University of Manchester

School of Electrical and Electronic

Engineering

EEEN 10024 – Circuit Analysis

Transient Circuit Analysis

2018-2019

Dr Ognjen Marjanovic

EEEN10024 Circuit Analysis – Transient Analysis

School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, University of Manchester

Contents
1. Introduction ............................................................................................. 3

2. Inductors and Capacitors ......................................................................... 4

2.1 Voltage – Current Characteristics of Capacitors and Inductors .................................. 4

2.2 Mechanical and Thermal Analogies .......................................................................... 8

2.3 Power and Energy Relations .................................................................................... 9

2.4 Series and Parallel Combinations of Inductors and Capacitors ................................ 11

3. RL and RC Circuits .................................................................................. 18

3.1 Introduction .......................................................................................................... 18

3.2 Natural Response of RL and RC Circuits .................................................................. 19

3.2.1 Introduction ......................................................................................................................... 19

3.2.2 Natural Response of RC Circuit ............................................................................................ 20

3.2.3 Natural Response of RL Circuit............................................................................................. 27

3.3 Forced Response of RL and RC Circuits ................................................................... 34

3.3.1 Introduction ......................................................................................................................... 34

3.3.2 Forced Response of RC Circuit ............................................................................................. 34

3.3.3 Forced Response of the RL Circuit ....................................................................................... 41

4. RLC Circuits .............................................................................................. 46

4.1 Introduction .......................................................................................................... 46

4.2 Series RLC Circuit ................................................................................................... 47

4.3 Parallel RLC Circuit................................................................................................. 48

4.4 Solving RLC Circuits................................................................................................ 49

EEEN10024 Circuit Analysis – Transient Analysis

School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, University of Manchester

1. Introduction
This section of the course covers a very important and the most general topic in circuit analysis
(which is probably studied the least). This is the topic of circuit analysis applied to any type of
voltage/current signal waveform. So the voltages across voltage sources as well as the currents
flowing through the current sources might be constant (DC), sinusoidal (AC) or pulse width
modulation (PWM) waveforms. But regardless of the voltage/current signal type it is possible to
analyse circuit behaviour when subjected to such waveforms using the methodology covered in this
particular section of the course. Another view on this topic is that it considers time-domain changes in
terms of voltages and currents that are often ignored in ‘steady-state calculations’ which are covered
in detail in the rest of this course unit and in the majority of most of the electrical engineering
modules. Because the analysis covered in this section deals with temporal changes, or transients, in
circuit behaviour it is often referred to as transient analysis.

If a given electrical circuit is composed exclusively of resistors then the voltages and currents in that
circuit all change instantaneously in accordance with the DC circuit analysis laws and rules that we
have covered so far. This is because Ohm’s Law applies to ideal resistors for any voltage or current
profile, be it step change or a train of pulses or a sinusoid. Also, as a consequence of Ohm’s Law and
Kirchoff’s Laws, voltage divider rule and current divider rule also apply to any voltage/current profile
provided we are dealing with a circuit composed only of resistors.

However, there are other circuit elements that are inevitably present in circuits, sometimes as parasitic
components (just like parasitic cable resistance in electrical power systems) and sometimes purpose-
built (analogue filters). These other circuit elements do not obey Ohm’s Law. Instead they are related
to the fundamental laws of electricity and magnetism and electric and magnetic fields, in particular.
These other circuit components are capable of storing energy rather than simply dissipating it. They
store energy by establishing electric or magnetic field. These components introduce non-trivial
behaviour of real-world circuits when subjected to ‘unusual’ waveforms of voltages and currents.

Two such circuit components that we will introduce in this section are a capacitor and an inductor.
They share many general properties but their quantitative behaviour descriptions are not identical
although they could be thought of as reciprocal. Symbols for inductor and capacitor are provided
below:

EEEN10024 Circuit Analysis – Transient Analysis

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Note that in this set of lecture notes we will use lowercase letters for various variables and also we
will explicitly describe them as functions of time. For example, general equation for power can be
expressed as follows:

p(t )  v(t )  i(t )

2. Inductors and Capacitors

2.1 Voltage – Current Characteristics of Capacitors and Inductors

Behaviour of both inductor and capacitor can be described in terms of the relationship between
voltage across their terminals and the current flowing through them.

These relationships are introduced next simultaneously for both inductor and capacitor in order to
emphasise the underlying similarity in terms of their behaviour.

Firstly, we apply Passive Sign Convention to an inductor such that the reference direction of the
current is in the direction of the voltage drop across the terminals of the inductor, as shown in figure
below:

EEEN10024 Circuit Analysis – Transient Analysis

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We also apply Passive Sign Convention to a capacitor such that the reference direction of the current
is in the direction of the voltage drop across the terminals of the inductor, as shown in figure below:

Now we can specify the relationship between voltage and current for both capacitor and inductor.

In the case of an inductor, the voltage across its terminals, denoted as vL(t), is related to the current
flowing through it, denoted as iL(t), by the following equation:

di L ( t )
vL (t )  L 
dt
The parameter that relates voltage and current is denoted by a symbol L and is termed inductance.
The SI unit of inductance is Henry (H). Inductance quantifies the ability of an inductor to induce a
voltage across its terminal as a result of time-varying current.

There are 2 very important implications of this relationship:

1. If the current flowing through an inductor is constant, then the voltage across inductor is
equal to zero. Therefore, when considering DC voltages and currents then we treat
inductor as a short circuit.

2. In order to instantaneously change the current flowing through an inductor would require
infinite voltage, which is clearly infeasible. Therefore, inductor prohibits instantaneous
change of current.

The relationship outlined in the equation above specifies voltage in terms of the rate of change of
current. But we may also want to know the relationship that describes current in terms of voltage. So
we need to ‘inverse’ the relationship given in the equation above.
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Derivation of this relationship (inductor current in terms of the inductor voltage and inductance) is
given as follows:

di L ( t )
vL (t)  L   v L ( t )dt  L  di L ( t )
dt
Now we can integrate this expression:

L  di L (t )  vL (t )dt  L   di L ( t )   vL (t )dt
Therefore:

1 t
L t 0
i L (t)   v L ( t )dt  i L ( t 0 )

So we see here that the current through an inductor is obtained by integrating voltage across the
inductor’s terminals.

In the case of a capacitor, the current flowing through it, denoted as iC(t), is related to the voltage
across its terminals, denoted as vC(t), by the following equation:

dv C ( t )
iC (t)  C 
dt
The parameter that relates current flowing through a capacitor and the rate of change of voltage across
the terminals of a capacitor is denoted by a symbol C and is termed capacitance. The SI unit for
capacitance is Faraday (F). Capacitance quantifies the ability (capacity) to store charge on two
mutually insulated conductors (which are terminals of a capacitor) for a given voltage drop between
these two conductors.

