April 15, 2018

Jackson Tucker, Ross Levine

DC Transient Response - RC Circuit &

DC Steady-State - RLC Circuit

EE 251-04

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Procedure 1: RC Transient Response

• Use impedance bridge set at 100 Hz to measure capacitor value and use ohmmeter to measure resistor value used to construct circuit of Fig.
5-5 and record in Table 5-1.
• Set function generator (FG) to high-Z output:
To set Agilent 33120A function generator to high-Z output:
o Press shift-menu, right arrow to the SYS menu, down arrow to the OUTPUT TERM menu, down arrow to ‘50 ohms,’ right
arrow to select Hi Z, enter.
To set Agilent 33220A function generator to high-Z output:
o Press Utility, then choose Output Setup, select High Z.
• Set function generator to a square wave output with a minimum value of 0 V and a maximum value of 4 V (amplitude = 4Vpp with DC
offset = 2V). Set frequency of square wave to 100Hz and use a duty cycle of 50%. o Duty cycle refers to the amount of time a
square wave is equal to its largest amplitude (4V in this case) compared to its period.
• Connect channel 1 scope probe between node A and ground (black clip to ground).
• Connect channel 2 scope probe between node B and ground (black clip to ground).
• NOTE: Probe adjust needs to be set to 10:1!

• To check probe adjust: Press channel button, channel menu appears at bottom of scope screen and then press Probe soft key. Probe ratio
will appear at bottom of screen to the right of Units.

• To adjust probe adjust: Turn knob located directly below time per division knob.

• Set both scope channels to DC coupling (on channel menu) and set both channel vertical sensitivity to 1V/div.
• Set horizontal sensitivity to 1millisec/division.
• Set trigger settings as follows: o Press Mode Coupling button and select auto.
o Press Trigger button and choose Source 1 and rising edge .
o Note: May need to adjust Trigger Level knob to stabilize displayed signal. Adjust Trigger Level until horizontal line with T
at far left is within the amplitude of source square-wave signal. If signal is still unstable, consult instructor.
• Use cursors to determine time constant of Vc during charging, may need to change horizontal sensitivity for accuracy, and record in Table
5-1.
• Capture scope display of Vc using Keysight BenchVue desktop icon (ask instructor for steps after double-clicking icon).
• Observe the effect on the charge curve as R is changed to 30KΩ and then changed to 50KΩ. o Capture scope displays for both above R
values to help answer a post-lab question.
• Set R back to 40KΩ and change square wave to a minimum value of 0 V and a maximum value of 5 V.
o Observe effect this has on charge curve and capture to help answer a post-lab question.
• Change Source 1 trigger setting to falling edge and determine time constant of Vc during discharging and record in Table 5-1.
• Capture scope display of Vc.
• Observe the effect on the discharge curve as R is changed to 30KΩ and then changed to 50KΩ.
o Capture scope displays for both R values to answer a post-lab question.
• Set R back to 40KΩ and change square wave to a minimum value of 0 V and a maximum value of 5 V.
o Observe effect on discharge curve and capture to answer a post-lab question.
• Calculate percent error between theoretical (done in prelab #2 & #3) and experimental charging and discharging time constants. Record in
Table 5-1.

Set to Hi Z

Fig. 5-5 RC Transient Circuit

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 R(40KΩ) (Ω) C(0.02µF) (µF)
Measured 39.83 .0215
Charging (µs) Discharging (µs)
Measured Time
1000 1000
Constant
Calculated Time
856.34 856.34
Constant
Percent Error (%) 16.7 16.7
Table 5-1 R & C Measured Values / RC Transient Time Constant Measurements & Calculations

Procedure 2: Capacitors & Inductors at DC Steady-state

• Measure all resistors (Ω) used to construct the circuit of Fig. 5-6 and record in Table 5-2a.
• Calculate and record REQ at nodes a-b using ideal DC equivalents for inductors (short) and capacitors (open).
• Construct the circuit of Fig. 5-6, except for the voltage source (power supply).
• Measure the open circuit resistance across terminals a-b. This yields the equivalent resistance REQ.

