CH 26 DIRECT-CURRENT CIRCUITS

Intended Learning Outcomes – after this lecture you will learn:

1. Kirchhoff’s rules to deal with complex circuits
2. Charging, discharging, power delivery and dissipation in an R-C circuit

Note: excluding 26.3 Electrical Measuring Instruments, and 26.5 Power Distribution Systems

In an electric circuit
- A junction is a point where conductors meet
- A loop is any closed conducting path

Kirchhoff’s junction rule: the algebraic sum of currents

at a junction is zero
� 𝐼𝐼𝑖𝑖 = 0
𝑖𝑖
Sign convention: flow in is –ve, flow out is +ve 𝐼𝐼3 =

physical meaning: no charge accumulates at the junction, i.e., conservation of charge

PHYS1114 Lecture 10 Direct-Current Circuits P. 1

While going through a loop along a travel direction, the potential changes (potential rise or
potential drop) after passing through each circuit element.

a b a b
a b a b

𝑉𝑉𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏 = +ℰ 𝑉𝑉𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎 = −ℰ 𝑉𝑉𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏 = +𝐼𝐼𝐼𝐼 𝑉𝑉𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎 = −𝐼𝐼𝐼𝐼

potential rise potential drop potential rise potential drop

Independent of direction of 𝐼𝐼

Kirchhoff’s loop rule: the algebraic sum of potential

� 𝑉𝑉𝑖𝑖 = 0
differences in any loop must be zero 𝑖𝑖

Physical meaning: potential of the same point does not change after going through a loop

Example 26.4 and 26.5 Charging a battery

3 unknowns: ℰ, 𝐼𝐼, and 𝑟𝑟
Need 3 independent equations
Cannot write down 3 equations using the 3
loops because (2)+(3)=(1)

Need one from junction rule, say, at a: 𝐼𝐼 − 2 A − 1 A = 0 ⇒ 𝐼𝐼 = 3 A

Loop 1: 12 V − 𝐼𝐼𝐼𝐼 − (2 A)(3 Ω) = 0 ⇒ 𝑟𝑟 = 2 Ω -ve means its polarity is
Loop 2: −ℰ + (1 A)(1 Ω) − (2 A)(3 Ω) = 0 ⇒ ℰ = −5 V opposite to that shown,
i.e., it is being charged.
For the 12 V cell:
Terminal voltage 𝑉𝑉𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏 = 𝑉𝑉𝑏𝑏 − 𝑉𝑉𝑎𝑎 = (12 V) − 𝐼𝐼𝐼𝐼 = 6 V
Net power delivered = 𝑉𝑉𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏 𝐼𝐼 = 18 W

For ℰ:
Terminal voltage 𝑉𝑉𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎 = 𝑉𝑉𝑎𝑎 − 𝑉𝑉𝑏𝑏 = ℰ − (1 A)(1 Ω) = −6 V
Net power delivered = 𝑉𝑉𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎 𝐼𝐼 = −6 W
Check that the remaining power is delivered to the 3 Ω resistor

PHYS1114 Lecture 10 Direct-Current Circuits P. 2

Example 26.6 Equivalent resistance of a complex network
Key: use junction rule to reduce the number of
unknown currents to 3
Need three equations from loop rule
Loop 1: (13 V) − 𝐼𝐼1 (1 Ω) − (𝐼𝐼1 − 𝐼𝐼3 )(1 Ω) = 0
Loop 2: (13 V) − 𝐼𝐼2 (1 Ω) − (𝐼𝐼2 + 𝐼𝐼3 )(2 Ω) = 0
Loop 3: −𝐼𝐼1 (1 Ω) − 𝐼𝐼3 (1 Ω) + 𝐼𝐼2 (1 Ω) = 0
Solving them gives
𝐼𝐼1 = 6 A, 𝐼𝐼2 = 5 A, 𝐼𝐼3 = −1 A
Equivalent resistance
13 V
𝑅𝑅 = = 1.2 Ω
𝐼𝐼1 + 𝐼𝐼2