Similarly to inductor, in the case of a capacitor there are 2 very important implications of the
particular voltage-current relationship given in the equation above:

1. If the voltage applied across the terminals of a capacitor is constant then there is no net charge
flow between the terminals of that capacitor, hence the current through the capacitor is equal
to zero. Therefore, when considering DC voltages and currents then we treat capacitor as
an open circuit.

2. In order to instantaneously change the voltage across the terminals of a capacitor would
require infinite current, which is obviously impossible. Therefore, capacitor prohibits
instantaneous change of voltage across its terminals.

EEEN10024 Circuit Analysis – Transient Analysis

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We may also want to derive the relationship that specifies the voltage across the terminals of a
capacitor in terms of the current flowing through that capacitor:

dvC ( t )
iC (t)  C   i C ( t )dt  C  dvC ( t )
dt
Now we can integrate this expression:

C  dvC (t )  i C ( t )dt  C   dvC (t )   i C (t )dt

Therefore:

1 t
C t0
vC (t )   i C ( t )dt  vC ( t 0 )

So we see here that the voltage across the terminals of a capacitor is obtained by integrating the
current that flows through the capacitor’s terminals.

In summary, notice the fact that the voltage-current relationships for both inductor and capacitor
relate voltage and current, somewhat similarly to Ohm’s Law in the case of resistor. However, note
that these relationships do not relate absolute values of voltage and current, as was the case with
Ohm’s Law. Instead they relate absolute value of either voltage or current to the rate of change of
either current or voltage, respectively. In the case of a capacitor we are relating absolute value of
current flowing through a capacitor to the rate of change of voltage across capacitor’s terminals. In the
case of an inductor we are relating absolute value of the voltage across inductor’s terminals to the rate
of change of current flowing through that inductor.

EEEN10024 Circuit Analysis – Transient Analysis

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2.2 Mechanical and Thermal Analogies

Equations described in section 2.1 are of the type that may appear somewhat intimidating at first but
in fact they are fundamental to our understanding and modelling of the universe. They are called
differential equations because they contain terms that are differentials of some variables, such as
voltages or currents, with respect to other, often independent, variables that are typically either
distance/position or time. In fact, all of the real-world systems that inevitably contain energy storage
elements are governed by the fundamental relationship between power and energy, which is itself
described by the following differential equation:

de( t )
p( t ) 
dt
In the case of mechanical systems this relationship is in the form of what we call Newton’s Second
Law of Motion:

dv( t )
f (t)  m 
dt
This equation simply states that the force (f(t)) is equal to mass (m) multiplied by the acceleration
(dv(t)/dt). But we wrote acceleration in the form of time derivative of velocity, which is what
acceleration is by definition. Now notice the similarity between Newton’s Second Law expression and
either of the two equations describing relation between voltage and current for capacitor and inductor.
In all three equations we are relating absolute value of one variable, which is mechanical force in the
case of a moving object or voltage/current in the case of inductor/capacitor, to the time derivative of
another variable, which is velocity in the case of a moving object and current/voltage in the case of
inductor/capacitor. Other physical systems also have similar equations to these. For example, thermal
behaviour is described using the following equation:

dT( t )
q IN ( t )  q OUT ( t )  CT 
dt
Where qIN represents the total amount of heat supplied to an object and qOUT represents the total
amount of heat taken away from an object. Also CT denotes thermal capacitance (interesting term,
don’t you think?) whilst T(t) is the temperature of an object. In form, this equation is extremely
similar to those equations describing motion of an object and electrical behaviour of inductors and
capacitor.

In fact, before the advent of cheap digital computers, which can simulate models of real-world
systems involving 1000s of coupled equations of the form covered in this section, people used to
solve such equations using electrical equivalents of the actual systems. So given a complex set of
differential equations, describing thermal behaviour of a pipe carrying water that is buried deep in the

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ground, it is possible to derive equivalent electrical circuit comprised of capacitors and resistors. This
equivalent circuit is described using differential equations of the same form as those describing
thermal behaviour of a buried pipe but the values of thermal capacitance, for example, are now
transformed into the equivalent values of electrical capacitance. Engineers would then construct this
equivalent circuit and apply current or voltage profile that is of the same shape as the studied heat
injection profile in order to determine temperature variation in time. Such circuits that allow
computation of differential equations’ solutions using analogue electrical components are/were known,
unsurprisingly, as analogue computers.

2.3 Power and Energy Relations

In order to derive power and energy equations for inductor and capacitor we utilise the fundamental
relation:

p(t )  v(t )  i(t )

Expression of energy can then also be obtained by integrating power equation in time:

 de(t)   p(t)dt(t)
In the case of inductor we invoke fundamental relationship between voltage and current:

di L ( t )
vL (t )  L 
dt
Then we re-express the power equation in terms of inductor current only:

di L ( t )
pL (t)  vL (t)  i L (t)  L   i L (t)
dt
Note that this derivation that re-expresses power in terms of current and inductance is analogous to
the following power relation for a resistor:

pR (t )  vR (t )  i R (t )  i R (t )  R  i R (t )  i 2R (t )  R

EEEN10024 Circuit Analysis – Transient Analysis

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In the case of an inductor, energy expression becomes:

di L ( t )
 deL (t)  L   i L (t) dt
dt

which leads to:

 de L ( t )  L   i L ( t )di L ( t )
Following integration, the expression for energy stored in an inductor is given by:

1
eL   L  i 2L ( t )
2

In the case of a capacitor, we invoke the fundamental relationship:

dv C ( t )
iC (t)  C 
dt
Now we re-express the power associated with a capacitor in terms of its voltage only:

dvC ( t )
pC (t )  vC (t )  i C ( t )  vC (t )  C 
dt
Consequently, energy expression for a capacitor becomes:

dvC ( t )
 deC (t)  C   vC (t) dt
dt

which leads to:

 de C ( t )  C   vC ( t )dvC ( t )
Following integration, the expression for energy stored in a capacitor is given by:

1
eC   C  vC2 ( t )
2
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Please reflect on the form of the equations that express energy stored in inductor and capacitor. More
specifically, compare them to the expression for kinetic energy of a moving object. Do you notice any
similarity?

Note that in steady state the voltage across inductor is equal to zero and also the current through a
capacitor is equal to zero. Implication of these properties is that the power associated with inductor
and capacitor is equal to zero in steady-state. However, energy stored in these circuit elements may
not be equal to zero in steady-state provided current through inductor is non-zero and the voltage
across a capacitor is non-zero.

