School Of Engineering Technology and Applied Science (SETAS)

Advanced Manufacturing and Automation Technology (AMAT)

ROBO112 – Lab Instructions Section : __________ Date:

Experiment No. 7 GROUP : ___________

Status and Signature :
Name : ______________________________
Capacitor Charging and
Discharging Circuits Name :______________________________

Objective To observe and analyze the reactions and characteristics of R-C (Resistor-Capacitor) circuits and to
plot the graphs of the Universal Charge/Discharge Time Constant Curves.

Required Components and Instruments

 4.7 MΩ Fixed Resistor

 10μF Electrolytic Capacitor
 SPST Toggle Switch or DIP Switch
 Timer with second’s readout (eg: watch, phone, etc.)
 Power supply
 Digital Multi-meter
Procedure Figure 1

Part 1- Charging RC Circuit

1. Set the DMM to measure resistance. Measure the exact value of R = 4.7 M and record it in T7.1 of the Result Sheet.
(Remember to place the resistance on the breadboard.)

2. Find C=10 F electrolytic capacitor from your kit and identify the positive and negative polarity. (See Figure 1)

3. Check if the DMM or any equipment in the lab is capable of measuring capacitor value. Write down the result in T7.1.

4. With its power switched off, turn the current control knob, on the DC power supply, fully clockwise and the voltage control
knob fully counterclockwise.

5. Connect the DMM (set it to measure DC voltage) across the DC power supply’s output. Switch on the power supply and
slowly adjust the power supply's voltage control until 15 Volts is measured on the voltmeter. Remove the DMM and switch off
the power supply.

6. Wire up the experimental circuit shown in Figure 2. Connect the DMM (still set to DC Volts) in parallel across the capacitor
and make sure the polarity for the DMM is properly observed.

7. Make sure the switch is in OPEN (OFF) position. If you are using a DIP switch check the placement with your instructor.

ROBO112- Experiment #7
Source : MT-256: Applied Electricity ©’05-‘11 - E. Bevilacqua
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 R
SW 4.7 M
Open = UP
+
VS + C
+ IC V Close = DOWN
15V - 10 uF

Figure 2

8. With the switch SW open, ensure that the voltage across the capacitor is
zero by momentarily short-circuiting its terminals with a piece of wire.
Record the value of the capacitor’s voltage (V C) at zero time into T7.2.

(VC should be zero, but some leakage voltage may be present due to the meter.)

9. Set your chronometer (Timer)to zero. Turn on the power supply and make sure the voltage across the capacitor is not
changing. Close the switch and start your timer simultaneously. Record (into T7.2) the voltage across the capacitor every 15
seconds for a total of 240 seconds (4 minutes).

10. After the time is up, open the switch and repeat Steps 7 -9 in order to obtain results for Trial #2. Disconnect power supply,
discharge capacitor (ie: short out leads with a wire) and disassemble the circuit.

Part 2- Discharging RC Circuit

11. Connect the circuit as shown in Figure 3. Close the

switch and turn on the power supply. Ensure that the Switch
voltage across the resistor and capacitor reads 15 Volts
and record this for Time zero in the Discharging - Trial
#1 column.
+
VS R + C
+ V VC
12. Reset your chronometer (timer). Open the switch 15 V - 4.7 M 10 uF
start the timer simultaneously and record the
capacitor’s voltage in 15 second intervals (for a total of
240 seconds) as the capacitor discharges through the Figure 3
resistor.

13. Repeat steps 11-12 to obtain results for Trial #2.

14. Turn off the power supply and disassemble the circuit.

15. Transfer all the measurements collected in T7.2 into the appropriate areas in the spreadsheet designed for this experiment
[ie: ROBO222 – EXP 7 -RC Circuits Experimental Data.xls].

16. Make sure to attach a printout of the completed spreadsheet to your lab report.

17. Answer all questions on pages two and three of the Result Sheets.

ROBO112- Experiment #7
Source : MT-256: Applied Electricity ©’05-‘11 - E. Bevilacqua
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 School Of Engineering Technology and Applied Science (SETAS)
Advanced Manufacturing and Automation Technology (AMAT)
ROBO112 – Result Sheet Section : __________ Delivery Date :

Experiment No. 7 GROUP : ___________

MARK :
Name : ______________________________
Capacitor Charging and
Discharging Circuits Name :_____________________________

Color Code: Measured Value

T7.1 By DMM:

R = 4.7 M
C= 10 F

T7.2 CHARGING CIRCUIT DISCHARGING CIRCUIT

Time
(s) Capacitor Voltage (VC) Capacitor Voltage (VC)
(3-decimals) (3-decimals)
Trial #1 Trial #2 Trial #1 Trial #2

0
15
30
45
60
75
90
105
120
135
150
165
180
195
210
225
240

ROBO112- Experiment #7
Source : MT-256: Applied Electricity ©’05-‘11 - E. Bevilacqua
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Questions

Q1. What is the purpose of averaging two trial values of capacitor voltage readings before plotting the graphs?

2. Using Equation below, what is the time constant (τ) for the particular resistor-capacitor combination used in this
experiment? How long should it take to fully charge (or discharge) the capacitor. (Show calculations.)

= ×

3. In Part No.1 of this experiment, the capacitor should ideally charge up to the value of the supply voltage (15V) but it does
not. From your data, to what maximum value did the capacitor actually charged to?

4. The reason the capacitor does not charge up to the same value as the supply voltage is because the DMM is not an ideal
meter and it causes a meter loading effect. According to the manufacturer, the DMM has an input impedance of 10MΩ. If you
imagine that the DMM used in the test circuit is actually a resistor, then the total voltage, of the source, will be shared between
R and RDMM – as they are in series with each other. Calculate the maximum voltage drop that should appear across RDMM
(which will be the same as the capacitor’s voltage drop, since the two are in parallel). (Show calculations.)

5. How does the voltage value calculated in Question #4 compare to the answer given for Question #3?

6. In Part No.2, of this experiment, the capacitor was fully charged up to 15V and then allowed to discharge through the 4.7MΩ
resistor. Universal Charging/Discharging Equation , calculate the theoretical voltage drop which should appear across the
capacitor at a time of 90 seconds (approximately 2 time constants). (Show calculations.)

7. Compare the capacitor’s theoretical discharge voltage value, determined in Question #7 above, to the actual discharge
voltage which was measured at t = 90 seconds. Is the measured value similar, or is it noticeably higher or lower? Provide a
possible explanation for this discrepancy.

Theoretical voltage value Actual voltage value

ROBO112- Experiment #7
Source : MT-256: Applied Electricity ©’05-‘11 - E. Bevilacqua
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