Physics 212

Lecture 11

Today’s Concept:
RC Circuits

Electricity & Magnetism Lecture 11, Slide 1

 Your Comments
The moment I saw Kirchhoff's Rule for charging a capacitor and a resistor was a first order
forced differential equation, I got really excited.
I just pretty much failed my test and it is my major after doing good on the quizzes and
homework and then you throw this at me and I don' know what is happening. I can kiss my A
good bye.
Holly Hell!!! First, please go over EVERYTHING TOMOROW!!! Secondly, why is the university
letting us take this course without having done intro to differential equations yet!!!

So let's strip these equations down to more intuitive forms.

Hi Mom!

Hi professor stelzer, could we please have a grade estimator so i can calculate my grade in
this class. I didn’t do too well on exam 1 and i am freaking out.

I know that a lot of times in prelecture there are extra things told to us to help us get a better
understanding (which is very good) but in this prelecture, I couldn't really tell what all we actually
had to be responsible for exactly.

This lecture was pretty straight forward. Hopefully we won't have to memorize these equations
because they're all complicated and they all look pretty similar. Also, the two batteries and 6
resistors question from the last homework was pretty ridiculous.
Electricity & Magnetism Lecture 11, Slide 2
 Hour Exam 1 Results

Average score 72%

Check under course description for grading policy

(e.g. if you got a 60% on this exam, then you missed 40/1000 course points. That
does not mean you will get a D in the course! But, that you should have a strategy to
do better on the remaining exams.)

Electricity & Magnetism Lecture 11, Slide 3

 The 212 Differential Equations

We describe the world (electrical circuits, problems in

heat transfer, control systems, financial markets, etc.)
using differential equations

You only need to know the solutions of two basic

differential equations
dq 1
 q0 q  qconst e  t /
dt 
2
d q
2
 q  0
2
q  qconst sin t   
dt
Physics 212 Lecture 11, Slide 5
 Capacitors in RC Circuits
Solve by applying Kirchhoff’s Rules to circuit.
Need to understand some key phrases.

IMMEDIATELY After === Charge on capacitor is same as

immediately before

After a LONG TIME === Current through capacitor = 0

After xx seconds === Exponentially more difficult!

Electricity & Magnetism Lecture 11, Slide 6
 RC Circuit (Charging)
Capacitor uncharged, Switch is moved to position “a”
aa
C
C
Kirchoff’s Voltage Rule
q
 Vbattery   IR  0
bb
VVbattery
battery RR
C
Short Term (q  q0  0)
 Vbattery  0  I 0 R  0
Vbattery Intermediate
I0  q dq
R  Vbattery   R0
Long Term (Ic  0) C dt
 Vbattery 
q
 0 R  0 
q(t )  q 1  et / RC 
C
dq
q  CVbattery I (t )   I 0 e t / RC
dt
Electricity & Magnetism Lecture 11, Slide 7
 CheckPoint 1
A circuit is wired up as shown below. The capacitor is initially uncharged and switches
S1 and S2 are initially open.

A) V1  V V2  V
Close S1,
B) V1  0 V2  V
V1  voltage across C immediately after
V2  voltage across C a long time after C) V1  0 V2  0
D) V1  V V2  0
Immediately after the
switch S1 is closed: After the switch S1 has been
closed for a long time

Q is same as immediately before IC  0

Electricity & Magnetism Lecture 11, Slide 9

 Close S1 at t = 0
R
(leave S2 open)
V C
2R

S1

S2
R R

I0
I
V C V C

VC  Qinitial/C VC  V
0
At t  0 At t  big
Electricity & Magnetism Lecture 11, Slide 10
 CheckPoint 1
A circuit is wired up as shown below. The capacitor is initially uncharged and switches
S1 and S2 are initially open.