2.4 Series and Parallel Combinations of Inductors and Capacitors

Series and Parallel Combinations of Inductors

Let us firstly consider a series combination of inductors shown in figure below:

We apply Kirchoff’s Voltage Law:

vS (t )  v1 (t )  v2 (t )  v3 (t )

Now we can express the voltage across each of the inductors as follows:

diS ( t ) di ( t ) di ( t )
vS ( t )  L1   L 2  S  L3  S
dt dt dt
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We can simplify the expression above, as a consequence of the fact that the same current is flowing
through each of the inductors:

vS ( t )  L1  L 2  L3  
diS ( t )
dt
Therefore, the equivalent (overall) inductance of this circuit is equal to:

LEQ  L1  L2  L3
Hence, inductors connected in series combine in exactly the same way as the resistors do.

Now let us look at the example in which several inductors are connected in parallel:

This time we apply Kirchoff’s Curent Law:

iS (t )  i1 (t )  i 2 (t )  i3 (t )
Now we can express each individual current as integral of the voltage applied across each of the
inductors:

1 1 1
  vS ( t )dt  i1 ( t 0 )    vS ( t )dt  i 2 ( t 0 ) 
L3 
iS ( t )   vS ( t )dt  i3 ( t 0 )
L1 L2

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Note that the voltage across each of the inductors is the same because they are all connected in
parallel. Therefore, the expression for the source current can be simplified as follows:

 1 1 1 
iS ( t )        vS ( t )dt  i1 ( t 0 )  i 2 ( t 0 )  i 3 ( t 0 )
 L1 L 2 L3 
Initial conditions for individual inductor currents can be combined into a single initial condition for
the source current:

iS (t 0 )  i1 (t 0 )  i 2 (t 0 )  i3 (t 0 )

As a result, the expression relating source voltage and source current becomes:

 1 1 1 
iS ( t )        vS ( t )dt  iS ( t 0 )
 L1 L 2 L3 
Clearly, this expression can now be simplified by introducing the equivalent inductance of this
network as follows:

1  1 1 1 
    
L EQ  L1 L 2 L3 
Therefore:

1
iS ( t )    vS ( t )dt  iS ( t 0 )
L EQ
So we notice that inductors connected in parallel can be combined using the formula that is very
similar to the one used to combine resistors connected in parallel.

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Series and Parallel Combinations of Capacitors

Firstly, consider a series combination of capacitors shown in figure below:

By applying Kirchoff’s Voltage Law we obtain the following equation that relates individual voltages
in this network:

vS (t )  v1 (t )  v2 (t )  v3 (t )
Using the fundamental voltage-current relationship for a capacitor we can re-express each of these
voltages in terms of the source current and in terms of the individual capacitances:

1 1 1
  iS ( t )dt  v1 ( t 0 )    iS ( t )dt  v 2 ( t 0 ) 
C3 
vS ( t )   iS ( t )dt  v3 ( t 0 )
C1 C2

Due to the fact that the same current is flowing through each of the capacitors, since they are all
connected in series, we can simplify the above expression as follows:

 1 1 1 
vS ( t )        iS ( t )dt  v1 ( t 0 )  v 2 ( t 0 )  v3 ( t 0 )
 1
C C 2 C 3 

Now we can combine initial conditions of the individual capacitor voltages in order to obtain initial
condition of the source voltage (initial conditions DO obey KVL):

vS (t 0 )  v1 (t 0 )  v2 (t 0 )  v3 (t 0 )

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Therefore, the equation relating source voltage and source current becomes:

 1 1 1 
vS ( t )        iS ( t )dt  vS ( t 0 )
 C1 C2 C3 
In order to simplify this expression we can introduce the equivalent capacitance of this network as
follows:

1  1 1 1 
    
CEQ  C1 C2 C3 
Then, the equation relating source voltage and the source current becomes:

1
CEQ 
vS ( t )   iS ( t )dt  vS ( t 0 )

Hence, capacitors connected in series can be combined into a single equivalent capacitance using the
formula that is very similar to the one used for combining resistors (or inductors) connected in
parallel.

Finally, we will consider a parallel combination of capacitors, as shown in circuit diagram below:

We can apply Kirchoff’s Current Law that relates source current to individual capacitor currents:

iS (t )  i1 (t )  i 2 (t )  i3 (t )
Now we can express each of the capacitor currents in terms of the voltages across each of the
capacitors:

dv1 ( t ) dv ( t ) dv ( t )
iS ( t )  C1   C 2  2  C3  3
dt dt dt
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However, we should notice that all of the capacitors have the same voltage applied across their
terminals (due to the fact that they are connected in parallel), which is equal to the source voltage:

dvS ( t ) dv ( t ) dv ( t )
iS ( t )  C1   C 2  S  C3  S
dt dt dt
Therefore, we can simplify the expression for the source current:

iS ( t )  C1  C2  C3  
dvS ( t )
dt
In order to further simplify the expression given above we can define the equivalent (overall)
capacitance of this circuit to be equal to:

CEQ  C1  C2  C3
Now the expression relating source voltage and the source current becomes:

dvS ( t )
iS ( t )  CEQ 
dt
Hence, the formula used to calculate the overall capacitance of the network containing capacitors
connected in parallel is very similar to the one used to combine the resistors (or inductors) connected
in series.

Rules for combining inductors and capacitors in series or in parallel are summarised on the following
page.

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Summary

Voltage-Current Relationships of Inductor and Capacitor

di L ( t ) dv C ( t )
vL (t )  L  iC (t)  C 
dt dt
Energy Expression for Inductor and Capacitor

1 1
eL   L  i 2L ( t ) eC   C  vC2 ( t )
2 2
Inductors connected in series:

LEQ  L1  L2  L3  ...
Inductors connected in parallel:

1  1 1 1 
     ...
L EQ  L1 L 2 L3 

Capacitors connected in series:

1  1 1 1 
     ...
CEQ  C1 C2 C3 
Capacitors connected in parallel:

CEQ  C1  C2  C3  ...

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3. RL and RC Circuits
3.1 Introduction

In this section we will consider circuits that contain resistors and voltage or current sources in
addition to either a single capacitor or a single inductor.

Circuits that contain a single inductor connected to a resistive network are termed RL circuits.
Similarly, circuits that contain a single capacitor connected to a resistive network are termed RC
circuits.

Note that it is possible to have several inductors or capacitors in a single RL or RC circuit provided
these individual energy storage components can be combined into a single equivalent inductor or a
capacitor, respectively.

