Topic9 RC,RLandLC

Circuits
LEARNING OUTCOMES
By the end of this topic, you should be able to: 1. Apply Kirchoffs Law to analyse the behaviour of the RC and RL circuits quantitatively; 2. Solve related problems in RC and RL circuits; 3. Explain what is meant by the time-constant; and 4. Explain qualitatively how electrical oscillations are generated across an LC circuit.

INTRODUCTION

In Topic 5, we analysed direct current circuits in which the current is constant. However, in direct current circuits containing capacitors, inductors or both, the current is always in the same direction, but its value may vary with time. In this topic, we will discuss time-varying currents during the charging and discharging of a capacitor in RC, RL and LC circuits.

9.1

RC CIRCUIT

In Topic 3, we covered the basic concepts of a capacitor. In this section, we will discuss the charging and discharging of a capacitor in an RC circuit. An RC circuit consists of a battery (of emf E) connected in series with a capacitor C and a resistor R through a switch S. See Figure 9.1

Figure 9.1: RC circuit

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9.2

CHARGING A CAPACITOR

Initially there is no charge on the capacitor. To charge the capacitor, we close the switch to position a. Charges begin to flow between the capacitor plates and therefore current exists in the circuit until the capacitor is fully charged. We wish to investigate how the charge, q , the potential difference across the capacitor, vC , and the current, i , in the circuit vary with time. By applying Kirchoffs loop rule, we obtain:

E iR

q =0 C

(9.1)

Eq. 9.1 above has two variables i and q which are related by Equation 9.1

i=

dq dt

Substituting this for i in Equation 9.1 and rearranging gives

dq E q = dt R RC

(9.2)

This is a differential equation that describes how the charge q on the capacitor varies with time t. To solve the equation, we first rearrange the equation by placing terms involving q on one side and those involving t on the other side: dq 1 = dt q CE RC (9.2a)

Next we integrate both sides of the equation from the moment the switch is closed at t = 0 to an arbitrary time t some instant later. Remember that q = 0 at t = 0 and let the charge equal q at time t.

dq 1 = dt q CE RC 0

t q CE ln = RC CE t q CE log e = RC CE

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From the last equation, the amount of charge on the plate at time t is

q = CE 1 e t RC = qo 1 e t RC

(9.3)

where the exponent e has the value of 2.718, and q0 = CE is the maximum charge on the capacitor. Figure 9.2 shows the graph of this expression, which indicates that the charge is q = 0 when t = 0 and increases gradually toward the equilibrium value of q o = CE as t approaches infinity. The quantity RC that appears in the exponential in Equation 9.3 is known as the time constant of the RC circuit.

Figure 9.2: The variation of charge q with time t during the charging process.

= RC
(9.4) The time constant is measured in seconds and represents the time taken for the capacitor to accumulate 63.2% of its equilibrium value qo . If large, it takes a long time for the capacitor to reach the equilibrium value. If is small, the capacitor reaches the equilibrium value rapidly. The potential difference across the capacitor vC is given by

vC =

qo 1 et C

= E 1 et

(9.5)

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The current in the circuit can be obtained by differentiating Equation 9.3 with respect to time: q dq d = q0 e t RC = 0 e t RC = i0 e t RC (9.6) i= dt dt RC where i0 =

E is the maximum value of the current at t =0. The value of the R current decays to zero as t approaches infinity.

Figure 9.3: The variation of the current with time during the charging process

The current is a maximum at the instant the switch is closed to a and decreases exponentially with time. The time taken for the current to decay to 37% of its maximum value is = RC . An example of the application of RC circuit is the electronic flash for a camera. The electronic flash produces flash by using the energy stored in a capacitor. Between flashes, the capacitor recharges through a resistor. Example 9.1 From Equation 9.3, show that the amount of charge in one time constant is 63.2% and in two time constants is 86.5% of the equilibrium value. Solution: The time constant is = RC ; In one time constant, t = . Substitute t = into Equation 9.3.

q = qo (1 e ) = qo (1 e1 ) = 0.63qo = 63.2% of the equilibrium value.

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In two time constants, t = 2 . Substitute t = into Equation 9.3

q = qo (1 e2t ) = qo (1 e2 ) = 0.865qo = 86.5% of the equilibrium value.

To test your understanding, do the following exercise.

