GYAN BHARATI SCHOOL
PHYSICS INVESTIGATORY PROJECT
AISSCE 2023-24
NAME: Harsh Bhandari
CLASS: 12th A
ROLL NO:
CERTIFICATE
This is to certify that Harsh Bhandari of
class 12thA has successfully completed the
project on the topic charging and
discharging of capacitor in RC circuit under
the guidance of Mr. Anil Batra during the
year 2023-24.
Mr. Anil Batra
Physics department
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
On completion of my investigatory
project, I feel extremely delighted but it
wasn’t a single effort. First of all, I would
like to thank my parents for helping me
and encouraging me to continue this
project and helping me financially as well.
Then I would like to thank my mentor and
physics teacher Mr. Anil Batra for teaching
me the basics of this investigation.
INDEX
SERIAL NO. TOPIC
1. AIM
2. INTRODUCTION
3. REQUIREMENTS
4. THEORY
5. PREOCEDURE
6. OBSERVATIONS
7. GRAPH
8. CONCLUSION
9. PRECAUTIONS
10. BIBLIOGRAPHY
AIM
To verify that 63% charge is stored in a
capacitor in a RC circuit at its time
constant and 63% charge remains when
capacitor is discharged and hence plot a
graph between voltage and time.
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.
1. 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
lowing 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 low of current alters the charge on a
capacitor, just as the low 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
low moves the rubber membrane, it
increases the amount of water on one
side of the membrane, and decreases the
amount of water on the 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 low “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 low
through the pipe even though no water
molecule can pass through the rubber
membrane. Of course, the low 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.
2. 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.
MATERIALS REQUIRED
BREADBOARDS
100µF CAPACITOR
MΩ RESISTOR
MULTI-METER
9V BATTERY
WIRE STRIPPER, CONNECTING WIRES,
BATTERY CONNECTOR
STOPWATCH
THEORY
When a capacitor of capacitance C is
connected in series with a resistor R and then
connected to a battery of emf E it gets
charged but since some resistance has been
introduced, this charging process takes some
time and hence the potential difference
between the plates of the capacitor varies as
an exponential function of time, i.e.,
V∝ext
The circuit diagram for this experiment is
given below:
Applying Kirchhoff’s law in the above circuit
during charging i.e., capacitor is connected to
a battery
E - VC - IR = 0…………………………..............(i)
Q
Vc = C
Putting above in eq. (i)
Q
E - C - IR = 0
Since,
dQ
I= dt Therefore,
Q dQ
E - C - dt R = 0
Q dQ
E - C = dt R
dQ
EC - Q = dt RC
Integrating both sides,
= ∫ EC1−Q dQ
t Q
1
∫ RC dt
0 0
EC−Q t
-ln( EC ) = RC ……………………………………..(ii)
= e-t/RC
Q
1- EC
Hence, we get
Q = EC(1 – e-t/RC)
Since, EC = Q0
Q=Q0(1 – e-t/RC)……………………………………..(iii)
Where,
Q → charge at time T
Q0 → maximum charge
Also,
Q = VC and Q0 = V0C
Where,
V → voltage at time T
V0 → maximum voltage
Therefore from eq. (iii)
CV = CV0(1 – e-t/RC)
V = V0(1 – e-t/RC)
Thus, equation for discharging
V = V0(e-t/RC)
When RC = t, then equation becomes
V = V0(e-1), which on solving gives
V = 0.63V0 ,i.e.,
The voltage on capacitor at time ‘t = RC’
becomes 63% of the max voltage, which
means 63% of the total charge has been
stored in the capacitor.
This product of R and C has been given a new
name, i.e., time constant and is denoted by τ ,
which means for any capacitor in RC circuit
63% of total charge is at time constant.
In my experiment I have used a 100 μF
capacitor and 1 MΩ resistor thus, time
constant = 100 × 10-6 × 106 = 100 seconds.
GRAPH OF CHARGING AND
DICHARGING OF CAPACITOR
PROCEDURE
Connect all the components in card board
Now take a multi-meter and place them in
between the 2 terminals
Now take the battery and its terminal
across the terminal of the capacitor and
start the stopwatch. Note the readings at
20sec intervals and write them down. Take
10 readings and if required the 20sec gap
could be increased because as the time
passes by the change in voltage becomes
smaller and smaller.
Now let the capacitor be charged up to 460
secs because then it will become 99.99%
charged. Now remove the battery and now
attach a wire in place of the battery
terminals and again note the multimeter
readings changing and record them.
Plot a graph between voltage and time for
charging as well as discharging
S.NO. MULTIMETER MULTIMETER TIME
READING WHILE READING WHILE (in sec)
CHARGING DISCHARGING
(in volts) (in volts)
1. 0.00 8.95 0
2. 1.65 7.34 20
3. 3.02 6.00 40
4. 4.11 4.91 60
5. 4.90 4.03 80
6. 5.69 3.30 100
7. 6.72 2.21 140
8. 7.00 1.54 180
9. 8.12 0.74 250
10. 8.40 0.43 300
OBSERVATIONS
GRAPHS
CALCULATION
Now since the graph are very similar to
charging and discharging of capacitor.
At t = 100s, during charging of capacitor the
voltage on the capacitor is 5.69V as it is
observed in the experiment. Now using the
charging formula:
V = 9(1 – e-1)
1
V = 9(1 - e )
V = 5.67 ≈ 5.69
Which was achieved experimentally as well.
Similarly, during discharging
V = 9 – e-1
V = 3.32 ≈ 3.30
Which was also 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
Do all the connections carefully
Connections should be neat and clean
Do not connect LED without resistance
Keep yourself safe from high voltage
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Wikipedia.com
Google search engine
Youtube.com
Physics NCERT book for class 12
Concepts of physics part 2 by H.C. Verma
