Lecture

Charging Capacitors: Time-Dependent Current and Circuits Analysis

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In course

PHYS-201(d): General physics : electromagnetism

The topics covered by the course are concepts of electromagnetism, properties of waves, and fluid mechanics. ...

Description

This lecture explores the process of charging capacitors using experiments with cylindrical capacitors and batteries, analyzing circuits with capacitors in parallel and series, and deriving differential equations to understand the time-dependent current. The instructor demonstrates how the energy stored in capacitors affects the circuit's behavior, introduces the concept of time constant tau as the product of resistance and capacitance, and explains the exponential charging and discharging behavior of capacitors. By examining the total capacitance in parallel and series circuits, students learn how to calculate the overall capacitance and understand the relationship between capacitors, resistors, and time constants.

Instructor

Dirk Grundler

Official source

Ontological neighbourhood

Physics

Electromagnetism: Electrical networks, Electrostatics

Related concepts (31)

Network analysis (electrical circuits)

In electrical engineering and electronics, a network is a collection of interconnected components. Network analysis is the process of finding the voltages across, and the currents through, all network components. There are many techniques for calculating these values; however, for the most part, the techniques assume linear components. Except where stated, the methods described in this article are applicable only to linear network analysis.

RL circuit

A resistor–inductor circuit (RL circuit), or RL filter or RL network, is an electric circuit composed of resistors and inductors driven by a voltage or current source. A first-order RL circuit is composed of one resistor and one inductor, either in series driven by a voltage source or in parallel driven by a current source. It is one of the simplest analogue infinite impulse response electronic filters. The fundamental passive linear circuit elements are the resistor (R), capacitor (C) and inductor (L).

RLC circuit

An RLC circuit is an electrical circuit consisting of a resistor (R), an inductor (L), and a capacitor (C), connected in series or in parallel. The name of the circuit is derived from the letters that are used to denote the constituent components of this circuit, where the sequence of the components may vary from RLC. The circuit forms a harmonic oscillator for current, and resonates in a manner similar to an LC circuit. Introducing the resistor increases the decay of these oscillations, which is also known as damping.

RC circuit

A resistor–capacitor circuit (RC circuit), or RC filter or RC network, is an electric circuit composed of resistors and capacitors. It may be driven by a voltage or current source and these will produce different responses. A first order RC circuit is composed of one resistor and one capacitor and is the simplest type of RC circuit. RC circuits can be used to filter a signal by blocking certain frequencies and passing others.

Series and parallel circuits

Two-terminal components and electrical networks can be connected in series or parallel. The resulting electrical network will have two terminals, and itself can participate in a series or parallel topology. Whether a two-terminal "object" is an electrical component (e.g. a resistor) or an electrical network (e.g. resistors in series) is a matter of perspective. This article will use "component" to refer to a two-terminal "object" that participate in the series/parallel networks.

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