EXERCISE 9.1
The RC circuit in Figure 9.1 is constructed with a 1 M resistor, a 5 F capacitor and a battery with emf of 10 V. Before the switch is closed to a at time t = 0 , the capacitor is uncharged. (a) (b) (c) What is the amount of charge stored in the capacitor when it is fully charged? What is the initial current flow? What are the potential differences across R and C after the switch is open for a long time?

ACTIVITY 9.1
1. Try the interactive simulation found in the web page below. Enter different values for the resistor (1 < R < 10) and capacitor (10 f < C < 50 f), and from the graph plotted, watch how they affect the charging of the capacitor. http://webphysics.davidson.edu/physlet_resources/gustavus_physlets/r ccircuit.html

9.3

DISCHARGING A CAPACITOR

The fully-charged capacitor in Figure 9.1 can be discharged through the resistor R by throwing switch S from a to b. We wish to investigate how the charge, q , the potential difference across the capacitor, vC , and the current, i , in the circuit vary with time. Let the charge on the capacitor be equal to q0 at t = 0.

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By applying Kirchoffs loop rule, we obtain:

iR +

q =0 C dq , then: dt

(9.7)

If i is replaced by dq q + =0 dt C dq dt = q RC R

(9.8)

Integrating this equation gives:

q0

dq 1 = dt q RC 0 t = RC (9.9)

q ln q 0

q = q0 e t RC

If the emf is suddenly removed from the circuit, the charge does not immediately fall to zero but approaches zero in an exponential fashion. The time constant describes how rapidly the charge decays. The charge approaches its equilibrium value rapidly when the time constant is small and slowly when the time constant is large. The capacitor voltage is given by:

vC =

q C q = o e t RC C = E e t RC

(9.10)

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The discharge current is given by

i=

dq t RC = Ie dt

(9.11)

The negative sign means the direction of the current is reversed.

Figure 9.5: The variation of the current with time during the discharging process

Example 6.2
An RC circuit shown in Figure 9.1 is constructed with a 5 M resistor, a 2 F capacitor and a battery with emf 24 V. Suppose that the capacitor is fully charged to 48 C before the switch is closed to b at time t = 0 . (a) (b) (c) After how many seconds will the charge be equal to 10 C? What is the current at this time? What is the potential difference at this time?

Solution: R=5 M, C =2 F, E = 24 V, qo = 48 C ,q = 10 C RC = 10 s (a) From Equation 9.9, q = qo e t RC t q Taking natural logs on both sides: = Ln RC qo

10 t = 5 106 2 106 ln = 15.7 s 48

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(b)

The current is found from Equation 9.11 i = E t RC ( 24 ) 15.7 10 e e = = 9.99 107 A 6 R ( 5 10 )

(c)

The potential difference is given by Equation 9.10 vC = E e t RC = ( 24 )e 15.7 10 = 4.99V

EXERCISE 9.2
1. A 100 F capacitor is discharged through a 10 k, resistor. What is the ratio of the charge on the capacitor after 2s to the initial charge on the capacitor? 2. In an RC discharge circuit, the current drops to 10 % of the initial value in 5s. How long does it take to drop to 50% of the initial value? 3. A 2.2 F capacitor is initially charged to a 10 V battery. It is then disconnected from the battery and allowed to discharge through a 5 k resistor. Determine the capacitor voltage after 6 ms.

The URL given below has a Java applet that plots graphs of Current vs Time, and Voltage vs Time

during the charging and discharging of a capacitor. http://webphysics.davidson.edu/physlet_resources/bu_semester2/c11_rc.html A detailed explanation of the charging and discharging process is given.

9.4

RL CIRCUIT

What happens when a changing emf is applied to the RL circuit shown in Figure 9.9? A changing emf is generated by changing the position of switch S from a to b and vice-versa.

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Figure 9.9: RL circuit

When the switch is closed on a, the current in the resistor starts to rise. If the E inductor were not present the current would rise rapidly to a steady value . R di Because of the inductor, a self-induced back emf vL = L appears across the dt inductor. The self-induced emf opposes the rise of current, meaning that that its polarity opposes the battery emf. The voltage loop rule is:

di =0 dt di iR + L = E dt E iR L
The solution to this equation is:

(9.12)

i=

E 1 e Rt L R E = 1 e t = i0 1 e t R

(9.13)

where i0 =

E is the maximum current. So if the switch is closed long enough, the R current will reach the maximum value.

