Physics > Lab Report > Northeastern UniversityPHYS 1152Experiment 18 RC Circuits ( written 2019 ) (All)

Northeastern UniversityPHYS 1152Experiment 18 RC Circuits ( written 2019 )

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Report for Experiment #18 RC Circuits Madeline Gershman Lab Partner: Daniel Potapov TA: Rebecca Harman February 19th, 2019 Abstract In this lab, the charging and discharging of a capacitor is a ... nalyzed in an RC circuit; the capacitor is analyzed in circuits in parallel and series. The first investigation studies the charging of a capacitor; the time constant was derived to be 125 seconds. The second investigation studies the discharging of capacitors; the time constant was derived to be133.3 seconds. The third investigation studies the differences in capacitors between parallel and series circuits. The parallel circuit found a time constant of 125 seconds.Introduction When capacitors are added to resistor circuits, they change the voltage and current of the circuit as time passes. Capacitors act as storage containers for charge; as time passes, the capacitor stores more and more charge, which in turn alters the circuit attached to it. The charge is found using Q=CV The C in this equation represents the capacitance, or how much charge a capacitor can hold at a certain voltage. Depending on the configuration of the circuit, parallel or series, capacitors can act different. When the circuit is closed, the capacitor begins to collect charge as current flows through; once a resistor is connected across the terminal, the capacitor will begin to discharge. The rate at which this charge accumulates because of the current can be represented by I=dQ dt =C dV dT As the name indicates, RC circuits include both capacitors and resistors, as well as a power source and a switch; this relationship between the components of an RC circuit can be represented by Kirchhoff’s loop rule Q (t)=Cε(1−e −t RC) The derivative of this equation helps us to determine the current flowing through the circuit, [Show More]

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