2017-18

Physics project work

Topic :- Charging and discharging

of capacitors.

Submitted by: Submitted to:

Jagadeesh Patil Mrs. Hardik
 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I am extremely grateful to Mr. Chirag , Teacher of

Department of Physics for his able guidance and useful
suggestions, which helped me in completing the project
work, in time.
I would also like to thank all the teaching and
non-teaching staff of Physics department who helped me
directly or indirectly in the completion of this project.
Finally, yet importantly, I would like to express
my heartfelt thanks to my beloved parents for their
blessings, my friends/classmates for their help and wishes
for the successful completion of this project.

Jagadeesh Patil
 INTRODUCTION
A capacitor is a passive two-terminal electrical component that stores
potential energy in an electric field. The effect of a capacitor is known
as capacitance. While some capacitance exists between any two electrical
conductors in proximity in a circuit, a capacitor is a component designed to add
capacitance to a circuit. The capacitor was originally known as a condenser.

When two conductors experience a potential difference, for example, when a

capacitor is attached across a battery, an electric field develops across the
dielectric, causing a net positive charge to collect on one plate and net negative
charge to collect on the other plate. No current actually flows through the
dielectric; however, there is a flow of charge through the source circuit. If the
condition is maintained sufficiently long, the current through the source circuit
ceases. However, if a time-varying voltage is applied across the leads of the
capacitor, the source experiences an ongoing current due to the charging and
discharging cycles of the capacitor.
Procedure
 Materials required
Battery, capacitor, voltmeter, connecting wires, stopwatch,
resistor(bulb)
 Theory
For a given capacitor, the charge Q on the capacitor is proportional to
the potential difference V between the plates.

Thus, Q ∝ V

Or, Q=CV
The prpotionality constant C is called the capacitance of the
capacitor. It depends on the shape, size and geometrical placing of
the condoctors and the medium between them.
The SI unit of capacitance is coulomb per volt which is written as
farad(F).
Charging and discharging of capacitors
Charging

When a capacitor is connected to a battery, positive charge appears on

one plate and negative charge on the other. The potential difference
between the plates ultimately becomes equal to the emf of the battery,
now the capacitor is fully charged and the current stops flowing
through the circuit. The charging phase is over.

Discharing

When the capacitor is disconnected from the battery and is attached to

a conducting wire instead the capacitor starts to discharge through the
resistor and the voltage between the ends of the capacitor gradually
drops to zero.
 aIM
The purpose of this experiment is to investigate the charging and
discharging of the capacitor. In this experiment a capacitor is charged
and discharged and the time taken is recorded at equal intervals.
cONCLUSION
 RESULTS

Charging of a capacitor Discharging of a capacitor

Voltage (V) Time (t) Voltage (V) Time (t)

0 0 3.88 0

1.88 5 2.16 5

3.22 10 1.44 10

4.22 15 0.85 15

4.68 20 0.50 20

4.97 25 0.30 25

5.14 30 0.18 30

5.23 35 0.11 35

5.30 40 0.07 40

5.35 45 0.00 45
 CERTIFICATE

This is to certify that Jagadeesh Patil of class 12th has

successfully completed the investigatory project on the
topic “Charging and discharging of capacitors” under
the guidance of Mr. Chirag gupta during the year 2017-
2018 in the partial fulfillment of the physics practical
examination conducted by CBSE.