CHARGING & DISCHARGING OF CAPACITOR

'MARS' made Charging & Discharging of capacitor has been designed to note the charge
& discharge time of capacitor for different sets of resistances & capacitors.

The instrument comprises of the following built in parts:-

1. Variable DC power supply of 0-15V available at sockets provided on front panel.

2. Two DPM's are provided on front panel to note down voltage & current during
charging & discharging.

3. Four sets of resistance & capacitor connected inside & connected brought out at
terminals provided on the front panel.

4. One charging and discharging switch is provided on front panel to charge &
discharge the capacitor respectively

THEORY

A capacitor is also called a condenser. It is a device which is designed for the storage of
charge. It consists of two metallic plates separated by an insulating material called the
dielectric. It has been observed experimentally that the quantity of charge stored in a
capacitor is directly proportional to the potential difference applied across it plates i.e.

Where Q is the charge stored on the plates of a capacitor and v is the potential difference
applied.

Or =

Where C is the constant of proportionately and is called the capacity or capacitance of the
condenser.

Therefor

= ⁄

Capacity of a condenser is defined as the amount of charge required to establish a unit

potential difference between the plates. S.I. Unit of capacitance is farad, abbreviated as 'F'.

A capacitor does not allow the passage of direct current through it. If a DC source of e.m.f
is applied across its plates, it takes up a small charge and a displacement current is set up
in the dielectric between the plates. The plates acquire more and more charge from the
battery. Further addition of more charge from the battery on the plates is opposed because
a back e.m.f. is set up by the condenser during the process of charging. At the same time
charge given by battery simply keeps on getting stored on the plates of the capacitor but
does not flow through the dielectric. The current which flows through the dielectric of the
capacitor is only the displacement current. The flow of charge through the capacitor with a
resistance in its series constitutes a varying current. The charging of capacitor is given by
the equation

⁄
= 1− (i)

Where Q is the charge on plates at a time t

The discharging is given by the relation

⁄
= (ii)

The above two equations are exponential in character.

TIME CONSTANT:-

At the time of discharging, at time

t = RC, the ratio of ⁄ becomes ⁄ = 1⁄

This shows that RC is the time during which the charge on the condenser drops to 1/e of
the initial charge.

The product RC is called the time constant of the circuit.

VOLTAGE ACROSS THE CAPACITOR:-

During Charging:- Voltage across a capacitor from definition is given as

V = Q/C

Therefore during charging from equation (i)

= (1 − )

Or = 1− (iii)

During discharging:- In a similar manner as equation(iii) during discharging

= . (iv)
Current through a condenser during charging is given by the relation

= (v)

And during the process of discharging, it is given by the relation

=− (vi)

It is clear from the equations (v) & (vi) that the current in the two cases is in the opposite
directions. the maximum current during the charging and discharging process is given by

Where is the potential difference across the capacitor when it is fully charged.

Time (µSec) Current (µA)

Table 1
 PROCEDURE

1. Connect the circuit as shown in the Figure 1.

2. Select one pair of resistance and capacitor also adjusts voltage for 8VDC using
variable pot. Through charging and discharging kit toward charging position.
3. Switch ON the instrument Current Meter will show some reading in positive.
Note down the maximum current and time it takes to come down to almost near
to zero i.e. charging time.
4. Now through switch towards discharging DPM’s will show reading in the
negative value. Note down the current and time it takes to come almost near to
zero i.e. discharging time.
5. Repeat the steps 3-4 for 10V,12V & 15V respectively.
6. Repeat the steps 3-5 for different values of resistance and capacitors.
7. Note down the result in Table no.1 and compare the graph from Graph no.1

EXPERIMENT # 2

Time (µSec) Voltage (V)

Table 2

1. Connect the circuit as shown in the Figure 1.

2. Select one pair of resistance & capacitor also adjusts voltage for 8VDC using
band switch through charging and discharging switch toward charging
position.
3. Switch ON the instrument, Voltmeter will show some reading in positive
increasing values. Note down the maximum voltage and time it takes to
come down to almost near to maximum i.e. charging time.
4. Now through switch towards discharging DPM’s will show readings in the
decreasing order. Note down the time it takes to come almost near to zero i.e.
discharging time.
5. Repeat the steps 3-4 for 10V,12V&15V respectively.
6. Repeat the steps 3-5 for different values of resistances and capacitors
7. Note down the result in Table no.2 and compare the graph from Graph no.2