LAB REPORT FOR EC3 EXPERIMENT: RC-circuits

V-2 (a) For this part we performed the experiment according to the directions, using a 30V
power source. I tabulated the data taken in step V-1 as shown below:

# t(s) |VR|(Volts) ln |VR|

R1=2x108Ω C2=1x10-6 F
1 10 1.427 0.3556
2 20 1.352 0.3016
3 30 1.292 0.2562
4 40 1.229 0.2062
5 50 1.163 0.1510
6 60 1.090 0.0862
7 80 0.991 -0.0090
8 100 0.899 -0.1065
9 120 0.806 -0.2157
10 140 0.731 -0.3133
11 160 0.651 -0.4293
12 180 0.596 -0.5175
13 200 0.540 -0.6162
14 220 0.486 -0.7216
15 240 0.442 -0.8165

The data that I plotted and the graph are shown below:
t(s) ln |VR|
10 0.3556
20 0.3016
30 0.2562
40 0.2062
50 0.1510
60 0.0862
80 -0.009
100 -0.1065
120 -0.2157
140 -0.3133
160 -0.4293
180 -0.5175
200 -0.6162
220 -0.7215
240 -0.8165
 ln|VR| vs t (s)
0.6
0.4
f(x) = − 0.01 x + 0.4
0.2
0
ln (|VR|)

0 50 100 150 200 250 300

-0.2
-0.4
-0.6
-0.8 Linear ()

-1
t (s)

From the plot I found the time constant τ and the uncertainty σ τ, and also using
LINEST in Excel.

Slope, s (gm/cm) → -0.0051204 0.403995 ← Intercept, b (gm)

σs (gm/cm) → 2.24375E- ← σb (gm)
05 0.002974

τ=RC =-1/slope
q(t )= EC(1-e -t/RC )
R1 C 2=−1 /slope= -1/0 .0051204= 195sec

τ ± σ τ = (195 ±
-5
2.24x10
R1 C 2 = )2*10
sec
8
X10-6 = 200 sec

200−195
% diff = ⋅100=2 . 5 %
200

V-2(b) For this part we performed the experiment according to the directions, using a 30V
power source. I tabulated the data taken in step V-2 as shown below:

C3=10-6 f

# t(s) |VR| ln|VR|

(Volts)
1 10 1.339 0.2919
2 20 1.225 0.2029
3 30 1.114 0.1080
4 40 1.007 0.00697
6
5 50 0.928 -0.07472
6 60 0.845 -0.168
7 70 0.759 -0.276
8 80 0.701 -0.355
9 90 0.643 -0.442
10 100 0.581 -0.543
11 110 0.533 -0.6292
12 120 0.485 -0.724
13 130 0.445 -0.810
14 140 0.409 -0.894
15 150 0.372 -0.989
16 160 0.343 -1.07

The data that I plotted and the graph are shown below:

t(s) ln|VR|
10 0.2919
20 0.2029
30 0.1080
40 0.006976
50 -0.07472
60 -0.168
70 -0.276
80 -0.355
90 -0.442
100 -0.543
110 -0.6292
120 -0.724
130 -0.810
140 -0.894
150 -0.989
160 -1.07
 ln|VR| vs t (s)
0.4
0.2 f(x) = − 0.01 x + 0.38
0
0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 160 180
-0.2
ln(|VR|)

-0.4
-0.6
-0.8 Linear ()
-1
-1.2
t (s)

From the plot I found the time constant τ and the uncertainty σ τ, and also using
LINEST in Excel.

Slope, s (gm/cm) ← Intercept, b (gm)

→ -0.0091219 0.377585674
σs (gm/cm) → 3.80831E- ← σb (gm)
05 0.003682463

τ=RC =-1/slope
q(t )= EC(1-e -t/RC )
R1 C 2=−1 /slope= 1/0. 0091219= 110sec

τ ± σ τ = (110 ± 4x10-5
) RsecC
1 3 = 2*108X 0.5*10-6 = 100 sec

110−100
% diff = ⋅100=10. 0 %
100

VI-4: For this step we perfomed the experiment according to the directions using 30 Volts power
supply.
In this step I plotted the data taken in step V-3; ln|V| vs t. I also obtained the time constant τ and
the uncertainty σ τ, (and using LINEST in Excel.)
# t(s) |VR| ln |VR|
(Volts)
1 10 0.0007 -7.23
2 20 0.0005 -7.6
3 30 0.0001 -9.2
4 40 0.0001 -9.2
5 50 0.0002 -8.5
6 60 0.0005 -7.6
7 70 0.0008 -7.1
8 80 0.0010 -6.9
9 90 0.0013 -6.6
10 100 0.0015 -6.5
11 110 0.0016 -6.4
12 120 0.0017 -6.4
13 130 0.0020 -6.2
14 140 0.0022 -6.1
15 150 0.0023 -6.1
16 160 0.0025 -6.0

ln|VR| vs t (s)
0
-1 0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 160 180
-2
-3
-4
ln|VR|

-5 Linear ()
-6 f(x) = 0.02 x − 9.31
-7
-8
-9
-10
t (S)
From the plot I found the time constant τ and the uncertainty σ τ, and also using
LINEST in Excel.

Slope, s (gm/cm) → 0.023995 -9.31237 ← Intercept, b (gm)

σs (gm/cm) → 0.002667 0.274111 ← σb (gm)

τ=RC =-1/slope
q(t )= EC(1-e -t/RC )
R1 C 2=−1 /slope= 1/0. 023995= 42sec
 τ ± σ τ = (42 ± 2x10-3)
sec
RC1 2 = 2*108X10-6 = 200 sec

42−200
% diff = ⋅100=−80 . 0 %
200

There is a huge difference in this step because the Voltmeter wasn’t working properly.

VI-5:
R1 = 200MΩ, C2 = 1.0μF, C3 = 1μF.

RC charge
RC calc (sec) RC dis. (sec) (sec) σRC (sec)

R1 C2 200 195 42 ± 14.1

R1 C3 100 110 - ± 7.1

Our data does not fall into the uncertainty range of the calculated value. These errors were most
likely caused by human and device errors which could have occurred during the experiment.
During our experiment our voltmeter wasn’t working properly.

VI-6:
V1 (Volts) 0.0018

V2 (Volts) 0.0023

V1 + V2 (Volts) 0.0041

V1 + V2 (measured)
(Volts) 0.0015

V1/V2 0.78

C1 (μF) 0.22

C2 (μF) 1

0.22/1
VI-7:
V1/V2 (expected) =4.54
V1 (Volts) 1.4627

V2 (Volts) 1.4593

Therefore since the capacitors are in parallel we expect them to have the following relationship:
 V1 C
=(1+ 1 )
V2 C3
1. 4627
=1 . 0023
1. 4593
.22
1+ =1 . 44
0 .5

1 . 0023−1 . 44
% diff = ⋅100=−30 . 4 %
1. 44

VII-2:

Q Q Vt
C= V =IR= R R=
V t Q
VtQ
τ =RC= =t
QV
We can say from the equation above that the units of the time constant τ must be the same as t, which
is seconds.
VII-4:

q (t )
q(t )=ΕC(1−e−t /RC ) Qmax =EC =1−e−t /RC
Q max
t=100
τ =50
q(t )
=1−e−100/50 =0 .8647
Qmax
86 . 47% of the total charge that the capacitor can hold has built up on the capacitor .