A) V1  V V2  V
Close S1,
B) V1  0 V2  V
V1  voltage across C immediately after
V2  voltage across C a long time after C) V1  0 V2  0
D) V1  V V2  0
Immediately after the
switch S1 is closed: After the switch S1 has been
closed for a long time
Q is same as immediately before IC  0

Electricity & Magnetism Lecture 11, Slide 11

 RC Circuit (Discharging)
Capacitor has q0  CVbattery, Switch is moved to position
“b”
Kirchoff’s Voltage Rule aa
C
C

q   I
  IR  0 Vbattery
Vbattery
bb
C RR

Short Term (q  q0)

Vbattery  IR  0
 Vbattery Intermediate
V
I0  q dq
R   R0
C dt
Long Term (Ic  0)
q q(t )  q0e t / RC I
 0 R  0
C
q  0 I (t )  I 0e t / RC
Electricity & Magnetism Lecture 11, Slide 12
 CheckPoint 1c
A circuit is wired up as shown below. The capacitor is initially uncharged and switches
S1 and S2 are initially open.
IR




After being closed a long time, switch 1 is opened and switch 2 is closed. What is the
current through the right resistor immediately after switch 2 is closed?
A. IR = 0 B. IR = V/3R C. IR = V/2R D. IR = V/R

V
I
V C 2R

Electricity & Magnetism Lecture 11, Slide 13

 CheckPoint 1 d
A circuit is wired up as shown below. The capacitor is initially uncharged and switches
S1 and S2 are initially open.

Now suppose both switches are closed. What is the voltage across the capacitor after a
very long time?
A. VC = 0 B. VC = V C. VC = 2V/3

A) The capacitor would discharge completely as t approaches infinity

B) The capacitor will become fully charged after a long time.

C) Current through capacitor is zero

Electricity & Magnetism Lecture 11, Slide 15

 R
Close both S1 and S2 and
C wait a long time…
V 2R

S1 S2

I
No current flows through
R the capacitor after a long
time. This will always be
V C the case in any static
VC 2R
circuit!!

Outer Loop Right Loop

IR 2IR -V  0 +VC - 2IR 0
I  V/(3R) VC  (2/3)V
VC=2IR
Electricity & Magnetism Lecture 11, Slide 16
 CheckPoint 1 d
A circuit is wired up as shown below. The capacitor is initially uncharged and switches
S1 and S2 are initially open.

Now suppose both switches are closed. What is the voltage across the capacitor after a
very long time?
A. VC = 0 B. VC = V C. VC = 2V/3

a) The capacitor would discharge completely as t approaches

infinity

b) The capacitor will become fully charged after

a long time.

c) Current through capacitor is zero

Electricity & Magnetism Lecture 11, Slide 17

 DEMO – Clicker Question 1
Bulb 2

S R

V Bulb 1 R
C

What will happen after I close the switch?

A) Both bulbs come on and stay on.

B) Both bulbs come on but then bulb 2 fades out.
C) Both bulbs come on but then bulb 1 fades out.
D) Both bulbs come on and then both fade out.
No initial charge
on capacitor V(bulb 1)  V(bulb 2)  V Both bulbs light

No final current V(bulb 2)  0

through capacitor
Electricity & Magnetism Lecture 11, Slide 18
 DEMO Clicker Question 2
Bulb 2

S R

V Bulb 1 R
C

Suppose the switch has been closed a long time.

Now what will happen after open the switch?

A) Both bulbs come on and stay on.

B) Both bulbs come on but then bulb 2 fades out.
C) Both bulbs come on but then bulb 1 fades out.
D) Both bulbs come on and then both fade out.

Capacitor has charge (CV) Capacitor discharges through both resistors

Electricity & Magnetism Lecture 11, Slide 19

 Calculation
S In this circuit, assume V, C, and Ri are known.
C initially uncharged and then switch S is closed.
R1 R2
R3
What is the voltage across the capacitor after a long
V C time ?