Figure 9.10: The variation of the current with time for the RL circuit

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The inductive time-constant is given by:

L R

(9.14)

The potential difference across inductor vL is:

vL = E iR =E E 1 e t ) R ( R
(9.15)

= Ee t
Now suppose the switch is thrown to b. The current cannot drop to zero immediately, but will decay to zero over time. The differential equation that governs the decaying current is given by:

i=

E t e = i0 e t R

(9.16)

Figure 9.11: Plot of the decaying current versus time in an RL circuit

EXERCISE 9.3
1. When the switch is turned to position a, what is the final current flow in the circuit of Figure 9.9 if R = 6 , = 12 V, L = 0.03H ? 2. What is the current after 2ms?

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9.5

LC CIRCUIT

What happens when we apply a changing emf to an LC circuit shown in Figure 9.12?

Figure 9.12: An LC circuit

A changing emf can be generated by changing the position of switch S from a to b. The capacitor begins to charge itself. When it is fully charged, the current in the circuit is zero. We can discharge the capacitor by throwing the switch S back to position b. Now the capacitor starts to discharge through the inductor L. However, the capacitor does not discharge instantaneously. The current starts at zero and starts to buildup. By Lenz law the build up in the current induces an emf across the inductor that opposes the increase in the current, see Figure 9.13(a). When the current reaches its maximum value I m , the capacitor is completely discharged and the induced emf across the inductor is zero. During the discharge of the capacitor, (Figure 9.13(a) and (b)), the increasing current in the inductor establishes a magnetic field around the inductor. The energy that was initially stored in the electric field of the capacitor is now stored in the magnetic field of the inductor. The flow of current continues in the same direction but with a decreasing value, Figure 9.13(c). The flow of current causes the capacitor to be charged again but with opposite polarity. Finally, when the current decreases to zero, the capacitor becomes fully charged, but with opposite polarity, Figure 9.13(d). Now all the energy that was stored by the inductor is stored in the electric field across the capacitor.

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The process now repeats in the opposite direction, Figure 9.13(e). The capacitor is again discharges and produces a current in the opposite direction. The energy oscillates back and forth between the electric field of the capacitor and the magnetic field of the inductor indefinitely at a certain frequency. This process is called electromagnetic oscillation.

Figure 9.13(a)

(a)

T , the current is increasing. As a 4 result v L opposes the current from increasing.

During the capacitor discharge at 0 < t <

Figure 9.13(b)

(b)

T . The current is now a 4 maximum, so vL = 0 .All the energy is now stored in the magnetic field of the inductor.
Capacitor is completely discharged at t =

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Figure 9.13(c)

(c)

Capacitor is being charged again but in the opposite direction at Current is decreasing, so vL opposes the current from decreasing.

T T <t< . 4 2

Figure 9.13(d)

(d)

T . The current is 2 now zero, so vL = 0 .All the energy now is stored in the electric field of the capacitor.

Capacitor is fully charged with opposite polarity at t =

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Figure 9.13(e)

(e)

T 3T <t< . The 2 2 current is increasing until it reaches the maximum value. vL opposes the current from increasing.
Capacitor is discharging in the opposite direction at

A circuit containing an inductor and a capacitor generates oscillating currents and charges. This is in sharp contrast to the exponential decay and exponential growth that we have seen with both RC and RL circuits.

When a capacitor is charged with a battery through a resistance, the charge and the current in the circuit vary with time according to the expressions:

q = qo 1 e t RC
i = i0 e

t RC

When a capacitor is discharged through a resistance , the charge and the current in the circuit vary with time according to the expressions: q = q0 e t RC

i = i0 e t RC The time constant is measured in seconds and represents the time taken for the capacitor to accumulate 63.2% of its equilibrium value qo
The energy in an LC circuit oscillates back and forth between the electric field of the capacitor and the magnetic field of the inductor indefinitely at a certain frequency. This process is called an electromagnetic oscillation.

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Capacitor LC circuit

RC circuit RL circuit

1.

A 1 F capacitor is charged using a 1 V battery. The charged capacitor is then discharged through a 10 k resistor. (a) (b) Calculate the time constant of the circuit. Find the time taken for the charge on the capacitor to decrease to 10% of its initial value

2.

Sketch graphs to show how (a) (i) (ii) (b) The p.d across the resistor changes with time The p.d across the capacitor changes with time during an RC charging process.

In an RC charging circuit, R =1 M , C = 5 F and E = 10V. Find the time taken for the capacitor to be 75% charged.

1. 2.

An RC circuit with C = 5 F and an RL circuit with L =10 H have the same resistance and time constant. Find their values The current in an RL circuit builds up to 40% of its maximum value in 10s. Find the inductive time constant.