.
04/27/10 <http://www.northcountryradio.com/PDFs/column008.pdf>.

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Dunford: Calculating the Time Constant of an RC Circuit

10

SEAN DUNFORD

APPENDIX
GRAPH 1.1
35
30
Recorded Values

Voltage (volts)

25

Expon. (Recorded
Values)

20

y = 29.83e-0.02x

15
10
5
0
0

20

40

60

80

100

120

140

Time (seconds)

Graph 1.1 Voltage recorded at the capacitor once the

power source was removed.

TABLE 1.2
Time
3
6
7
9
11
13
15
17
18
21
25
26

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Voltage
28.79984
26.39976
26.19992
22.90024
24.10016
23.09989
22.19985
21.2002
20.79984
18.89992
17.9999
17.40003

Time
35
40
45
50
55
60
65
70
85
110
135

Voltage
14.39992
13.18014
11.88995
10.73001
9.670079
8.729915
7.869914
7.100027
5.210027
3.109997
1.859987

Undergraduate Journal of Mathematical Modeling: One + Two, Vol. 2, Iss. 2 [2010], Art. 3

CALCULATING THE TIME CONSTANT OF AN RC CIRCUIT

11

GRAPH 2.1
4
3.5

Voltage (volts)

3
2.5
2
Log[V(t)]
Linear (Log[V(t)])

1.5

y = -0.020x + 3.395

1
0.5
0
0

20

40

60

80

100

120

140

Time (seconds)

Graph 2.1 Natural logarithm of the voltages achieved in Graph 1.1 versus time.

TABLE 2.2
Time
3
6
7
9
11
13
15
17
18
21
25
26

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Voltage
3.36037
3.273355
3.265756
3.131147
3.182218
3.139828
3.100086
3.054011
3.034945
2.939158
2.890366
2.856472

Time
35
40
45
50
55
60
65
70
85
110
135

Voltage
2.667223
2.578711
2.475694
2.373044
2.269036
2.166756
2.063047
1.960099
1.650585
1.134622
0.620569