When analysing RL and RC circuits we make a distinction between two types of responses:

1. Natural response: response of RL or RC circuit in the absence of any voltage or current

source

2. Forced response: response of RL or RC circuit in the presence of either voltage or current

source

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3.2 Natural Response of RL and RC Circuits

3.2.1 Introduction
In the case of a natural response there is no external voltage or current source interacting with the
circuit. In fact, any current or voltage present in a given circuit during a natural response is a result of
a release of energy stored in either an inductor or a capacitor.

So the RL and RC circuits that we consider when studying natural response are shown as follows:

It is very important to realise that a single resistor shown in circuit diagrams above could be
Thevenin/Norton equivalent resistance of a rather complicated resistive network.

In order to study natural response of RL and RC circuits it is necessary to perform a preliminary

‘initialisation’ during which inductor or capacitor is appropriately energised or charged, respectively.
Otherwise, if inductor or capacitor is not energised or charged then the natural response would simply
be described by all the voltages and currents being equal to zero. During this preliminary step inductor
or capacitor is connected to an electrical source for sufficiently long time in order to ensure that the
energy storage element is appropriately energised or charged. Notice that we simply require non-zero
amount of energy to be stored in either inductor or a capacitor at the end of this step. To simplify
analysis, however, we will often assume in this particular course unit that the circuit reached steady
state by the end of the initialisation phase.

Once the initialisation is complete the electrical source is disconnected from an inductor or a capacitor
and the energy stored is dissipated through resistive network. The manner in which this energy is
dissipated characterises natural responses of RL and RC circuits.

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3.2.2 Natural Response of RC Circuit
We will start the discussion regarding natural response with RC circuit, particular example of which is
given as follows:

Notice in the diagram above that the switch that has two possible positions, namely A and B.

During the initialisation phase the switch is assumed to be in the position A, so the resulting circuit
looks as follows:

Due to the fact that no current flows through the branch containing 10 Ω resistor, we can re-draw the
circuit above as follows:

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During the initialisation phase the capacitor is being charged up and after a sufficient length of time
(‘sufficient’ is determined by the values of capacitance and resistance) we assume that the capacitor is
fully charged with constant voltage across its terminals. As a consequence of having constant voltage
across capacitor terminals, the current flowing through the capacitor is equal to 0 A. Hence, the
voltage drop across the 5 Ω resistor is equal to 0 V and, therefore, the voltage drop across the
capacitor is equal to the voltage drop across the voltage source. This can be demonstrated by applying
Kirchoff’s Voltage Law:

 20 V  0 A  5   vC (t )  0  vC (t )  20 V

At time t = 0 the switch moves to position B and the resultant circuit is given as follows:

We will now introduce the nomenclature that we will use extensively in this set of lecture notes to
define the specific instant in time. In particular, we use the term t = 0- to define the time ‘just before’
the time t = 0. Similarly, we will use t = 0+ to define the time ‘just after’ the time t = 0. Note that
both t = 0- and t = 0+ are infinitesimally close to time t = 0. Also, we assume that whilst switch
positions may change from t = 0- to t=0+ the energy stored in energy storage elements does not. So
we assume that we could change the switch position from t = 0- to t = 0+ but we also assume that the
voltage across the capacitor could not change from t = 0- to t = 0+. Conversely, we do allow the
current flowing through the capacitor to change instantaneously. This actually mimics behaviour of a
voltage source because we allow current flowing through a capacitor to change instantly as a result of
changes in the rest of the circuit (due to the addition/removal of sources and resistors) but we do not
allow voltage across a capacitor to change instantaneously. This is exactly what we expect of an ideal
independent voltage source. But in the case of an ideal independent voltage source we do not have to
constrain ourselves to infinitesimally small periods of time since the voltage across its terminals is
considered an independent variable and specified for eternity.

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As a result of moving the switch to position B at time t = 0 the ‘new’ closed circuit containing
capacitor appears as follows:

Notice that now the circuit does not contain the 20 V voltage source and so we observe natural
response (as opposed to forced response). So we want to describe the response of this circuit in terms
of the current that flows through both the capacitor and the resistor (which are connected in series)
and/or the voltages across either capacitor or resistor.

So at time t=0+ the voltage across capacitor terminals is the same as it was at time t = 0- (remember:
capacitor opposes instantaneous change in voltage across its terminals) and is equal to the source
voltage (since we assumed capacitor was fully charged at the end of the initialisation phase):

vC (0 )  vC (0 )  20 V
However, as a result of the change in switch position the current changes instantaneously and this
current now flows through the 10 Ω resistor:

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The current that flows through the 10 Ω resistor creates a voltage drop across it, which
counterbalances the voltage drop across the terminals of the capacitor, as per Kirchoff’s Voltage Law:

 vC ( t )  v R ( t )  0   vC ( t )  i C ( t )  R  0
Applying above equation at time t = 0+

 20 V  vR (0 )  0   20 V  iC (0 ) 10   0

+
Therefore, the current flowing through the circuit at time instant t = 0 must equal 2 A:

20 V
i C (0  )   2A
10 
As a result of the 2 A current flowing through the resistor, the charge is being removed from the
plates of the capacitor at the rate of 2 C/s (Coulombs per second). Therefore, the voltage across the
terminals of the capacitor is decreasing as time evolves beyond t = 0+. Notice that the current is
flowing out of the positive terminal of the capacitor which according to passive sign convention
means that we should specify negative sign when relating voltage and current:

dvC ( t )
i C ( t )  ( )C 
dt
This negative sign confirms that the positive current flowing out of the positive terminal of the
capacitor results in the negative rate of change of voltage.

The reduction of the voltage across the plates of the capacitor indicates that the energy stored in the
capacitor is reducing, which is indeed the case. This released energy gets dissipated in the resistor. In
fact, all the energy in this circuit that is initially stored in the capacitor will eventually be dissipated in
the resistor, provided we maintain the switch at the position B for sufficiently long time. We can
express this mathematically as follows:

lim eC ( t )  0 J
t 

This also implies that:

lim vC (t )  0 V
t 

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Finally, once all the energy stored in the capacitor is dissipated then, with no charge left on the plates
of the capacitor, the electrical current will cease to flow:

lim i C ( t )  0 A
t 

In practical applications we may not want (or have time) to fully discharge the capacitor and so we
may want to know exactly how the voltage varies as a function of time. In order to do this we would
need to solve the following differential equation:

dvC ( t )
 vC ( t )  i C ( t )  R  0   vC (t )  C  R  0
dt
Note that this equation is obtained by simply applying KVL around the circuit shown on page 22.

