PHYS 102 Lecture Notes - Lecture 16: Rc Circuit, Exponential Decay, Capacitor Discharge Ignition

• School: McGill University
• Department: Physics
• Course: PHYS 102
• Professor: Nick Provatas

Document Summary

8th note) diagram in question 16 from march. V in capacitor is now equal to e and there is no current flow through the right branch with the capacitor. Change in voltage = -(-ir) - (q/c) - (-e) Once the switch in the circuit above is closed, the capacitor starts to discharge; the current flows through the circuit during the discharge process (charge on capacitor initially is qo -> maximum) Charge on capacitor will follow an exponential decay curve. From q(t), we can find vc(t), vr(t) and i(t) The capacitor in the circuit below is charged to an initial value of qo and when the switch is closed; it discharges through a resistor as shown. In rc circuit, current flows from battery until capacitor is fully charged. It is less than the energy provided by the battery due to energy dissipated as heat through the resistor. Tau = reqc; both of the resistors participate in the discharge.