Capacitors: Review

A capacitor is a device that stores electrical potential

energy by storing separated + and charges
2 conductors separated by insulating medium
+ charge put on one conductor, equal amount of charge
put on the other conductor
A battery or power supply typically supplies
the work necessary to separate the charge
Simplest form of capacitor is the
parallel plate capacitor
2 parallel plates, each with same area A,
separated by distance d
Charge +Q on one plate, Q on the other
Looks like a sandwich on a circuit diagram
Capacitors: Review
The charge Q on and voltage V across a capacitor
are related through the capacitance C


Capacity to hold charge for a given V
1 F is very large unit: typical values of C are F, nF, or pF
Capacitance depends on the geometry of the plates and
the material (dielectric) between the plates
Static description of capacitors
A dynamic description of capacitor behavior comes
from taking the time derivative of the above:
Current passed by a capacitor
depends on rate of change of V
V
Q
C =
Units: C / V = Farad (F)
dt
dV
C I =
Capacitors: Review
Waterpipe analogy of a capacitor
Capacitor can be regarded as an enlargement in a water
pipe with a flexible membrane stretched across the
enlargement (see figure below)
No water actually passes completely through pipe, but a
surge of water flows out of the righthand pipe
For capacitor, no DC current flows through, but AC
current does
A stiff (flexible) membrane
corresponds to small (large)
capacitance
(Introductory Electronics, Simpson, 2
nd
Ed.)
RC Circuits: Review
Consider a circuit with a resistor and an uncharged
capacitor in series with a battery:







Voltage across capacitor increases with time according to:


A = V
i
since V = 0 at t = 0
V
i
= maximum (battery) voltage (only reached at t = ,
but 99% of V
i
reached in t = 5t)
( )
RC t
i
e V V
/
1

=
R
V V
I
dt
dV
C
i

= =

RC t
i
Ae V V
/
+ =

V
V
i

0.63V
i

V
V
i
V
V
i

(Lab 21)
RC Circuits: Review
Consider a circuit with a charged capacitor, a
resistor, and a switch:





Before switch is closed, V = V
i
and Q = Q
i
= CV
i

After switch is closed, capacitor discharges and voltage
across capacitor decreases exponentially with time:


RC t
i
e V V
/
=
R
V
I
dt
dV
C = =

t = RC = time constant
V
V
i

0.37V
i

(Lab 21)
RC Circuits: Differentiators
Now consider the series RC circuit as a voltage
divider, with the output corresponding to the voltage
across the resistor:



The voltage across C is V
in
V, so:

If RC is small, then and


Thus the output differentiates the input!
Simple rule of thumb: differentiator works well if
( )
R
V
I V V
dt
d
C = =
in
R
V
dt
dV
C ~
in

) ( ) (
in
t V
dt
d
RC t V =
dt dV dt dV / /
in
<<
in out
V V <<
(The Art of Electronics, Horowitz and
Hill, 2
nd
Ed.)
(Lab 22)
RC Circuits: Differentiators




Output waveform when driven by square pulse input:







What would happen if t = RC were too big? (See Fig. 1.38 in
the textbook for an indication of what would happen)
(The Art of Electronics, Horowitz and
Hill, 2
nd
Ed.)
RC Circuits: Integrators
Now flip the order of the resistor and capacitor, with
the output corresponding to the voltage across the
capacitor:



The voltage across R is V
in
V, so:

If RC is large, then and


Thus the output integrates the input!
Simple rule of thumb: integrator works well if
R
V V
dt
dV
C I

= =
in
R
V
dt
dV
C
in
~

}
+ = constant ) (
1
) (
in
dt t V
RC
t V
in
V V <<
in out
V V <<
(The Art of Electronics, Horowitz and
Hill, 2
nd
Ed.)
(Lab 23)
RC Circuits: Integrators




Output waveform when driven by square pulse input:







What would happen if t = RC were too small? (See Fig. 1.33
in the textbook)
(The Art of Electronics, Horowitz and
Hill, 2
nd
Ed.)
(H&H)
Inductors: Review
Inductors act as current stabilizers
The larger the inductance in a circuit, the larger the
opposition to the rate of change of the current
Remember that resistance is a measure of the opposition
to current
The rate of current change in an inductor depends
on the voltage applied across it
Putting a voltage across an inductor causes
the current to rise as a ramp
Note the difference between inductors and capacitors
For capacitors, supplying a constant current causes the voltage to
rise as a ramp
An inductor is typically a coil of wire
(hence its appropriate circuit symbol)
dt
dI
L V =
Voltage vs. Current in AC Circuits: Review
The RLC Series Circuit: Review





The instantaneous current in the circuit is the same
at all points in the circuit

The net instantaneous voltage Av supplied by the AC
source equals the sum of the instantaneous voltages
across the separate elements
Series circuit consisting of a
resistor, an inductor, and a
capacitor connected to an AC
generator
ft I i t 2 sin
max
=
L C R
v v v v A + A + A = A
The RLC Series Circuit: Review
But voltages measured with an AC voltmeter (V
rms
)
across each circuit element do not sum up to the
measured source voltage
The voltages across each circuit
element all have different phases
(see figure at right)
We use the algebra of complex
numbers to keep track of the
magnitude and phases of
voltages and currents
V(t) = Re(Ve
jet
) I(t) = Re(Ie
jet
)
where e = 2tf
V, I are complex representations
j = (1)
1/2
(see Appendix B)
(Phase relations for RLC circuit)
Impedance
With these conventions for representing voltages
and currents, Ohms law takes a simple form:
V = IZ
V = complex representation of voltage applied across a
circuit = V
0
e
j|

