Name:

Group members:

Date:
Instructor:

Prelab: Capacitors and RC Circuit

Draw a flowchart of the procedure for this experiment. The flowchart should show the
relevant steps and precautions for the experiment. It must be concise, but it also must
be complete. Make sure that the flowchart is neat and easy to read. If necessary, you
may use additional sheets of paper for the flowchart and attach them to this sheet before
submission.

Prelab: Capacitors and RC Circuit

EXPERIMENT
Capacitors and RC Circuit

Objectives
By the end of this activity, you should be able to:
measure an experimental time constant of a resistor-capacitor circuit.
measure the potential across a capacitor as a function of time as it discharges and
as it charges.
fit a linear function to the data.
Compare the time constant extracted from the data to the value predicted from the
component values of the resistance and capacitance.

Introduction
Capacitors are devices that store electrical energy. A capacitor is characterized by the
so-called capacitance C, defined as the ratio of the charge q stored in the capacitor over
the potential difference V between the capacitor:
q
C=
(1)
V
A circuit consisting of a resistor and a capacitor in series is called an RC circuit.
In an RC circuit, there are two opposing mechanisms: the resistor is a component that
dissipates energy and the capacitor stores energy. From Eq. (1), a capacitor connected
to a power supply of voltage Vo will end up with a charge q0 = CV0 . The presence of a
resistor impedes this process at a rate of (from Ohms law) dq
= VR . The net effect is that
dt
the charge slowly approaches q0 , and thus the voltage slowly approaches V0 . The exact
description is given by


t
V (t) = V0 1 e RC
(2)
When the power supply is removed from the RC circuit, the capacitor will discharge, but
the resistor will again impede this process at the same rate as the charging process. The
net effect is that the charge slowly decreases from q0 to zero, and thus the voltage across
slowly decreases from V0 to zero. The exact description is given by
t

V (t) = V0 e RC

(3)

The quantity RC is called the time constant of the circuit. It gives us a measure of the
rate of charging and discharging of the circuit.
Capacitors and RC Circuit

Physics 72.1

1st A.Y. 2015-2016

Materials
The following materials are required for the experiment:
Multimeter with capacimeter
1000 F electrolytic capacitor
one 100 k resistor
one 10 k resistor
connecting wires with clips
banana plugs
stopwatch

Procedure
Resistance and Capacitance Measurements
1. Measure the actual resistance of the resistors
2. Measure the actual capacitance of the capacitor using the capacimeter. Record the
actual values in Table W1.

RC Circuit (Charging)
1. Set the power supply voltage to a value between 5.0 V and 6.0 V. Record this value
as V0 in Table W2.
2. Connect two banana plugs to the power supply. For convenience, use the red banana
plug in the positive terminal of the power supply, and the black banana plug in the
negative terminal. Make sure the plugs are snugly fit to the terminals of the power
supply.
3. Using alligator clips, connect one end of the 100 k resistor to the red banana plug,
and the negative terminal of the capacitor to the black banana plug (Make sure
this has been done correctly. Reversing the connections in the capacitor may cause
the capacitor to explode!). On the free ends of the resistor and capacitor, attach
alligator clips, but do not complete the circuit yet.
4. Connect the voltmeter in parallel with the capacitor. Make sure that the voltmeter
is in DC setting, and the multimeter knob is set at 20 V.
5. Turn on the power supply and ready the stopwatch. Start the stopwatch as soon
as the circuit is closed by placing the free ends of the alligator clips in contact.
Capacitors and RC Circuit

1st A.Y. 2015-2016

Physics 72.1

6. While the stopwatch is running, observe the increase in the voltage reading across
the capacitor. Record the voltage across the capacitor every 5.0 seconds in Table
W2. Do not stop the stopwatch in the duration of data collection.
7. If, somehow, a mistake has been incurred during measurement and it has been
decided that a new set of data will be recorded, turn off the power supply and short
the leads of the capacitor using alligator clips. Repeat step 5 afterwards.
8. Perform data collection for at least 120 seconds.