We can re-arrange the differential equation given above as follows:

dvC ( t )
CR   vC (t )  0
dt
We will find it useful to re-express the differential equations that we deal with in this section using the
following general form:

dx ( t )
T  x(t)  0
dt
In the case of the RC circuit we notice that:

T  C R x ( t )  vC ( t )
Now we can re-arrange the terms in this differential equation as follows:

dx ( t ) x(t)

dt T
Now re-arrange the terms to obtain the following equation:

dx ( t ) dt

x(t) T

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Now we can integrate both sides of this equation:

x(t)  t
dx ( t ) 1

x (0)
x(t)
  
T  0
d

As a result, we obtain:

ln x(t )xx ((0t ))   t

T
This can be re-arranged as follows:

 x(t)  t
ln    
 x (0)  T
Now we can apply exponential function to both sides of this equation in order to eliminate the terms
involving natural logarithm:

t
x(t)
 eT
x (0)
Therefore, in general case:

t
dx ( t )
T  x(t)  0  x ( t )  x (0)  e T
dt
So we can now determine the expression for the voltage across the capacitor as the function of time:

t
dv ( t )
C  R  C  vC (t )  0  vC ( t )  vC (0)  e CR
dt
Substituting particular values of the capacitance and resistance as well as the initial value of the
capacitor voltage, we obtain the following expression for the capacitor voltage:

t
vC ( t )  20 V  e 0.01s

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Notice that as time goes to infinity the exponential term decays to zero:

t
lim e 0.01s
0
t 

Once we have an expression for the capacitor voltage we then also, and immediately, have an
expression for the voltage across the resistor:

t
v R ( t )  vC ( t )  v R ( t )  20 V  e 0.01s

Now we can easily determine the expression for the current in the circuit by simply applying Ohm’s
Law to the above equation:

t t
v (t )
iC (t)  R  i C (0)  e CR  2 A  e 0.01s
R
We can now plot the evolution of the capacitor voltage and current as functions of time:

20

18

16
Capacitor Voltage

14

12

10

0
0 0.01 0.02 0.03 0.04 0.05 0.06 0.07 0.08 0.09 0.1
time (in seconds)

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 2

1.8

1.6
Capacitor Current

1.4

1.2

0.8

0.6

0.4

0.2

0
0 0.01 0.02 0.03 0.04 0.05 0.06 0.07 0.08 0.09 0.1
time (in seconds)

Notice that both the voltage and the current decay to zero rapidly. In fact within 1 second they are
both almost equal to zero. We can find exactly what the voltage actors the capacitor is equal to at time
t = 1 s:

1s
vC (1)  20 V  e 0.01s
 0.00000000000000000000000000000000000000000074 V

Clearly, we do not need to wait for eternity before the capacitor voltage decreases to zero!

3.2.3 Natural Response of RL Circuit

Now we consider a circuit shown below:

We will firstly assume that during the initialisation phase the switch has been in position A for a very
long time (e.g. since the big bang) such that the inductor is fully energised and, therefore, the current

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flowing through the inductor is constant. As mentioned earlier, in this particular course unit we will
normally assume that we have reached steady-state at the end of the initialisation phase, but this is not
a necessary assumption.

The implication of the fact that the current through the inductor is constant and that the steady-state
has been reached is that the voltage drop across the inductor is equal to zero. So the inductor acts as a
short circuit. Therefore, the voltage of the voltage source is now applied directly across the 5 Ω
resistor as shown in the ‘equivalent’ circuit below:

Hence the current that is flowing through the inductor at the end of the initialisation phase is assumed
to be equal to:

vS ( t ) 10 V
i L ( t )  iS ( t )    2A
R 5
Now, at time instant t = 0 we modify the circuit by changing the switch position to B. The resultant
circuit is given as follows:

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Once again we are using the nomenclature for the specific instant in time. In particular, we use the
- +
term t = 0 to define the time just before the switch position changes. Similarly, we will use t = 0 to
define the time just after the switch position changes. Similarly to the case of RC circuit considered in
the previous sub-section, we assume that whilst switch positions may change from t = 0- to t=0+ the
energy stored in the inductor does not. So we assume that:

i L (0 )  i L (0 )  2 A
This behaviour mimics a current source, which would produce the same current regardless of the
changes of circuit topology at time instant t = 0, provided of course that the current is allowed to flow,
i.e. that the inductor is not placed in the open-circuit configuration.

Note that a circuit consisting of a single current source is valid, i.e. it does not violate fundamental
Kirchoff’s Voltage and Kirchoff’s Current Laws. Also, such circuit can be readily solved since the
current flowing through it is equal to 2 A and the voltage across the current source is equal to zero.
Notice that the voltage across the only circuit element in a closed circuit must always be equal to zero
as a direct consequence of Kirchoff’s Voltage Law. We also can observe this phenomenon from
power balance standpoint: if there are no other circuit elements that are either generating or
dissipating energy then the sole component, whatever it may be, does not generate or dissipate any
energy even if its voltage or its current are non-zero.

In this particular case the current of 2 A would flow through this circuit indefinitely:

i L ()  i L (0 )  i L (0 )  2 A

This behaviour is analogous to that of an object released in deep space far away from gravitational
pull of any planet and with no friction. Velocity of that object will remain constant until pulled by
gravitational force of another object OR until it encounters frictional environment. In electrical world
gravitational pull of another object corresponds to presence of electrical sources in a given circuit,
which would lead to forced response, whilst the inclusion of frictional environment corresponds to
insertion of resistance, which would cause the energy stored to be dissipated.

So let us re-look at this particular RL circuit but we will now reposition resistor to the right of the
switch:

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So now, once the switch moves to position B the resulting closed circuit looks as follows:

+
Notice now that there is a resistor in this circuit in addition to an inductor. At the instant t = 0 the
current through inductor will be 2 A regardless of whether there is 1 resistor or 10 resistors or no
resistors at all. So at time instant t = 0+ inductor appears as a current source forcing current of 2 A
through the circuit regardless of circuit’s topology. But what is the voltage across inductor equal to
now? Well, just like in the case of current source, the voltage across inductor is not trivially known
but can be found by applying Kirchoff’s Voltage Law. However, before we apply Kirchoff’s Voltage
Law to this circuit we need to assign voltage polarity. In the case of the resistor we can assign voltage
polarity using passive sign convention. However, in the case of inductor we do not actually know the
voltage polarity so we need to make a guess, shown below. This polarity is assigned following passive
sign convention (positive current flows into the positive terminal of the passive component):