Conceptual Analysis:
Circuit behavior described by Kirchhoff’s Rules:
KVR: S Vdrops  0
KCR: S Iin  S Iout
S closed and C charges to some voltage with some time constant

Strategic Analysis
Determine currents and voltages in circuit a long time after S closed

Electricity & Magnetism Lecture 11, Slide 20

 Calculation
S In this circuit, assume V, C, and Ri are known.
R1 R2 C initially uncharged and then switch S is closed.
R3
V C What is the voltage across the capacitor after a long
time ?

Immediately after S is closed:

what is I2, the current through C
what is VC, the voltage across C?

A) Only I2  0 B) Only VC  0 C) Both I2 and VC  0 D) Neither I2 nor VC  0

Why?
We are told that C is initially uncharged (V  Q/C)
I2 cannot be zero because charge must flow in order to charge C

Electricity & Magnetism Lecture 11, Slide 21

 Calculation
I1
In this circuit, assume V, C, and Ri are known.
S C initially uncharged and then switch S is closed.
R1 R2 R3
What is the voltage across the capacitor after a long
V C time ?

Immediately after S is closed, what is I1, the current through R1 ?

V V V R1  R2  R3
V V
RR
R1 R1  R3 R1  R2  R3 R1  2 3 R1 R2  R2 R3  R1 R3
R2  R3
A B C D E
Why?
S
Draw circuit just after S closed (knowing R1 R2
VC  0) R3
R1 is in series with the parallel V VC  0
combination of R2 and R3

Electricity & Magnetism Lecture 11, Slide 22

 Calculation
S In this circuit, assume V, C, and Ri are known.
R1 R2 C initially uncharged and then switch S is closed.
R3
V C What is the voltage across the capacitor after a long
time ?

After S has been closed “for a long time”, what is I2, the current through R2 ?

V V
R2 R1 0
A B C
I
Why?
After a long time in a static circuit, the R1
current through any capacitor IC  0 VC R3
approaches 0 !
This means we Redraw circuit with open V
circuit in middle leg

Electricity & Magnetism Lecture 11, Slide 23

 Calculation
S In this circuit, assume V, C, and Ri are known.
R1 R2 C initially uncharged and then switch S is closed.
R3
V C What is the voltage across the capacitor after a long
time ?

After S has been closed “for a long time”, what is VC, the voltage across C ?
R2
R3 R2 V
V V V RR
R1  R3 R1  R2 R1  2 3 0
R2  R3
A B C D E
I I

Why? R1
– VC  V3  IR3  (V/(R1  R3))R3 VC R3
V

Electricity & Magnetism Lecture 11, Slide 24

 Challenge (like homework problem)
S In this circuit, assume V, C, and Ri are known.
R1 R2 C initially uncharged and then switch S is closed.
R3
V C What is c, the charging time constant?

Strategy
Write down KVR and KCR for the circuit when S is closed
2 loop equations and 1 node equation
Use I2  dQ2/dt to obtain one equation that looks like simple charging RC circuit
( (Q/”C”)  “R”(dQ/dt)  “V”  0 )
Make correspondence: “R”  ?, and “C”  ?, then   “R” x ”C”
 RR 
I got:  c   R2  1 3 C
 R1  R3 

Electricity & Magnetism Lecture 11, Slide 25

 CheckPoint 2
The two circuits shown below contain identical capacitors that hold the same charge at t = 0. Circuit
2 has twice as much resistance as circuit 1.

Which circuit has the largest time constant? 1

0.9

A) Circuit 1 0.8

0.7
B) Circuit 2
0.6

C) Same 0.5

0.4

0.3

RC = 2
  Requiv/C 0.2

0.1

0
RC = 1
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Electricity & Magnetism Lecture 11, Slide 28

 CheckPoint 2
The two circuits shown below contain identical capacitors that hold the same charge at t = 0. Circuit
2 has twice as much resistance as circuit 1.

0.9

0.8

0.7

0.6

0.5

0.4

0.3 RC = 2
Q  Q0e-t/RC 0.2

0.1

0
RC = 1
Look at plot! 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Electricity & Magnetism Lecture 11, Slide 30