9. Once data collection has been completed, generate a plot of ln 1 VV0 versus time.
Perform a linear fit to the ln(1 V/V0) versus time data. Display the plot, along
with the equation of the best fit line under the heading FIGURES. From the best
fit line, identify the time constant. Compare with the theoretical time constant.
10. Replace the 100 k resistor with a 10 k resistor. Repeat steps 2-6, this time without recording the voltage readings. Observe the difference in the rate of charging.
RC Circuit (Discharging)
1. Connect one lead of the resistor to one lead of the capacitor using an alligator
clip. Likewise, connect the remaining free leads of both components using another
alligator clip.
2. Using alligator clips and banana plugs connect the negative terminal of the multimeter to the negative terminal of the capacitor. Also, connect the positive terminal
of the multimeter to the positive terminal of the capacitor.
3. Make sure that the voltmeter is in DC setting, and the multimeter knob is set at
20 V.
4. Make sure that the power supply is off. Using alligator clips and banana plugs,
connect the positive terminal of the power supply to the positive terminal of the
capacitor. Likewise, connect the negative terminal of the power supply to the
negative terminal of the capacitor.
5. Set the power supply voltage to a value between 5.0 V and 6.0 V. Turn on the
power supply. Notice that the multimeter reading has gone up from zero. Record
this value as V0 in Table W3.
6. Ready the stopwatch. As soon as you pull the banana plug from the positive/negative
terminal of the power supply, start the stopwatch.
7. While the stopwatch is running, observe the decrease in the voltage reading across
the capacitor. Record the voltage across the capacitor every 5.0 seconds in Table
W3. Do not stop the stopwatch in the duration of data collection.
8. If, somehow, a mistake has been incurred during measurement and it has been
decided that a new set of data will be recorded, reconnect the pulled banana plug
in step 6 to the power supply and repeat steps 1 -9.
9. Perform data collection for at least 120 seconds.
Capacitors and RC Circuit

Physics 72.1

1st A.Y. 2015-2016

10. Once data collection has beencompleted,

generate a plot of ln(V/V0) versus time.

V
Perform a linear fit in the ln V0 versus time data. Display the plot, along with
the equation of the best fit line, under the heading FIGURES. From the best fit
line, identify the time constant. Compare with the theoretical time constant.
11. Replace the 100 k resistor with a 10 k resistor. Repeat steps 2-9, this time without recording the voltage readings. Observe the difference in the rate of discharging.

Capacitors and RC Circuit

1st A.Y. 2015-2016

Physics 72.1
Name:
Group members:

Date:
Instructor:

Data Sheet

Table W1: Resistance and Capacitance Values

Labelled Value Measured Value
Resistor 1
Resistor 2
Capacitor 1

Table W2: Voltage versus time data for the RC charging mode
Voltage across the power supply (V0 ):
Voltage across
Voltage across
Time (s)
Time (s)
capacitor (s)
capacitor (s)

FIGURES (attach the appropriate plots for the charging mode):

Charging

Theoretical time constant:

Experimental time constant:

Capacitors and RC Circuit

Physics 72.1

1st A.Y. 2015-2016

Table W3: Voltage versus time data for the RC discharging mode
Voltage across the power supply (V0 ):
Voltage across
Voltage across
Time (s)
Time (s)
capacitor (s)
capacitor (s)

FIGURES (attach the appropriate plots for the discharging mode):

Discharging

Theoretical time constant:

Experimental time constant:

Questions
1. What is the effect of reducing the resistance of the resistor on the way the capacitor
charged/discharged?

Capacitors and RC Circuit

Physics 72.1

1st A.Y. 2015-2016

2. In investigating
the charging mode of the RC circuit, why is it convenient to plot

V
ln 1 V0 versus time instead of plotting V versus time? What is the significance
of the slope of the plot?

3. In investigating
the discharging mode of the RC circuit, why is it convenient to plot

ln VV0 versus time instead of plotting V versus time? What is the significance of
the slope of the plot?

4. In investigating the charging/discharging mode of the RC circuit, do you think

the internal resistance of the multimeter (in voltage setting) has an effect in the
charging/discharging behavior of the capacitor?

Capacitors and RC Circuit