R-C Circuits
Charging a capacitor:

Qualitatively:
1. On closing switch, capacitor initially uncharged and cost no energy to deposit charge, i.e.,
acts like a conductor. Initial current is 𝑖𝑖(0) = ℇ/𝑅𝑅
2. As charge 𝑞𝑞 builds up in capacitor, creates a potential difference 𝑞𝑞/𝐶𝐶 to oppose the current,
𝑖𝑖(𝑡𝑡) decreases.
while 𝐶𝐶 tend to “oppose” a current as it charges up, it is different from a resistor. Energy
in a resistor is dissipative, once lost you cannot get it back. But energy deposited to a
capacitor is non dissipative and can be recovered when it discharges.
3. After a long time, when charge builds up to 𝑄𝑄𝑓𝑓 = 𝐶𝐶ℇ, ℇ cannot drive any more charge and
𝑖𝑖 = 0

PHYS1114 Lecture 10 Direct-Current Circuits P. 3

Quantitatively, from Kirchhoff’s rule
𝑞𝑞
ℰ − 𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖 − =0
𝐶𝐶
Since 𝑖𝑖 = 𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑/𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑, get a differential equation
𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑 1 𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑 𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑
𝑅𝑅 = (𝐶𝐶ℰ − 𝑞𝑞) ⇒ =
𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑 𝐶𝐶 𝐶𝐶ℰ − 𝑞𝑞 𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅
𝑡𝑡
− ln(𝐶𝐶ℰ − 𝑞𝑞(𝑡𝑡)) = + 𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐
𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅
With initial condition 𝑞𝑞(0) = 0, 𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐 = −ln(𝐶𝐶ℰ)
𝐶𝐶ℰ − 𝑞𝑞(𝑡𝑡) 𝑡𝑡
ln =−
𝐶𝐶ℰ 𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅
⟹ 𝑞𝑞(𝑡𝑡) = 𝐶𝐶ℰ�1 − 𝑒𝑒 −𝑡𝑡/𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅 � = 𝑞𝑞(∞)�1 − 𝑒𝑒 −𝑡𝑡/𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅 � and 𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑 ℰ −𝑡𝑡/𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅
𝑖𝑖(𝑡𝑡) = = 𝑒𝑒 = 𝑖𝑖(0)𝑒𝑒 −𝑡𝑡/𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅
𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑 𝑅𝑅

For exponential increase/decrease, time constant 𝜏𝜏 is the time taken to either increase to a factor
(1 − 1⁄𝑒𝑒 ) of the final value, or decrease to a factor 1⁄𝑒𝑒 of the initial value
For an R-C circuit, 𝜏𝜏 = 𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅
𝜏𝜏 measures how fast or slow the exponential change is, e.g., if 𝑅𝑅 large, 𝜏𝜏 large and the change
is slow, like a damping effect
No need to memorize these formulae, just use qualitative reason to decide whether they
should be exponentially increasing or decreasing

PHYS1114 Lecture 10 Direct-Current Circuits P. 4

Power delivery and dissipation while charging a capacity
Instantaneous power 𝑞𝑞(𝑡𝑡)
(multiply 𝑖𝑖 to Kirchhoff’s rule) 𝑖𝑖(𝑡𝑡)ℰ − 𝑖𝑖 2 (𝑡𝑡)𝑅𝑅 − 𝑖𝑖(𝑡𝑡) � �=0
𝐶𝐶
Delivered by ℰ Stored in 𝐶𝐶
∞
∞
ℰ 2 ∞ − 𝑡𝑡 𝑞𝑞 1 ∞ 𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑
� 𝑖𝑖ℰ𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑 = � 𝑒𝑒 𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅 𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑 � 𝑖𝑖 � � 𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑 = � 𝑞𝑞 𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑
𝑅𝑅 0 Dissipated in 𝑅𝑅 0 𝐶𝐶 𝐶𝐶 0 𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑
0
∞
= 𝐶𝐶ℰ 2 = ℰ𝑞𝑞(∞) � 𝑖𝑖 2 𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅 1 𝐶𝐶ℰ 1
= � 𝑞𝑞𝑞𝑞𝑞𝑞 = 𝐶𝐶ℰ 2
0 𝐶𝐶 0 2
ℰ 2 ∞ − 2𝑡𝑡 1 2
= 𝑅𝑅 � � � 𝑒𝑒 𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅 𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑 = 𝐶𝐶ℰ
𝑅𝑅 0 2
Independent of 𝑅𝑅!
Half the total energy supplied by emf is lost in charging a capacitor, no matter how small 𝑅𝑅 is

