Circuito RC

RC Circuit
Group Members: Darline Ferrer, Gustavo Nigaglioni, Nodriel Soto

University of Puerto Rico at Mayagüez Campus

Physics department, Physics Laboratory II, Section 040
March 15, 2023

Summary

Through this laboratory we set up an RC circuit in which the temporary behavior of the voltage in the capacitor
was studied. It was determined that when a capacitor is charged, the initial voltage is zero and as time passes it tends to its
maximum value, that is, the battery voltage. It was observed that the electric current begins at its maximum value and as
time passes, it tends to zero. For a discharging capacitor the voltage and electric current in the capacitor is zero. The
relaxation time is the product of the resistance in the resistor and the capacitance in the capacitor.

keywords: [Circuit, Capacitors, Voltage]

I. Introduction −t / RC
V ( t )=V 0 (e )
The RC circuit in its simplest form is composed
On the other hand, the half-life of the
of a resistor and a capacitor connected in series. This
voltage across the capacitor is the time it takes it
type of circuit has many applications; Due to its
takes the voltage across the capacitor to reach 50%
ability to filter electrical signals according to their
of its maximum value. In the ideal case, it is time
frequency, the RC circuit is useful in devices such as
corresponding to the point of intersection of the
pacemakers.
−t /RC
graphs of charge and download. This is given by the
Q ( t ) =Q0 (1−e ) following equation.
T 1/ 2=τ x ∈(2)
Where Q 0 is the initial charge, t is the time
in seconds and RC is the product of the resistance of II. Data and computations
the resistor and the capacitance of the capacitor,
better known as the time constant or relaxation time II.1 Graphs:
(t = RC). The equation for the temporal behavior of
the capacitor voltage is defined as:
−t / RC
V ( t )=V 0 (1−e )

Where V 0 is the initial voltage at volts. On

the other hand, the discharge phase of the capacitor
occurs when the switch is open, and the capacitor is
fully loaded. The equation for behavior of the charge
on the capacitor as soon as the capacitor begins to
discharge is given as:
−t / RC
Q ( t ) =Q0 e

The equation for behavior temporary

increase in voltage across the capacitor is
discharging is given as:
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Table #3: Theoretical and experimental value of the

average life of the voltage and its difference
percentage.

2.3 Data and Calculations

To find the time constant values, τ, the following

relationship with the graph parameters was used:

τ = 1/C (1)

Where, C is the parameter C on the studied graph.

Therefore,

τ = 1/0.0590 = 16.95

On the other hand, to calculate the value of RC, the

product of resistance and capacitance is used:

RC = R * C (2)

Where, R is the resistance in the circuit, in Ω

C is the capacitance in the circuit, in F

So,

RC = 14.91 x 10^3 * 1000 x 10^ (-6) = 14.91 s

These values have the following relationship:

Graph #1: Charge and discharge of a capacitor, its
parameters and its meeting point. τ = RC
2.2 Tables: Taking this into account, the percent error between
both can be calculated as follows:
τ _I(s) τ _II(s) RC(s)
16.95 17.03 14.91 % E = (|τ - RC|)/RC x 100 (3)
Table #1: Values of τ calculated and of RC
measured. Where,

%Error τI/ %Error %Error τ is one of the time constant values

τII τI/RC τII/RC
0.47 13.68 14.22 RC is the product of resistance and capacitance.
Table #2: Percentage of error between the values of
τ y RC. Then,

T1/2exp(s) T1/2teo(s) %Error % E = (|16.95 - 14.91|)/14.91 x 100

11.66 11.80 1.19
% E = 13.68
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percentage τI/ τII = 0.47% the error is so

Finally, the value of the voltage half-life can be small it is negiglable. ΤI/RC porcentage
calculated using the following equation: error was 13.68% and τII/RC was 14.22%.
The error could be due to mis use of the
T_ (1/2) = 0.693 x τII (4) experiment equipment. Overall the
percentage of error was 1.19% this shows
Where, the experiments were very presice.

τII is the time constant value of the capacitor IV. Conclusion

discharge
Concluding the experiment
Then, confirmed the equations of voltage
behavior in an RC circuit compared to the
T_ (1/2) = 0.693 x 17.03 = 11.80 theory. These equations show that the RC
factor affects both the charging and
The percent error between the calculated value and discharging rate of the capacitor. Since
the value seen on the graph can be calculated using charging and discharging are proportional
the following equation: to the RC factor means the time is equal for
both cases. The charge time is the same for
% E = (|T_ (1/2) ^G - T_ (1/2) ^C|)/(T_(1/2) ^C) x discharge time.
100 (5)
V. References
Where,
[1] López, Roura. Manual de Experimentos de
T_ (1/2) ^G is the x-coordinate where the graphs Física II Edición 1, p. 61, 63-67.
intersect.
[2] W. McAllister, La respuesta natural de un
T_ (1/2) ^C is the calculated value of the half-life. circuito RC, khan Academy. Recovered from:

Then, [3] W. McAllister, “La terminología de los

% E = (|11.66 - 11.80|)/11.80 x 100 = 1.19%
III. Analysis of Results and Discussion
Circuitos”, Khan Academy. Recovered from
https://es.khanacademy.org/science/electrica
l-engineering/ee-circuit-analysis-topic/circu
it-elements/a/ee-circuit-terminology.

To begin with the experiment, we

used T = 1/C to calculate the constant of
time obtaining the value of 16.95seconds.
Continuing the experiment, the RC value
was calculated to be 14.9seconds.
Analyzing the first graph it can be observed
that when charging the RC voltage starts at
0 and increases in an inverse exponential
function. Then we experimented with
discharging the RC circuit forming a graph
also shown in the graph. In the mentioned
graph it is visible that the voltage decreases
in a natural exponential function. The time
for discharging the circuit was
17.03seconds. Calculating the error
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