Week # 6

Lecture # 3

EE-118

BASIC ELECTRICITY
&
ELECTRONICS
Capacitor & Inductor

By Engr, Muhammad Umair Hassan

PPD, NEDUET
Muhammad Umair Hassan @ Department of Polymer and Petrochemical Engineering, NEDUET
Electric Field:
The electric field is represented by elecric flux line, which are drawn to
indicatethe strength of the electric field at any point around the charged body.
The flux per unit area (flux density) is represented by the capital letter D and is
determined by

The electric field strength (designated by the capital script letter  ) at a point is
the force acting on a unit positive charge at that point; that is,
Capacitor
This element, constructed simply of two conducting surfaces separated by
the air gap, is called a capacitor.

Capacitance is a measure of a capacitor’s ability to store charge on its

plates—in other words, its storage capacity
Gggg xxk
Besides resistors, capacitors are one of the most common electronic
components that you will encounter. Sometimes capacitors are components
that one would deliberately add to a circuit. Other times, capacitors are side
effects that come about even if we don’t want them.
The simplest capacitor is formed by an insulating material (known as
dielectric) sandwiched between two parallel conducting plates. When a
voltage potential is applied to the two ends, charge accumulates on the plates.
In capacitors, voltage v is proportional to the charged stored q. The constant of
proportionality is the capacitance C. Since current is the rate of change of
charge (i.e. the flow of charge), the relationship between v and I involves
differentiation or integration.
Capacitance is measured in Farads.
Since there is an insulating layer between the two conducting plates of a capacitor, DC current
cannot flow through a capacitor. So always remember: A CAPACITOR IN SERIES BLOCKS DC part
of a signal. However, alternating or changing current can flow through a capacitor. The best
analogy is the flow of air from inside to outside of the building. Assuming that the window is
completely sealed, air inside the building cannot flow to the outside in spite of the pressure
difference between the two sides. The pressure difference is analogous to the voltage potential
at the two end of the capacitor. The air flow is like DC current.
However, if the air pressure difference is alternating, there can be air movement on both sides
as shown in the diagram.
Connecting two capacitors in parallel results in their capacitances ADD-ed
together (just like resistors in series).
Connecting two capacitors in series results in their capacitances combined in a
product/sum manner, similar to two parallel resistances.
Exponential signals are interesting. Here the rate of change is shown in terms of
the time constant t (tau).
The following facts are worth remembering:
1.For exponential rise, the signal reaches 63% at one t, and 95% at 3t.
2.For exponential fall, the signal reaches 37% at one t, and 5% at 3t.
For the circuit shown here, assume the capacitor has zero charge (and 0v) at t= 0. The switch is closed,
connecting the circuit to the constant voltage source Vs. Initially the voltage drop across the resistor is
Vs. A current of Vs/R flows from the source to capacitor. However, a Vc increases, the current I
decreases. This results in the exponential drop of changing current and an exponential rise of the
capacitor voltage.
For now, it is important to consider the parameter known as the time constant. If R is large, the
charging current I is small, and it takes longer to charge the capacitor. For a given R, if C is large, it can
store more charge for a given voltage, therefore the time needed to charge a capacitor to a certain
voltage is proportional to the produce R x C. RC is known as the time constant of this circuit.
 We will now derive the exponential equation formally. .
𝑑𝑣 Use boundary condition: when t= 0, 𝑣= 0:
𝑅𝐶 +𝑣 =𝑉
𝑑𝑡
0
𝑑𝑣 𝑉−𝑣 = ln 𝑉 − 0 + 𝐴
= 𝑅𝐶
𝑑𝑡 𝑅𝐶 𝐴 = − ln 𝑉
𝑑𝑡 𝑑𝑣 Therefore
=
𝑅𝐶 𝑉−𝑣 𝑡
= ln 𝑉 − 𝑣 + 𝑙𝑛𝑉 = 𝑙𝑛 𝑉
Integrate both sides, we get: 𝑅𝐶
𝑉−𝑣
𝑡
-𝑅𝐶 = ln 𝑉 − 𝑣 + 𝐴
𝑉
𝑒 −𝑡/𝑅𝐶 = = 𝑣 = 𝑉(1 − 𝑒 −𝑡/𝑅𝐶 )
𝑉−𝑣
where A constant of integration
Let us now consider what happens if we charge up the capacitor, then at t = 0, discharges it. The
equations is also easy to solve and it is clear that the discharge profiles in V and I also follow the
exponential curves.
There are many different types of capacitors depending on the method of
construction and the materials used. The most common three types are:
polystyrene, ceramic and electrolytic. You will choose which to use depending
on the operating signal frequency. Polystyrene and ceramic capacitors are good
for a wide frequency range, particularly at very high frequencies (say over
1MHz). However, they only come in fairly low capacitance value.

For large capacitances, one would use electrolytic capacitors. Electrolytic

capacitors are only good for fairly low frequencies. Furthermore, they have
polarity, i.e. it has a positive and a negative terminal. You must connect the
capacitor +ve terminal to the more positive voltage than the –ve terminal.
ENERGY STORED BY A CAPACITOR
It stores the energy in the form of an
electric field between the conducting
surfaces. A plot of the voltage, current,
and power to a capacitor during the
charging phase is shown in Fig. The
power curve can be obtained by finding
the product of the voltage and current at
selected instants of time and connecting
the points obtained. The energy stored is
represented by the shaded area under
the power curve. Using calculus, we can
determine the area under the curve.
EXAMPLE. For the circuit in Fig.
EXAMPLE For the network in Fig
SERIES AND PARALLEL INDUCTORS COMBINE JUST LIKE
RESISTORS DO.
Energising an inductor is similar to that of charging a capacitor. Except
that the inductor CURRENT (as suppose to the capacitor voltage) is
rising exponentially. The inductor voltage is decreasing exponentially.
The time constant is L/R as suppose to RC.
We can perform the same analysis with an inductor being energised (we don’t call this
charging). At t=0, when the switch is first closed, NO CURRENT FLOWS, since the current
through an inductor cannot change instantaneously. Since no current flows, voltage across the
inductor must be V, the same as the voltage source. Therefore as soon as the switch is closed,
v goes from 0 to V instantaneously! This is a characteristic of a LR circuit.
The current rises from 0, therefore the voltage drop across the resistor R increases, decreasing
the inductor voltage. Solving the first-order differential equation provides the exact equations
for iL and vL.
Similarly when we de-energise the inductor, we get the exponential
characteristics as we did for discharging the capacitor.
The take-home message that you must remember is that:
• Capacitor tries to keep its voltage constant.
• Inductor tries to keep its current constant.
EXAMPLE Reduce the network into its simplest form

Homework