Discharging a capacitor:

From similar qualitative argument, both 𝑞𝑞 and 𝑖𝑖 decrease in magnitude

𝑞𝑞 𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑 𝑞𝑞
−𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖 − = 0 ⟹ 𝑖𝑖 = =−
𝐶𝐶 𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑 𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅
𝑡𝑡
ln 𝑞𝑞 = − + 𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐
𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅
With initial condition 𝑞𝑞(0) = 𝑄𝑄0, 𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐 = ln 𝑄𝑄0
𝑞𝑞(𝑡𝑡) 𝑡𝑡
ln =−
𝑄𝑄0 𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅

PHYS1114 Lecture 10 Direct-Current Circuits P. 5

 𝑄𝑄0 −𝑡𝑡/𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅
⇒ 𝑞𝑞(𝑡𝑡) = 𝑄𝑄0 𝑒𝑒 −𝑡𝑡/𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅 and 𝑖𝑖(𝑡𝑡) = − 𝑒𝑒 = 𝑖𝑖(0)𝑒𝑒 −𝑡𝑡/𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅
𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅
Decreasing in magnitude

Question: if we choose 𝑖𝑖 in the opposite direction in the discharge circuit, we get 𝑖𝑖 = 𝑞𝑞/𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅 and
then 𝑞𝑞(𝑡𝑡) = 𝑄𝑄0 𝑒𝑒 𝑡𝑡/𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅 which is nonsense. What is wrong?
Hint: anything wrong with 𝑖𝑖 = 𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑/𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑 in this case?

Moral: while going through a capacitor along the direction of i, always assume the
capacitor is being charged, and therefore has a potential drop, −𝒒𝒒/𝑪𝑪. No need to worry if
the capacitor is actually discharging because 𝒅𝒅𝒅𝒅/𝒅𝒅𝒅𝒅 will take care of the sign automatically.

Example 26.12
A 10 MΩ resistor is connected in series with a 1.0 μF capacitor and a battery with emf 12.0 V.
The capacitor is initially uncharged.
Time constant is 𝜏𝜏 = 𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅 = (10 × 107 Ω)(1.0 × 10−6 F) = 10 s
Initial current is 𝑖𝑖(0) = 𝐼𝐼0 = ℇ⁄𝑅𝑅 = 1.2 μA
After one time constant 10 s, fraction of initial current 𝐼𝐼0 still flowing
𝑖𝑖(10 s) 10 s 1
= = 𝑒𝑒 −10 s = = 0.37
𝐼𝐼0 𝑒𝑒
After 4.6 time constants, 𝑡𝑡 = 46 s, fraction of initial current 𝐼𝐼0 still flowing
𝑖𝑖(46 s) 46 s
= = 𝑒𝑒 −10 s = 0.010
𝐼𝐼0
Decreasing 𝑅𝑅, i.e., 𝜏𝜏, can make the change (both charging and discharging) faster

PHYS1114 Lecture 10 Direct-Current Circuits P. 6

Clicker Questions

Ans: Q26.10) E, QRT26.1) CDAB

PHYS1114 Lecture 10 Direct-Current Circuits P. 7

Video Solutions of Textbook Examples for this Lecture

PHYS1114 Lecture 10 Direct-Current Circuits P. 8

See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gustav_Kirchhoff

PHYS1114 Lecture 10 Direct-Current Circuits P. 9