“CHARGE AND DISCHARGE OF CAPACITOR”
Student Name:
Student ID:
Date of Experiment:.
Date of Submission:
Abstract:
The purpose of this experiment is to investigate the charging and the discharging of a
capacitor. In this experiment a capacitor is charged and discharged and the time taken is
recorded at equal intervals.
Objective:
To investigate the charge and the discharge of a capacitor.
Introduction:
A capacitor is a passive two-terminal electrical component used to store energy electrostatically
in an electric field. The forms of practical capacitors vary widely but all contain at least two
electrical conductors or plates separated by a dielectric or insulator. The conductors can be thin
film, foil etc. The insulator acts to increase the capacitor’s charge capacity. An insulator can be
glass, ceramic, plastic film, air, paper etc.
When a capacitor is connected to a circuit with a DC supply two processes occur which are
called as charging and discharging.
Charging: When a capacitor is connected to the DC supply and current starts to flow through the
circuit both plates of the capacitor gets the equal and opposite charges and an increasing
potential difference which is created while the capacitor is charging. Once the voltage at the
terminals of the capacitor is equal to the power supply the capacitor is fully charged and the
current stops flowing through the circuit, the charging phase is over.
Discharging: When the capacitor is disconnected from the power supply the capacitors starts to
discharge through the resistor and the voltage between the plates drops gradually to zero.
Resistor: A resistor is a passive two-terminal electrical component that implements electrical
resistance as a circuit element. Resistors act to reduce current flow, and, at the same time, act to
lower voltage levels within circuits.
Apparatus:
Power supply
Capacitor
Resistor
Voltmeter
Stop Watch
Procedure:
Construct the circuit as shown below in Figure 1.
Case 1: When the switch S is placed in position A, the charge flows from the battery into
the capacitor until the capacitor is fully charged.
Case 2: When the switch is placed in B, the capacitor discharges through the resistor.
Record at least 10 values of voltages V and corresponding time t in each case
Results:
Table 1
Charging of a capacitor
Voltage (V) Time (t)
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
45
Table 2
Discharging of a capacitor
Voltage (V) Time (t)
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
45
In this experiment, the current flowing through a resistor will be measured as the
voltage across the resistor is varied.
So please fill the Tabe 1 for this circuit.
6) At time t=0 when we first close the switch S in the circuit, the capacitor has no charge,
and so the current I will be determined by the resistor alone. The capacitor here acts as a
short circuit. At any later time, the charge will start to increase while the current decrease.
Then, q (t) will reach the constant value of q = VC . At this instant the capacitor will be fully
charged.
The current, on the other hand, will be zero at this instant. At this step try to fill
the Table 1.
7) Find the experimental time constant t of the circuit from the I vs t graphs. Find it from
both the charging and discharging graphs. Then, compare experimental time constant t
with its theoretical value obtained by
t =RC
Conclusion:
