Dang Nguyen, 1

Capacitor in Circuits

Experiment [EM-8656]

by

Dang Nguyen

Submitted to

Professor John Barry

Physics Lab Report [2126]

Southwest College
Houston Community College System

Spring 2021
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Capacitor in Circuits

Abstract

This assignment is to determine how the capacitor behaves in RC circuits and to study the

combine capacitor in circuits. We use different resistor for the experiment and different resistor

had their different time to charge and discharge but was long enough even with small farad

capacitors. From this experiment we were able to determine that even if we do in parallel or

series circuits. There will be no difference on the time taken to charge or discharge because of

the quality of capacitors and resistors.

Comments: A capacitor, also known as a condenser, is one of the basic components required for

building electronic circuits. The design of a circuit is not complete, or it will not function

properly without basic components like resistors, inductors, diodes, transistors, etc. The main

function of capacitors is to store electrostatic energy in an electric field, and give this energy to

the circuit, when necessary. They allow the AC to pass but block the flow of DC to avoid a

hazardous breakdown of the circuit.

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Capacitor in Circuits

Introduction:

A capacitor in its most primitive form consists of two conductive plates separated by a

dielectric medium. The term dielectric is just a fancy word for an insulator that can be polarized,

i.e. form negative and positive charges on opposite faces. When voltage is applied across these

two plates, current flows through the conductive plates. One side gets positively charged (lack of

electrons) and the other side gets negatively charged (excess electrons). We’re all familiar with

the fact that unlike charges attract, so since the plates are oppositely charged, the charges on the

plates attract.

Theory:

In this experiment, we used the Pasco apparatus, so the black background leads the

multimeter which was attached with the negative side of battery. Then the two ends positive and

negative side of the multimeter are attached with the capacitor to discharge it to zero. Then the

switch was closed by holding down and then the value of the voltage in the multimeter is

recorded. Then, the switch was released, and the voltage decreasing was observed. To drain back

the charge, the wire was connected across the resistor and the voltage reading was recorded. The

same process was repeated with an interval of time.

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Data / Results:

The data table without the time interval:

Trial Resistance Capacitance tC tD

(KΩ) (µF) (sec) (sec)

1 100 100 15.0 13
2 100 100 15.03 13.7
3 100 100 14.31 12.5
4 100 330 105 38
5 100 330 90 30.3
6 100 330 70 30.8
7 220 100 31 28.1
8 220 100 31.5 28.2
9 220 100 33.2 27.4

The data table with time interval in a series and parallel circuits:

R = 0.985 C 1=100 µF C 2=330 µF

Type of circuit tC tD

(sec) (sec)
Series 10 11.6
parallel 50 43.2

Sample calculation:

¿
%error t C = ¿ 15.03−15∨ 15.03 ∗100=0.2 % ¿

¿
%error t D = ¿ 13.7−13∨ 13.7 ∗100=5.11 % ¿

(15.0+15.03+14.31)
t C average of 100KΩ resistance and 100µF capacitance = =14.78 sec
3

(13+13.7+ 12.5)
t D average of 100KΩ resistance and 100µF capacitance = =13.67 sec
3
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Conclusion:

This assignment is to determine how the capacitor behaves in RC circuits and to study the

combine capacitor in circuits. We use different resistor for the experiment and different resistor

had their different time to charge and discharge but was long enough even with small farad

capacitors. From this experiment we were able to determine that even if we do in parallel or

series circuits. There will be no difference on the time taken to charge or discharge because of

the quality of capacitors and resistors.

Questions:

1. What is the effect on charging and discharging times if the capacitance is increased?

What mathematical relationship exists between your times and the capacitance?

Charging and discharging depend on time constant Ʈ=RC. Ʈ is time taken by capacitor. If

capacitance is increase, so time will increase. So, charging and discharging will take more value

then before to charge and discharge up to same voltage.

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2. What is the effect on charging and discharging times if the resistance of the circuit is

increased? What mathematical relationship exists between your times and the resistance?

Ʈ = RC. If resistance (R) increased, charging time (Ʈ) increased.

3. What is the effect on the total capacitance of capacitors are combined in series? What If

they are combined in parallel?

C 1 C 2 100∗330
Series C S= = =76.74 µF
C 1 +C 2 100+330

Parallel C P =C1 + C2=100+ 330=430 µF

Capacitance decrease when capacitors are joined in series and increase when capacitors are

joined in parallel.