Experiment: Capacitors in DC circuits II Page 1 of 4

Experiment: Capacitors in DC circuits II

The following experiment investigates the storage properties of a capacitor. To do this the
discharging process of the capacitor is studied.

Set up the experiment circuit shown below on experiment card SO4203-6A:

The following animation shows the correct wiring.

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Open the DC Source from the menu under Instruments | Voltage Sources | DC Source or by
clicking on the image below and make the settings as shown in the table below. Switch the
instrument on by activating the POWER button.

DC Source settings

Range: 10 V

Output
10 V
voltage:

Open Voltmeter A from the menu under Instruments | Measuring Devices | Voltmeter A or by
clicking on the image below and make the settings as shown in the table. It is recommended that
the voltmeter be switched to the analog dial setting.

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Voltmeter A settings

Measurement
20 V DC
range:

Operating mode: AV

By disconnecting the lead from socket X43, disconnect the capacitor from the DC source and
observe the capacitor voltage over a prolonged period of time.

What happens to the capacitor voltage?

It remains constant.
It increases.
Correct
It gradually falls to 0 V.
First it increases and then it falls to 0 V.

How do you explain this response?

After disconnecting the voltage source the capacitor acts

like an ohmic resistor.
The capacitor discharges across the internal resistance of
the measurement instrument. Correct

The capacitor maintains its voltage as discharge is

blocked.

Now reconnect the DC source to charge the capacitor up again. To investigate the effect of the
input resistance of the measurement circuit (ANALOG IN), now connect the terminal to socket
A+. Now disconnect the cable to socket X43 again. Then connect A+ always only very briefly to
check the capacitor voltage and measure the voltage over longer time intervals.

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What can be observed in contrast to continuous measurement?

There is no difference to continuous measurement.

The voltage now drops off more rapidly.
Correct
The voltage now drops off more slowly.
The voltage now remains constant.

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