Now we apply Kirchoff’s Voltage Law:

 vL (t )  10 V  0  vL (t )  10 V
So the voltage across inductor, using polarity we assigned, is negative. So we need to reverse the
polarity of the voltage vL(t). However, according to the passive sign convention we would expect the
positive current to flow into rather than out of the positive terminal of the inductor. Does this
discrepancy have significance? Yes it actually does in similar way to the behaviour we noticed in the
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case of RC circuit once the switch was moved from position A to position B. Reversal of the voltage
polarity indicates that the inductor is being de-energised, i.e. that the energy initially stored in the
inductor is being dissipated. Also, looking at the fundamental equation for inductor relating voltage
and the rate of change of current we can observe that negative voltage implies negative rate of change
of current (hence, resulting in the dissipation of energy stored in the inductor):

 t
1
i L ( t )  i L ( t 0 )   v L ()d
L  t 0
As time tends to infinity we expect all of the energy initially stored in the inductor to be dissipated
through the resistor, and this is indeed the case:

lim eL ( t )  0 J
t 

This also implies that:

lim i L ( t )  0 A
t 

Finally, once all the energy stored in the inductor is dissipated then, with no current flowing through
the circuit, the voltage drop across the resistor will reduce to zero:

lim v R ( t )  lim v L ( t )  0 V
t  t 

Similarly to the case of RC circuit we may, however, want to determine the current as a function of
time. In order to do this we would need to solve the following differential equation:

di L ( t ) L di L ( t )
L  i L (t )  R  0    i L (t )  0
dt R dt
This equation is obtained by simply applying KVL to the circuit shown on page 30.

Similarly to the case of RC circuit we can re-express this equation using the standard form:

dx ( t )
T  x(t)  0
dt
In the case of the RL circuit we notice that:

L
T x(t )  i L (t )
R
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The solution of this general differential equation is given as:

t
dx ( t )
T  x(t)  0  x ( t )  x (0)  e T
dt
So we can now determine the expression for the inductor current:

 Rt
L di L ( t )
  i L (t)  0  i L ( t )  i L (0)  e L
R dt
Similarly to RC circuit equation, as time goes to infinity the exponential term decays to zero:

 Rt
lim e L
0
t 

Once we have an expression for the inductor current then we can also determine the expression for the
voltage across the resistor:

 Rt
vR (t)  i L (t)  R  v R ( t )  v R (0)  e L

Now we can easily determine the expressions for current and voltage for the particular circuit we
consider in this section by substituting for appropriate values of inductance, resistance and initial
values of voltage/current:

i L (t )  2 A  e50t vR (t )  10 V  e50t

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Evolution of voltages and currents can be plotted against time and shown in the following graphs:

1.8

1.6
Inductor Current

1.4

1.2

0.8

0.6

0.4

0.2

0
0 0.02 0.04 0.06 0.08 0.1 0.12 0.14 0.16 0.18 0.2
time (in seconds)

10

8
Resistor Voltage

0
0 0.02 0.04 0.06 0.08 0.1 0.12 0.14 0.16 0.18 0.2
time (in seconds)

Notice the similarity between the shapes of the variables obtained for RL circuit with those obtained
for RC circuit.

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3.3 Forced Response of RL and RC Circuits

3.3.1 Introduction
In this section we consider the forced responses of both RC and RL circuit. In both cases we assume,
though this is not necessary, that before time t = 0 inductor and capacitor were energy-free. In other
words, we assume that:

i L (0 )  0 A vC (0 )  0 V
Then we assume that at time t = 0 we modify the configuration of the circuit such that the external
source is suddenly connected to the circuit and we observe how the voltages and currents change as a
result.

We will assume that the voltage/current of the external voltage/current source is constant rather than
time-varying function of time.

It is important to note that the initialisation phase of the natural response is actually identical to the
forced response of RL and RC circuits.

3.3.2 Forced Response of RC Circuit

Let us firstly look at RC circuit:

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We assume that until time t = 0 the switch was in position B:

Assuming that the switch was in position B for sufficiently long time would mean that no energy is
stored in the capacitor at time t = 0-:

iS (0 )  0 A iC (0 )  0 A vC (0 )  0 V

Now, at time instant t = 0 the switch setting changes to position A:

The voltage across the capacitor cannot change instantaneously, therefore:

vC (0 )  vC (0 )  0 V

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 +
Hence, the capacitor behaves as a short circuit at time instant t = 0 :

However, the current flowing through the capacitor can change instantaneously and is given as:

20 V
i C (0  )  i S (0  )   4A
5
This current results in the build up of charge on the plates of the capacitor. Therefore, the voltage
across the plates of the capacitor starts to increase according to the equation:

1
C 
vC (t )   i C ()d

As time tends to infinity the capacitor gets fully charged up and the circuit enters steady-state
operation during which the capacitor voltage remains constant:

dvC ( t )
lim  0 V/s
t  dt
Therefore:

lim i C ( t )  lim iS ( t )  0 A
t  t 

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So when the capacitor is fully charged then it appears as an open-circuit (i.e. for any constant non-
zero voltage the current through it is equal to zero):

Hence, in this particular case:

lim vC ( t )  20 V
t 

Notice that this is the same condition as the one that we reached at the end of the initialisation phase
for the natural response of the RC circuit in section 1.2.2.

Now let us assume that we are actually interested in how the capacitor voltage changes as function of
time. In order to do this we can apply the Kirchoff’s Voltage law to the circuit when the switch is in
the position B:

dvC ( t )
 20V  i C ( t )  R  vC ( t )  0   20 V  C  R   vC ( t )  0
dt
The resulting differential equation can be expressed in the following form:

dvC ( t )
CR   vC ( t )  20 V
dt
Notice the great level of similarity between the forced response equation shown on the previous page
and the differential equation describing natural response of the RC circuit shown in section 3.2.2
(page 24). In fact, the only difference between two equations is in their respective right hand side,
which is equal to zero in the case of the natural response and is equal to the source voltage in the case
of the forced response.

