Transient Response of Series RC Circuit

You will use an oscilloscope to observe the repetitive charging and

discharging of a capacitor as it is charged through a resistor R by a voltage source
V0 and then allowed to discharge through the resistor with the voltage source
removed.
In Experiment No. 1 you will observe the voltage V C across the capacitor
for these processes and in Experiment No. 3 you will observe the corresponding
voltage VR across the resistor.
Conceptually the two steps of the process are represented by the circuits in
Fig. 1(a) & 1(d).
R R

+ I I +
V0 C - C
-

(a) (d)

VC VC
V0 V0

0.63 V0

0.37 V0

0 0
0 te t 0 te t
(b) (e)
VR VR
0 te t
0
V0

- 0.37V0

0.37 V0

0 -V0
0 te t
(f)
(c)
Fig. 1
When the switch in Fig. 1(a) is closed, the voltage across the capacitor,
beginning from the discharged state, is

1
as shown in Fig. 1(b) and the corresponding voltage across the resistor is

as shown in Fig. 1(c). Note that the current in the circuit has the same functional
form as VR since .
Discharging the capacitor from an initial voltage V 0 is represented by Fig.
1(d). When the switch is closed, the voltage across the capacitor is

as shown in Fig. 1(e) and the corresponding voltage across the resistor is

as shown in Fig. 1(f).

The exponential response is characterized by the time constant te = RC. It
is the time to rise from its initial value to within 1/e of its final value, for example,
in Fig. 1(b) at te

Equivalently it is the time to fall from an initial value to 1/e (= 0.37) of that
value as illustrated in Figs. 1(c), 1(e) & 1(f).
Experiment: Transient Response VC (t)
The RC circuit shown in Fig. 1 uses a dc voltage source and a switch to
produce a voltage step. In order to produce a repetitive transient that is easily
V(t)

V0

0
- T T T
2 2
observed on the oscilloscope, we shall use a square wave generator as a voltage
transient source. The output of such a generator is shown in Fig. 2.
Fig. 2
The function generator used to produce the square wave also generates
sinusoidal and triangular waves. Controls on the generator permit variation of the
amplitude and the frequency f = 1/T of the square-wave output.

2
 Choose a 1000 resistor and a 0.01f capacitor. Since these are nominal
values of resistance and capacitance, measure and record their precise values using
the Wavetek meter.
Then use them to assemble the circuit shown in Fig. 3. The square wave
generator switches alternately between voltages of plus and minus V0.
0.1V0 VC
Lo Hi
To Channel 1 1000  To Channel 2
of oscilloscope of oscilloscope
50  50 
V0 0.01 f
Signal
x 0.1
Generator

Fig. 3
Note that this circuit differs from those in Fig. 1 in that the capacitor must
charge and discharge through both R and the 50 internal impedance of the
generator. Because of the high input impedance (1 Megohm) of the oscilloscope,
negligible current flows in that circuit, so Channel 1 gives an accurate
measurement of V0, although it is a factor of 10 smaller.
Note that if Channel 1 were connected to the Hi terminal, the voltage
observed would be reduced by the voltage drop across the internal 50 ohm
resistance.
What kind of oscilloscope pattern do you expect? Set the period of the
square wave long enough that the capacitor completely charges or discharges in
less than one-half period. Observe one period of the charge and discharge of the
capacitor. Measure the value of te in two ways:
1. as the time for the capacitor to charge from zero voltage to 0.63V0.
2. as the time for the capacitor to discharge from V 0 to 0.37V0. These values
of te should equal RC.
Compare your measured values with the value of RC obtained from the
known values of the circuit components. Note that R must include the internal
resistance of the square-wave generator, which is 50 .