What is RC Circuit?
RC Circuit is a special type of circuit that has a resistor and a capacitor. These are two main components of this type of circuit and these can be connected in either series or parallel combinations. this circuit will consume energy because of the presence of a resistor in the circuit. The circuit can be driven by either a voltage source or a current source. The capacitor in the circuit will store energy by charging and discharging which will lead to the change in time behavior of the circuit.
RC Circuit
Resistor
A resistor is a passive element which has two terminals. It restricts the flow of current in circuits. It consume energy and dissipates the energy in the form of heat. Resistance is measured in terms of its characteristics resistance and it is measured in ohms. Resistance is used in Ohm’s law for developing a relation between current and voltage. It used for limiting current and dividing voltage in the circuit.
Resistance is the fundamental property of which opposes the flow of current.
There are many factors that affects the resistance like :
- Different Materials have different resistivity.
- The length of the conductor also affect resistance.
- The cross sectional area of a conductor
[Tex]R=\rho \frac{L}{A} \newline where,\rho\: is\: a\: constant\: called\: resistivity\: [/Tex]
Capacitor
Capacitor is another passive element it also has two terminals. Its function is to store energy. It is made using of two conductive plates which is separated by a dielectric material. When the current flows through it the electrons get accumulated on the plates and hence energy is stored. It can charge and discharge itself time to time which influences the time behavior of the circuit. It is used in filtering, timing and energy storage in circuits.
Capacitance is the property of capacitor which is measured in farads(F). It stores the energy in electric field. The value of capacitance is dependent on the dielectric material present between the plates.
[Tex]C=\frac{Q}{V}\newline C=\varepsilon\frac{A}{d} [/Tex]
Where,
- C is the capacitance .
- Q is the charge stored.
- V is the voltage across the capacitor.
- [Tex]\varepsilon [/Tex] is the permittivity of the material that is present between the plates.
- A is the surface area.
- d is the separation between the plates.
RC Circuit
In this article, we will discuss about RC circuits. We will discuss the main two elements of the circuit then we will look into the types of RC circuits (series and parallel). We will discuss the power in the series circuit and their equations. We will then look into the step response which includes the forced and natural response. We will also discuss the charging and discharging of the circuit. Later in the article, we will discuss some applications of RC circuits.
Table of Content
- RC Circuit
- Charging of Capacitor
- Time Constant
- Types
- Step Response
- RC Circuit Charging
- RC Circuit Discharging
- Applications
- Solved Examples