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Similarly to the natural response differential equation, we can express forced response differential
equation using a more general form given as follows:

dx ( t )
T  x(t )  u
dt
Where:

T  C R x ( t )  vC ( t ) u  VS  20 V
Note that u denotes the voltage of the voltage source, which happens to be in this particular case equal
to 20 V. However, u also denotes the steady-state value of the capacitor voltage that will be reached
once the transient response is completed, i.e. as t  ∞. This can be observed by setting any derivative
with respect to time to be equal to zero, which describes steady-state operation by definition:

dx ()
T  x ( )  u      x ( )  u
dt dx ()
0
dt
Solving this differential equation involves similar procedure to the one used to solve the differential
equation related to natural response. Derivation is somewhat more involving and is not provided in
these lecture notes. The resultant response is given as:

dx ( t )  t

T  x(t)  u  x ( t )  u  1  e T 
dt  
In the case of the forced response of RC circuits the expression above becomes:

 t
  t

 T 
x ( t )  u  1  e    R 
vC ( t )  VS  1  e 
C

   

Inspecting this equation we notice that at time t = 0, the exponential term is equal to 1 and therefore:

 t

vC ( t )  VS  1  e CR   vC ( t )  VS  1  1  0 V
  t0

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Also, as time goes to infinity and we reach the steady state:

 t

vC ( t )  VS  1  e R 
C
  vC ( t )  VS  1  0  VS
  t 

We can also express the current flowing out of the voltage source and through the resistor and the
capacitor as a function of time. However, we first have to determine its relation to the capacitor
voltage and the simplest way to do that is to apply Kirchoff’s Voltage Law:

 VS  vC ( t ) 
1
 VS  i C ( t )  R  vC ( t )  0  iC (t) 
R
Therefore:

t
1
i C ( t )   VS  e CR
R
In the case of the particular RC circuit that we are focusing on in this section the general equations
given above become:

 t
 t
v C ( t )  20 V  1  e 0.005s  iC (t)  4 A  e 0.005s
 

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We can now plot the response of the circuit in terms of the capacitor voltage as a function of time:

20

18

16
Capacitor Voltage

14

12

10

0
0 0.005 0.01 0.015 0.02 0.025 0.03 0.035 0.04 0.045 0.05
time (in seconds)

Also we can plot the current flowing through the RC circuit during the forced response as a function
of time:

3.5

2.5
Current

1.5

0.5

0
0 0.005 0.01 0.015 0.02 0.025 0.03 0.035 0.04 0.045 0.05
time (in seconds)

Notice that the current is highest at the very beginning of the forced response, when the capacitor
behaves as a short circuit. As the voltage across the capacitor builds up it then reduces the voltage
drop across the resistor and, consequently, the current flowing through the resistor decreases in value.
Eventually, as the capacitor voltage approaches the value of the source voltage the current converges
to 0 A.

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Finally, we can compute the energy stored in the capacitor at the end of the forced response:

1 1
e C ()   C  vC2 ()   0.001 F  400 V 2  0.2 J
2 2

3.3.3 Forced Response of the RL Circuit

We will also briefly look at the forced response of the RL circuit shown below:

Once again, we will assume (though this is not a necessary assumption) that the switch has been at
position B for a very long time:

Therefore, we assume that the inductor is fully de-energised and no current flows to it prior to
changing switch position at time instant t = 0.

As a result of having fully de-energised inductor:

iS (0 )  0 A i L (0 )  0 A vL (0 )  0 V

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The switch changes position to A at time instant t = 0. The resulting circuit then looks as follows:

Due to the presence of an inductor in this circuit the current cannot change instantaneously:

i L (0 )  i L (0 )  0 A
Therefore, initially this inductor acts as an open circuit, forcing the current to be equal to zero
regardless of the voltage applied:

As a result of the open circuit condition the voltage drop across the inductor must equal the source
voltage at time t = 0+, which can be confirmed by applying Kirchoff’s Voltage Law:

 10 V  0 A  5   vL (0 )  0  vL (0 )  10 V

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The implication of the positive voltage applied across the inductor is that the current flowing through
the inductor will increase at the rate of:

di L ( t ) 1 di L (0 ) 1
  vL (t)   10 V  100 A/s
dt L dt 0.1 H
However as the current increases it also results in an increase of the voltage drop across the resistor.
Hence, the resultant voltage drop across the inductor reduces as time evolves in order to satisfy the
following Kirchoff’s Voltage Law Equation:

 10 V  i L (t )  5   vL (t )  0  vL (t )  10 V  i L (t )  5 

+
Hence, as a result of the current increasing from the initial value of iL(0 ) = 0, the voltage drop across
the resistor increases and, consequently, the voltage drop across the inductor reduces. The impact of
the reduction in the inductor voltage is the reduced rate of change of current. Eventually, after
sufficiently long time the circuit enters steady-state operation during which the current is constant
and, therefore, the voltage drop across the inductor is equal to zero:

di L ( t ) di L ( t )
lim  0 A/s  lim v L ( t )  lim L   0V
t  dt t  t  dt
Therefore, once the current becomes constant the inductor acts as a short circuit:

Now we can calculate the steady-state current by:

10 V
i L ()  i S ()   2A
5

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In order to determine the explicit descriptions of the forced responses of voltages and currents in the
RL circuit as functions of time we determine the differential equation that describes the RL circuit:

di L ( t )
 10 V  i L ( t )  5   v L ( t )  0   10 V  i L ( t )  5   L  0
dt
This differential equation can be put into general form:

dx ( t )
T  x(t )  u
dt
Where:

L VS 10 V
T x(t )  i L (t ) u   2A
R R 5
Note that u denotes the steady state current that will be reached once the transient response is
completed.

This differential equation has already been solved in section 1.3.2 and the resultant solution is given
as:

 t

x ( t )  u  1  e T 
 
In the particular case of RL circuits the solution is given as:

VS  
 Rt
i L (t)  
 1 e L 
R  
We may also want to derive the expression for the inductor voltage as the function of time. This
derivation requires the application of the Kirchoff’s Voltage Law:

 VS  i L (t )  R  vL  0  vL  VS  i L (t )  R
Therefore:

 Rt
v L ( t )  VS  e L

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Notice the similarity between the expression for the inductor voltage in the case of the RL circuit and
the capacitor current in the case of the RC circuit. Also, notice the similarity in the expression for the
inductor current in the case of RL circuits with the expression for the capacitor voltage in the case of
RC circuits.

Using specific values relevant to the particular circuit considered in this section we obtain the
following expressions for the inductor current and voltage as functions of time:

i L (t) 
10 V
5

 1  e 50t  vL (t )  10 V  e50t

We can now plot the response of the circuit in terms of the inductor current and the inductor voltage
as functions of time:

1.8

1.6
Inductor Current

1.4

1.2

0.8

0.6

0.4

0.2

0
0 0.02 0.04 0.06 0.08 0.1 0.12 0.14 0.16 0.18 0.2
time (in seconds)

10

8
Inductor Voltage

0
0 0.02 0.04 0.06 0.08 0.1 0.12 0.14 0.16 0.18 0.2
time (in seconds)

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Finally, we can compute the energy stored in the inductor at the end of the forced response:

1 1
e L ()   L  i 2L ()   0.1 H  4 A 2  0.2 J
2 2

4. RLC Circuits
4.1 Introduction
In this section we will briefly introduce the more complicated type of circuits that include both
inductors and capacitors as well as resistors. These circuits are, for obvious reason, called RLC
circuits.