I = complex representation of circuit current = I
0
e
j|

Z = total complex impedance (effective resistance) of the
circuit
For a series circuit: Z
1
+ Z
2
+ Z
3
+
For a parallel circuit: 1 / Z = 1 / Z
1
+ 1 / Z
2
+ 1 / Z
3
+
The impedance of resistors, capacitors, and
inductors are given by:
Z
R
= R (resistors)
Z
C
= X
C
= j / eC = 1 / jeC (capacitors)
Z
L
= X
L
= jeL (inductors)
Complex Representation Example
The presence of the complex number j simply takes
into account the phase of the current relative to the
voltage
Example: place an inductor across
the 110 V (rms) 60 Hz power line
The phase of the voltage is arbitrary,
so let V = V
0
V(t) = Re(Ve
jet
)
V(t) = Re(Vcoset + j Vsinet) = V
0
coset
For an inductor, Z
C
= j eL
So the (complex) current is given by: I = V / Z = V
0
/ j eL
= V
0
j / eL
The actual current is then I(t) = Re(Ie
jet
)
= Re(Icoset + j Isinet) = (V
0
/ eL)sinet
current lags the voltage by 90
Phasor Diagrams
Can also use phasor diagrams to keep track of
magnitude and phases of voltages
x axis represents the real part of the circuit impedance
(resistance)
y axis represents the imaginary part of the circuit
impedance (capacitive or inductive reactance)
Draw vectors to represent the impedances (with their
signs); add the vectors to determine combined series
impedance
Axes also represent (complex) voltages in a series circuit
since the current is the same everywhere, so voltage is
proportional to the impedance

Phasor Diagrams
Example: series RC circuit






Total (input) voltage is obtained from a vector sum
Note that the vectors indicate phase as well as amplitude
Remember the mnemonic ELI the ICE man
In an inductive circuit (L), the voltage E leads the
current I
In a capacitive circuit (C), the current I leads the
voltage E
(Student Manual for The Art of
Electronics, Hayes and Horowitz,
2
nd
Ed.)
| = phase angle between
input voltage and voltage
across resistor or between
input voltage and current
|
AC Power
The instantaneous power delivered to any circuit
element is given by P(t) = V(t)I(t)
Usually, however, it is much more useful to consider
the average power: P
ave
= Re(VI*) = Re(V*I)
V and I are complex rms amplitudes
Example: hook up an inductor to a
1 V (rms) sinusoidal power supply
V = 1
I = V / Z
L
= V / jeL = j V / eL
P
ave
= Re(VI*) = Re(j V / eL) = 0
Same result holds for a capacitor (this fun activity is free!)
All power delivered to an AC circuit is dissipated by
the resistors in the circuit:
In general: where cos| = power factor
R V R I P
R
/
2 2
rms ave
= =
| cos
rms in, rms ave
V I P =
RC Circuits: HighPass Filters
Lets interpret the differentiator RC circuit
as a frequency-dependent voltage divider
(frequency domain):





Z
C
= j / eC = j / 2t f C
As f increases (decreases), Z
C
decreases (increases)
Thus V
out
(= voltage across R) increases with increasing f
and V
out
/ V
in
1
Circuit passes high-frequency input voltage to output
R
1

R
2

Resistoronly divider:
in
2 1
2
out
V
R R
R
V
+
=
RC differentiator circuit:
R
C
(Student Manual for The Art of
Electronics, Hayes and Horowitz,
2
nd
Ed.)
(Lab 25)
RC Circuits: LowPass Filters
Now simply switch the order of the resistor
and capacitor in the series circuit (same
order as the integrator circuit earlier):





Z
C
= j / eC = j / 2t f C
As f increases (decreases), Z
C
decreases (increases)
Thus V
out
(= voltage across C) increases with decreasing f
and V
out
/ V
in
1
Circuit passes low-frequency input voltage to output
R
1

R
2

Resistoronly divider:
in
2 1
2
out
V
R R
R
V
+
=
RC integrator circuit:
(Student Manual for The Art of
Electronics, Hayes and Horowitz,
2
nd
Ed.)
R
C
(Lab 24)
RC Filter Frequency Response
The point where the output turns the corner is
called the 3dB point
Output is attenuated by 3dB relative
to the input
Special because a signal reduced by 3dB delivers half its
original power
A graph of V
out
(or V
out
/ V
in
) vs. f is called the
frequency response of the RC filter:
RC
f
t 2
1
dB 3
=
(for both types of filters)
(Student Manual for The Art of Electronics, Hayes and Horowitz, 2
nd
Ed.)
Example Problem #1.25
Solution details given in class.
R
C
Use a phasor diagram to
obtain the low-pass filter
response formula (V
out
vs. V
in
)
on p. 37 of Horowitz and Hill.
Example Problem:
Additional Exercise #1.3
Solution details given in class.
Design a rumble filter for audio. It should
pass frequencies greater than 20 Hz (set
the 3dB point at 10 Hz). Assume zero
source impedance (perfect voltage source)
and 10k (minimum) load impedance (thats
important so that you can choose R and C
such that the load doesnt affect the filter
operation significantly).