EXPERIMENT 8

FORCED AND NATURAL RESPONSE OF RC CIRCUITS WITH DC

EXCITATION

The capacitor is a component which has the ability or “capacity” to store

energy in the form of an electrical charge producing a potential difference
(Static Voltage) across its plates, much like a small rechargeable battery.
In its basic form, a capacitor consists of two or more parallel conductive (metal)
plates which are not connected or touching each other, but are electrically
separated either by air or by some form of a good insulating material such as
waxed paper, mica, ceramic, plastic or some form of a liquid gel as used in
electrolytic capacitors. The insulating layer between a capacitors plates is
commonly called the Dielectric.

The conductive metal plates of a capacitor can be either square, circular or

rectangular, or they can be of a cylindrical or spherical shape with the general
shape, size and construction of a parallel plate capacitor depending on its
application and voltage rating.
When used in a direct current or DC circuit, a capacitor charges up to its supply
voltage but blocks the flow of current through it because the dielectric of a
capacitor is non-conductive and basically an insulator. However, when a
capacitor is connected to an alternating current or AC circuit, the flow of the
current appears to pass straight through the capacitor with little or no
resistance.
The permittivity of free space, ε0, is a physical constant used often
in electromagnetism. It represents the capability of a vacuum to permit electric
fields. It is also connected to the energy stored within an electric field
and capacitance. Perhaps more surprisingly, it's fundamentally related to the
speed of light.

An RC circuit is a circuit with both a resistor (R) and a capacitor (C). RC circuits
are frequent element in electronic devices. They also play an important role in
the transmission of electrical signals in nerve cells.

A capacitor can store energy and a resistor placed in series with it will control
the rate at which it charges or discharges. This produces a characteristic time
dependence that turns out to be exponential. The crucial parameter that
describes the time dependence is the "time constant" RC. The far-sighted
student might guess this just by observing that R C has the dimensions of time: (1
Ohm) x (1 Farad) = (1 second).
Examples:

1. Taking the three capacitor values from the above example, we can
calculate the total capacitance, CT for the three capacitors in series as:

2. Find the overall capacitance and the individual rms voltage drops across
the following sets of two capacitors in series when connected to a 12V AC
supply.
two capacitors each with a capacitance of 47nF

Voltage drop across the two identical 47nF capacitors,

3. Find the total capacitance for three capacitors connected in series, given
their individual capacitances are 1.000, 5.000, and 8.000 µF.

4. Find the total capacitance of the combination of capacitors shown in

Figure 3. Assume the capacitances are known to three decimal places
(C1 = 1.000 µF, C2 = 3.000 µF, and C3 = 8.000 µF).
5. Calculate the combined capacitance in micro-Farads (μF) of the
following capacitors when they are connected together in a parallel
combination:
• a) two capacitors each with a capacitance of 47nF
• b) one capacitor of 470nF connected in parallel to a capacitor of 1μF
a) Total Capacitance,
CT = C1 + C2 = 47nF + 47nF = 94nF or 0.094μF
b) Total Capacitance,
CT = C1 + C2 = 470nF + 1μF
therefore, CT = 470nF + 1000nF = 1470nF or 1.47μF

6. A and a capacitor are connected in parallel, and this pair of

capacitors is then connected in series with a capacitor, as shown in
the diagram. What is the equivalent capacitance of the whole
combination? What is the charge on the capacitor if the whole
combination is connected across the terminals of a V battery? Likewise,
what are the charges on the and capacitors?

The voltage drop across the capacitor is

Thus, the voltage drop across the and combination must

be . The charge stored on the is given by
7. Determine the time constant of an RC circuit with a resistance R=1kΩ and
a 2.2uF capacitor connected in parallel with a 30V dc source.
+

2.2uF
1k

30V
-

8. Determine the equivalent capacitance when a 9uF capacitor is placed in

parallel with series connected 6uF and 30uF capacitors.
6uF

9uF
30uF

9. Find the equivalent capacitance when series connected 5uF and 20uF
capacitors are connected in parallel with series connected 6uF and 30uF
capacitors.
5uF

6uF
20uF

30uF

10. Determine the time constant of an RC circuit with a resistance R=200Ω

and 50uF capacitor connected in series with a 20V dc source.

200
+

50uF

20V
-
References:

https://energyeducation.ca/encyclopedia/Permittivity_of_free_space
https://www.electronics-tutorials.ws/capacitor/cap_1.html
https://web.pa.msu.edu/courses/2000fall/PHY232/lectures/rccircuits/rc.html
https://www.electronics-tutorials.ws/capacitor/cap_7.html
https://www.electronics-tutorials.ws/capacitor/cap_6.html