As a result of including two different types of energy storage elements the responses obtained are also
more complex than those that we observed in the cases of RL and RC circuits. Namely, RLC circuits
can exhibit oscillatory transient behaviour.

Mechanical equivalent of RLC circuit is a well-known mass-spring-damper system illustrated in

figure below:

In this figure k denotes the spring constant, m denotes the mass, c denotes the damping (friction)
coefficient and x denotes vertical displacement.

Note that in the case of mass-spring-damper system there are also two energy storage elements,
namely mass and spring.

In this section we will focus on natural responses of RLC circuits only and not consider forced
responses.

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4.2 Series RLC Circuit
Firstly, we will consider the following type of RLC Circuits in which the three passive components
are connected in series with each other:

In order to analyse this circuit we need to derive differential equation that describes its behaviour. We
derive the corresponding differential equation by applying Kirchoff’s Voltage Law:

v L ( t )  vC ( t )  v R ( t )  0
Now we can express the voltage across the inductor and the resistor in terms of the current flowing
through the circuit:

diS ( t )
L  v C ( t )  iS ( t )  R  0
dt
Furthermore, we can express the current in terms of the capacitor voltage:

dv C ( t )
iS ( t )  C 
dt
Therefore, the differential equation that describes the behaviour of the series RLC circuit is given as
follows:

d 2 vC ( t ) dvC ( t )
LC 2
 v C ( t )  C  R 0
dt dt

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This equation can be re-arranged as follows:

d 2 vC ( t ) dvC ( t )
LC  C  R  vC (t )  0
dt 2 dt
Notice that we now have the second-order derivative of the capacitor voltage with respect to time.
This is the reason why the differential equations describing RLC circuits are termed second-order
differential equations and the RLC circuits themselves are called second-order systems.

Note that the mechanical analogue, which is mass-spring-damper system, is also described using
second order differential equation.

We will discuss the solution of the second-order differential equations such as the one shown above in
section 4.4.

4.3 Parallel RLC Circuit

Another RLC circuit topology that we will briefly consider is shown below:

In this case the three passive circuit components are connected in parallel. In order to derive the
differential equation describing behaviour of this RLC circuit we apply Kirchoff’s Current Law:

0  i L (t )  iC (t )  i R (t)
Since the three components are connected in parallel, the voltage applied across each of them is the
same and denoted as generic v(t). Therefore, we can express each of the currents in terms of the
voltage v(t):

 t
v( t ) dv( t ) 1
i R (t)  iC (t)  C  i L ( t )    v()d  i L (0)
R dt L 0

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Hence, the overall equation of the parallel RLC circuit can now be expressed as:

 t
1 dv( t ) v( t )
0    v()d  C  
L 0 dt R
In order to proceed and obtain differential equation in appropriate form each of the terms is
differentiated with respect to time:

v( t ) d 2 v( t ) 1 dv( t )
0  C 2
 
L dt R dt
This equation can be reformulated and put in the standard form:

d 2 v( t ) 1 dv( t ) 1
   v( t )  0
dt 2 C  R dt LC

4.4 Solving RLC Circuits

In order to determine the response of RLC circuits we need to solve corresponding second-order
differential equations, which is something that you have not yet covered in the Mathematics modules.
Therefore, the methodology of solving such equations is covered on a very superficial and qualitative
level (you will be pleased to know).

When determining the responses of dynamic systems we are interested in two different types of
information: qualitative and quantitative. Qualitative information regarding the response is informing
us about whether the response is stable (convergent) or unstable (divergent). Also, it is informing us
about the general shape of the response, namely whether it is oscillatory or a smooth monotonic one
like the ones we observed in the cases of RC and RL circuits. In addition to qualitative information we
may also be interested to know exactly what values do voltages and currents take as functions of time
in which case we require quantitative information.

In this section we will focus on the qualitative information we obtain from the differential equation
that describes a given system, for example a particular RLC circuit.

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To obtain the qualitative information about the nature of the system’s response we derive the so-called
characteristic equation. This characteristic equation is algebraic rather than differential equation and is
obtained by introducing the new variable that we call ‘s’. The easiest way to introduce characteristic
equation is to consider few examples of differential equations and their corresponding characteristic
equations:

dx ( t )
 2  x(t )  0  s2  0
dt

d 2 x(t ) dx ( t )
 2  0  s 2  2s  0
dt 2 dt

d 2 x(t ) dx ( t )
 2   x(t )  0  s 2  2s  1  0
dt 2 dt

d3x(t) d 2 x ( t ) dx ( t )
3
 2 2
 0  s3  2s 2  s  0
dt dt dt
So we notice from the examples above that the first-order differential equations (such as those that
describe RL and RC circuits) have the corresponding characteristic equations that are first-order
polynomial functions of the new variable s. Also, second-order differential equations (such as those
that describe either RLC circuits or mass-spring-damper mechanical systems) have the corresponding
characteristic equations that are second-order polynomial functions of the variable s.

One important point to note is that the characteristic equation is associated with a given system. So
regardless of whether we are considering natural or forced response the characteristic equation
providing qualitative information about the response remains the same.

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In order to obtain qualitative information about the response of a given system we solve the algebraic
characteristic equation. The roots of this equation then tell us if the response is stable or unstable,
oscillatory or non oscillatory:

 If the roots of the characteristic equation are positive then the response is unstable

 If the roots of the characteristic equation are negative then the response is stable

 If the roots of the characteristic equation are real (not complex) then the response is non-
oscillatory

 If the roots of the characteristic equation are complex then the response is oscillatory

So let us take a particular example shown below:

In this particular case the differential equation describing the response is given by:

d 2 vC ( t ) dvC ( t )
LC 2
 C  R  vC (t )  0
dt dt
Which, using particular values of inductance, capacitance and resistance, becomes:

d 2 vC ( t ) dvC ( t )
0.1H  0.001F   0.001F  10  vC ( t )  0
dt 2 dt

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The corresponding characteristic equation is then given as:

104  s 2  0.01 s  1  0
This is quadratic equation (second-order polynomial) whose roots can be found using the standard
formula for quadratic equations:

 0.01  0.012  4 104

s1, 2 
2 104
s1, 2  50  j86.6
Notice that in this case the roots are negative, therefore the circuit provides stable response. However,
the roots are also complex which means the response is oscillatory.

The actual time-domain response of this particular circuit is given as follows:

Impulse Response
60

50

40

30
Amplitude

20

10

-10
0 0.02 0.04 0.06 0.08 0.1 0.12
Time (sec)

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