+
-
b

Fig. 5-6 Capacitors & Inductors at DC steady-state Circuit

Resistances R1 (25Ω) (Ω) R2 (10Ω) (Ω) R3 (130Ω) (Ω) REQ = Rab (Ω)
128.66 24.888 10.008 128.66 34.85
Calculated Rab = 34.896 Percent Error Rab = .1318 %
Table 5-2a DC Inductor and Capacitor Circuit: Resistance Measurements
• Calculate the voltage across each resistor using ideal DC equivalents for inductors (short)
and capacitors (open). Record calculated voltages in Table 5-2b
• Connect the 10V power supply (0.5A current limit) and measure the voltages across each
resistor. Record measured voltages in Table 5-2b.
• Calculate percent error between measured and calculated voltages and record in Table 5-2b.

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 R1 (25Ω) R2 (10Ω) R3 (130Ω)
Measured Voltage (V) 1.666 .666 .003
Calculated Voltage (V) 7.141 2.872 0
Percent Error (%) 76.67 76.8 inf
Table 5-2b DC Inductor and Capacitor Circuit: Voltage Measurements and Calculations
Discussion

1) In Procedure 1, for all practical purposes, how long (in ms) does it take for the capacitor to
fully discharge? Use measured values.
a) 5 ms
2) Describe the effect changing R in procedure 1 had on charging and discharging curves.
a) In procedure 1, increasing the Resistance made the waves more and more flat while
decreasing the resistance made the waves more and more square shaped.
3) For procedure 1, describe the effect changing square wave amplitude from 0V to 5V had on
charging and discharging curves.
a) Increasing the voltage increased the amplitude of the curve.
4) In Procedure 1 when R = 40KΩ and the square wave has minimum value 0V and maximum
value 5V, if the frequency of the square wave is increased to 200 Hz, will the capacitor
charge fully to 5V? Why or why not?
a) No, it won’t. The capacitor would not have enough time to reach steady state. In other
words, if the voltage begins decreasing while the capacitor is still transient, then the
capacitor will not have enough time to fully charge.
5) In Procedure 2, what is the primary reason for differences between measured and calculated
values of resistor voltages? Hint: non-ideal storage element.
a) The Inductor likely had a higher resistance than zero and the capacitor definitely had
a lower resistance than infinity.

Jackson's Conclusion:
During this experiment we investigated DC transient response of a RC circuit and analyzed a
RLC circuit at steady state DC. In this experiment we set up a RC circuit consisting of one
resistor and one capacitor. We then used two scope probes to measure the discharging and
charging plots for the capacitor. We then set up an RLC circuit consisting of three resistors,
one capacitor, and one inductor. We then measured the voltage drop across each resistor
when the circuit was at steady state DC voltage. The main difficulty with this experiment was
setting up the scope probes in the first circuit in order to get an accurate reading, it was hard
to attach the probes to the banana leads. Another difficulty was that the inductor was not a
perfect inductor and had an internal resistance that messed with our resistor voltage drop
readings in the second circuit.

Ross' Conclusion:
In this experiment we got a chance to experiment with RC circuits and we were introduced to
the use on an inductor in a DC circuit. We had a chance to measure the charging and
discharging curves of a capacitor in an RC circuit and we were able to find the effect of
changing the voltage of the source on the charging and discharging curve. We also
experimented with an RLC circuit in order to get a reading of the voltage drop across it's
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resistors. What was interesting about this is that for the first time, our real components
yielded a significantly different result than our ideal model. This is because we used an
inductor which is essentially a long coil of wire, which results in a sizable resistance. Our
bigest problem in this lab was trying to figure out how to use the new tools such as the
oscilloscope and the scope probes.

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