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The document outlines an experiment to verify that a capacitor in an R-C circuit reaches 63% charge at its time constant and remains at that level during discharge. It explains the principles of charging and discharging capacitors using a hydraulic analogy, details the materials and procedures required for the experiment, and emphasizes the importance of safety precautions. The results include voltage readings over time, which can be used to plot graphs for both charging and discharging phases.

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KRISHNA MANOJKUMAR
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3 views

AIM

The document outlines an experiment to verify that a capacitor in an R-C circuit reaches 63% charge at its time constant and remains at that level during discharge. It explains the principles of charging and discharging capacitors using a hydraulic analogy, details the materials and procedures required for the experiment, and emphasizes the importance of safety precautions. The results include voltage readings over time, which can be used to plot graphs for both charging and discharging phases.

Uploaded by

KRISHNA MANOJKUMAR
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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AIM

To verity that 63% charge is stored in a capacitor in a R-C circuit at its time
constant and 63% charge remains when capacitor is discharged and hence plot
a graph between voltage and time

INTRODUCTION

An R-C circuit is a circuit containing a resistor and capacitor in series to a power


source. Such circuits Find very important applications in various areas of
science and in basic circuits which act as building blocks of modern
technological devices. It should be really helpful if we get comfortable with the
terminologies charging and discharging of capacitors.

1. Charging of Capacitor: -

A capacitor is a passive two-terminal electrical component used to store energy


in an electric field. In the hydraulic analogy, charge carriers flowing through a
wire are analogous to water flowing through a pipe. A capacitor is like a rubber
membrane sealed inside a pipe. Water molecules cannot pass through the
membrane, but some water can move by stretching the membrane.

The analogy clarifies a few aspects of capacitors: the flow of current alters the
charge on a capacitor, just as the flow of water changes the position of the
membrane. More specifically, the effect of an electric current is to increase the
charge of one plate of the capacitor and decrease the charge of the other plate
by an equal amount. This is just like how, when water flow moves the rubber
membrane, it increases the amount of water on one side of the membrane and
decreases the amount of water on the other side.

The more a capacitor is charged, the larger its voltage drop; i.e., the more it
"pushes back" against the charging current. This is analogous to the fact that
the more a membrane is stretched, the more it pushes back on the water.
Current can flow "through" a capacitor even though no individual electron can
get from one side to the other. This is analogous to the fact that water can flow
through the pipe even though no water molecule can pass through the rubber
membrane. Of course, the flow cannot continue in the same direction forever;
the capacitor will experience dielectric breakdown, and analogously, the
membrane will eventually break.

The capacitance describes how much charge can be stored on one plate of a
capacitor for a given "push" (voltage drop). A very stretchy, flexible membrane
corresponds to a higher capacitance than a stiff membrane. A charged-up
capacitor is storing potential energy, analogously to a stretched membrane.
2. Discharging of Capacitor: -

Using the hydraulic analogy, we can understand that when the capacitor is
charged, the membrane is stretched. But now, if you allow the water to come
out slowly and let the membrane relax, this is called the discharging of the
capacitor. In other words, when the charge on each of the plates becomes zero
and the potential difference across its terminals drops to zero, the capacitor is
said to be discharged.
MATERIALS REQUIRED
. Breadboard

. 100pF capacitor

. 1 MQ resistor
. Multi-meter
. 9V battery
. Wire stripper, connecting wires, battery connector .
Stopwatch
THEORY

When a capacitor of capacitance C is connected in series with a resistor of


resistance R and then connected to a battery of EMF E it gets charged but since
some resistance has been introduced, this charging process takes some time
and hence the potential difference between the plates of the capacitor varies as
an exponential function of time, i.e. Vae The circuit diagram for this experiment
is given below: -

Applying KIRCHHOFE’S LAW in the above circuit during charging i.e. Capacitor is
connected to battery
[Note: This is the charging equation only, for discharging equation proceed the
same way but only remove E from Kirchhoff law equation)| Thus, equation for
discharging

i.e., the voltage on the capacitor at time T = RC becomes 63% of the maximum
voltage, which means 63% of the total charge has been stored in the capacitor.
This product of R and C is given a special name — time constant, and is denoted
by T. This means that for any capacitor in an RC circuit, 63% of the total charge
is stored at one time constant.

In my experiment, I have used a 100 pF capacitor and a 1 MΩ resistor.


Thus,
Time constant (T) = RC = 100 × 10⁻¹² × 10⁶ = 100 × 10⁻⁶ = 100 μs (microseconds)
PROCEDURE

1. Connect all the required components on the breadboard properly.


2. Connect the multimeter leads across the two terminals of the
capacitor.
3. Connect the battery across the capacitor terminals and start the
stopwatch simultaneously.
4. Record the voltage readings at 20-second intervals using the
multimeter.
5. Continue this process and note at least 10 readings.
(Note: You can increase the time interval if needed, as the voltage
change becomes slower over time.)
6. Allow the capacitor to charge for around 460 seconds, by which
time it will be 99.99% charged.
(This is practical, as we can't wait for infinite time for full charge.)
7. Once the charging is complete, disconnect the battery.
8. Replace the battery terminals with a connecting wire to allow the
capacitor to discharge.
9. Again, observe and record the voltage readings using the
multimeter during discharging.
10. Plot graphs of:
Voltage vs Time (Charging)
Voltage vs Time (Discharging)
Multimeter
reading while Multimeter reading while Time
S NO. charging discharging (in V) (in S)
(in V)

1 0 6.90 0

2 2.71 6.24 20

3 4.21 5.25 40

4 5.02 4.40 60

5 5.51 3.65 80

6 5.78 3.11 100

7 6.05 2.21 140

8 6.17 1.59 180

9 6.23 0.97 240

10 6.61 0.62 300


GRAPH

Plot of voltage vs time Time on X-axis and Voltage on Y-axis

For Charging

For Discharging
PRECAUTIONS
Do all the connection carefully
Do all the connection neat and tight
Do not connect Led without resistance Keep yourself safe from high voltage
Before doing any experiment please consult to your subject teacher or lab assistance

BIBLIOGRAPHY
Wikipedia.com
Google search engine
WWW.YOUTUBE.COM
Physics NCERT book for class XII

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