SPRINGFIELDS

SESSION-2024-25
SUBJECT PHYSICS (042)
PROJECT FILE ON CHARGING AND DISCHARGING OF
CAPACITOR
SUBMITTED BY : SUBMITTED TO:
HANSHIKA MALIK PRABHAT SIR
CLASS XII (Science) PGT(PHYSICS)
ROLLno:
Acknowledgement

I would like to express my special thanks

of gratitude to my teacher Ms Suneeta
Mam as well as our principal Dr.
Pratiksha Dixit who gave me the golden
opportunity to do this wonderful project
on the Topic- Charging and discharging

CERTIFICAT
E
This is to certify that HANSHIKA
MALIK of class 12 A(SCIENCE)
has successfully complete the
project on the Topic -Charging
and Discharging of Capacitor in
RC Circuit under the guidance of
Mr.Prabhat sir during the year
2024-25.

Certificate
SIGN OF EXTERNAL EXAMINER SIGN OF TEACHER

This is to certify that Hanshika Malik has

successfully completed the project file on
under my guidance and supervision. I am satisfied
 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
I would like to express my immense
gratitude to my physics teacher Mr.
Prabhat Sir for the help and guidance he
provided for completing this project.
I would also thank my parents who gave
their ideas and inputs in making
this project. Most of all I thank our school
management, for providing us the facilities
and opportunity to do this project.

-HANSHIKA MALIK
- XII A (SCIENCE)

INDEX
SRNO TOPIC PAGENO
1 INTRODUCTION 1-4

INTRODUCTION
An R-C circuit is a circuit containing a resistor
and capacitor in series to a power source.
Such circuits find very important applications
in various areas of science and in basic
circuits which act as building blocks of modern
technological devices. It should be really
helpful if we get comfortable with the
terminologies charging and discharging of
capacitors.
Charging of Capacitor:
A capacitor is a passive two-terminal
electrical component used to store energy
in an electric field. In the hydraulic
analogy, charge carriers flowing through a
wire are analogous to water flowing
through a pipe. A capacitor is like a rubber
membrane sealed inside a pipe. Water
molecules cannot pass through the
membrane, but some water can move by
stretching the membrane. The analogy
clarifies a few aspects of capacitors:
 The flow of current alters the charge on a
capacitor, just as the flow of water
changes the position of the membrane.
More specifically, the effect of an electric
 current is to increase the charge of one
plate of the capacitor and decrease the
charge of the other plate by an
equal amount. This is just like how, when
water flow moves the rubber membrane,
it increases the amount of water on one
side of the membrane and decreases the
amount of water to other side.
 The more a capacitor is charged, the
larger its voltage drop i.e., the more it
"pushes back" against the charging
current. This is analogous to the fact that
the more a membrane is stretched, the
more it pushes back on the water.
 Current can flow "through" a capacitor
even though no individual electron can
get from one side to the other. This is
analogous to the fact that water can flow
through the pipe even though no water
molecule can pass through the rubber
membrane. Of course, the flow cannot
continue the same direction forever; the
capacitor will experience dielectric
breakdown, and analogously the membrane
will eventually break.
 The capacitance describes how much
charge can be stored on one plate of a
capacitor for a given "push" (voltage drop). A
very stretchy, flexible membrane
corresponds to a higher capacitance than
a stiff membrane.
 A charged-up capacitor is storing potential
energy, analogously to a stretched
membrane
Discharging of Capacitor:
Using hydraulic analogy only we can
understand that when the capacitor is
charged the membrane is stretched,
but now if you allow the water to come
out slowly and let the membrane relax,
then it is called discharging of
capacitor. In other words, when the
charge on each of the plates becomes
zero and the potential difference across
its terminals drops to zero. Below is a
graphical description of capacitor as a
pipe with a membrane: -
Materials Required
o Breadboard
o 100µF capacitor
o 1 MΩ resistor
o Multi-meter
 o 9V battery
o Wire stripper, connecting wires,
battery connector
o Stopwatch

THEORY
The time constant tau(t) for an RC circuit is
given by the formula:
T=R×C\tau = R \times CT=R×C
where:
 Tau(T) is the time constant in seconds.
 R is the resistance in ohms (Ω).
 C is the capacitance in farads (F).
The time constant defines the time it takes for
the voltage across the capacitor to reach
approximately 63% of its final value during
charging or decrease to about 37% during
discharging.
Experimental Setup:
1. Charging Circuit:
o Connect the resistor (R) in series with
the capacitor (C).
o Connect this series combination to the
power supply (DC source).
o Connect the voltmeter across the
capacitor to measure the voltage.
o Use the switch to control the charging
process.
2. Discharging Circuit:
 After the capacitor has been charged,
disconnect the power supply and close the
 switch to allow the capacitor to discharge
through the resistor.
 Measure the voltage across the capacitor
during the discharging phase using the
voltmeter.

Procedure:
1. Charging Phase:
o Set up the circuit as described in the
experimental setup.
o Close the switch to begin charging the
capacitor.
 o Note the voltage across the capacitor
at regular time intervals (e.g., every 1
second) using the voltmeter.
o Record the time and voltage data until
the capacitor is nearly fully charged
(whe  n the voltage approaches the
supply voltage V0V_0V0).
2 Discharging Phase:
o After the capacitor has fully charged,
disconnect the power supply and close
the switch to allow the capacitor to
discharge.
o Record the voltage across the
capacitor at regular intervals as it
discharges.
o Observe the voltage decay over time.
3 Repeat for Different Values of R
and C:
o You can experiment with different
resistors (R) or capacitors (C) to
observe how the charging and
discharging curves change.
 o For each set of values, calculate the
time constant τ\tauτ and compare it
with your experimental observations.

Observations:
1.During charging, the voltage across the
capacitor increases exponentially.
2.During discharging, the voltage across
the capacitor decreases exponentially.
3.The time constant τ=RC determines how
quickly the capacitor charges or
discharges. A larger Tau(T) means a
slower charging/discharging process.

Observation
table
 Graphical
representation

Plot graph of voltage vs time:

Time on X axis voltage on Y axis:

FOR CHARGING:

FOR DISCHARGING:
CALCULATIOn
Now since the Graph are very much similar to
the graph of charging and discharging of
capacitor.
At τ=100s, during charging of capacitor the
voltage on capacitor is 5.69 volt as it is
observed in the experiment. Now using the
charging formula:
V= 9(1-e-t/t)
V= 9(1-1/e)
V= 5.67 ~ 5.69
Which is achieved experimentally as well.
Similarly, during discharging,
V= 9-e-1
V= 3.32 ~ 3.30
Which is achieved experimentally as well.

CONCLUSION
Hence it is verified experimentally that 63%
charge is there on capacitor after time
constant during charging and 63% charge is
lost at time constant during discharging.

PRECAUTIONS
1.Do all the connection carefully
2.Do all the connection neat and tight
3.Do not connect Led without resistance
4.Keep yourself safe from high voltage
5.Before doing any experiment please consult

to your subject teacher or lab assistance

BIBLIOGRAPHY
For successfully completing my
project I have taken help from