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    TAP 129-5: Discharging A Capacitor

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    Anonymous QvdxO5XTR
    The document describes an experiment where a capacitor is discharged through a resistor and the voltage is measured over time. It provides voltage measurements, asks questions about calculating current, capacitance and time constant from the data, and discusses exponential decay of the voltage.

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    TAP 129-5: Discharging A Capacitor

    Uploaded by

    Anonymous QvdxO5XTR
    62 views5 pages
    The document describes an experiment where a capacitor is discharged through a resistor and the voltage is measured over time. It provides voltage measurements, asks questions about calculating current, capacitance and time constant from the data, and discusses exponential decay of the voltage.

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    Capacitors

    Original Title

    Capacitors

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    The document describes an experiment where a capacitor is discharged through a resistor and the voltage is measured over time. It provides voltage measurements, asks questions about calculating current, capacitance and time constant from the data, and discusses exponential decay of the voltage.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as DOC, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as doc, pdf, or txt
    62 views5 pages

    TAP 129-5: Discharging A Capacitor

    Uploaded by

    Anonymous QvdxO5XTR
    The document describes an experiment where a capacitor is discharged through a resistor and the voltage is measured over time. It provides voltage measurements, asks questions about calculating current, capacitance and time constant from the data, and discusses exponential decay of the voltage.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as DOC, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as doc, pdf, or txt
    of 5

    TAP 129- 5: Discharging a capacitor

    A capacitor is charged to a potential difference of 1.0 V. The potential difference is measured


    at 10 s intervals, as shown in the table. When t = 15 s, a resistance of 1.0 Mis connected
    across the capacitor terminals.
    t/s

    V/V

    1.00

    10

    1.00

    20

    0.81

    30

    0.54

    40

    0.35

    50

    0.23

    60

    0.15

    1.

    What is the current in the resistor at t = 15 s?

    2.

    Plot a graph of V against t, and measure the rate of decrease of V immediately after
    t = 15 s.

    3.

    Using the relationship I = d Q / d t = C d V / d t, calculate the value of the


    capacitance.

    4.

    Plot also a graph of ln V against t to show the exponential decay of voltage, and use
    the gradient to find the time constant (RC).

    5.

    From the time constant calculate the capacitance C.

    6.

    Explain which method gives a better value of C, and why.

    Practical advice
    This question could usefully follow an experiment where students see capacitors discharge. It
    also shows that exponential behaviour can be demonstrated by the use of natural logarithms.

    Answers and worked solutions


    1.

    1 A

    2.

    Approximately 3.8 102 V s1

    3.

    Approximately 26 F

    4.

    24.5 s

    5.

    24 F

    6.

    The second method is better, because it avoids the difficulty of accurately drawing a
    gradient for the Vt graph at 15 s.

    Worked solutions
    1.

    1.0 V
    V

    1.0 A
    R 1.0 10 6

    2.
    1.0
    0.9
    0.8
    0.7
    0.6
    0.5
    0.4

    dV 0.8 V
    =
    = 38 mV s1
    dt
    21 s

    0.3
    0.2

    36 s 15 s = 21 s

    0.1
    0
    0

    10

    20

    30

    40
    t/s

    50

    60

    3.

    1.0 10 6 A
    dQ
    dV
    I
    C
    C

    26 F
    dt
    dt
    d V / dt
    0.038 V s 1

    4.
    t/s

    ln V

    10

    10

    20

    0.21

    30

    0.62

    40

    1.05

    50

    1.47

    60

    1.90
    0.5
    0 +

    +
    +

    0.5

    1.5

    +
    +

    2
    0

    10

    20

    30

    40

    50

    60

    70

    t/s

    V V0 e

    RC

    lnV lnV0

    t
    RC

    gradient of line
    RC

    1
    0.041 s 1

    1
    2.0
    2.0

    0.041 s 1
    RC 63 s - 14 s
    49 s

    24.5 s

    5.
    RC 24.5 s
    24.5 s
    C
    24 F
    1 10 6
    6.

    The second method is better, because it avoids the difficulty of accurately drawing a
    gradient for the Vt graph at 15 s.

    External references

    This activity is taken from Advancing Physics Chapter 10, 80S

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