(f)

V
R
0
0 t
V
0
t e
V
0
0.37
(c)
V
R
0
0 t
t
e
- 0.37V
0
-V
0
0
RC CIRCUITS
1. THEORY.
Transient Response of Series RC Circuit
You will use an oscilloscope to observe the repetitive charging and
discharging of a capacitor as it is charged through a resistor R by a voltage source
V
0
and then allowed to discharge through the resistor with the voltage source
removed.
In Experiment No. 1 you will observe the voltage V
C
across the capacitor
for these processes and in Experiment No. 3 you will observe the corresponding
voltage V
R
across the resistor.
Conceptually the two steps of the process are represented by the circuits in
Fig. 1(a) & 1(d).
Fig. 1
1
V
-
I
R
C
0
+
I
R
C
-
+
(a) (d)
V
C
0
0 t
V
0
t e
0.63V
0
V
C
0
0 t
V
0
t e
V
0
0.37
(b)
(e)
When the switch in Fig. 1(a) is closed, the voltage across the capacitor,
beginning from the discharged state, is ( )
0
1


t RC
V V e
c

as shown in Fig. 1(b) and the corresponding voltage across the resistor is
0

t RC
R
V V e
as shown in Fig. 1(c). Note that the current in the circuit has the same functional
form as V
R
since

R
I V R
.
Discharging the capacitor from an initial voltage V
0
is represented by Fig.
1(d). When the switch is closed, the voltage across the capacitor is
0

t RC
V V e
c

as shown in Fig. 1(e) and the corresponding voltage across the resistor is
0


t RC
R
V V e
as shown in Fig. 1(f).
The exponential response is characterized by the time constant t
e
= RC. It
is the time to rise from its initial value to within 1/e of its final value, for example,
in Fig. 1(b) at t
e

0 0
1
1 0.63
_

,
V V V
c
e
.
Equivalently it is the time to fall from an initial value to 1/e (= 0.37) of that
value as illustrated in Figs. 1(c), 1(e) & 1(f).
2. EQUIPMENT NEEDED
1. The Oscilloscope
2. The Digital Function Generator - Amplifier
3. The Digital Multimeter
4. The Breadboard
5. The Resistor
6. The Capacitor
7. The Switch
8. The Electric Wires
3. EXPERIMENTAL PROCEDURE
3.1. Experiment No. 1: Transient Response V
C
(t)
The RC circuit shown in Fig. 1 uses a dc voltage source and a switch to
produce a voltage step. In order to produce a repetitive transient that is easily
2
observed on the oscilloscope, we shall use a square wave generator as a voltage
transient source. The output of such a generator is shown in Fig. 2.
Fig. 2
The function generator used to produce the square wave also generates
sinusoidal and triangular waves. Controls on the generator permit variation of the
amplitude and the frequency f = 1/T of the square-wave output.
Choose a 1000 resistor and a 0.01f capacitor. Since these are nominal
values of resistance and capacitance, measure and record their precise values using
the Wavetek meter.
Then use them to assemble the circuit shown in Fig. 3. The square wave
generator switches alternately between voltages of plus and minus V
0
.
Fig. 3
Note that this circuit differs from those in Fig. 1 in that the capacitor must
charge and discharge through both R and the 50 internal impedance of the
generator. Because of the high input impedance (1 Megohm) of the oscilloscope,
negligible current flows in that circuit, so Channel 1 gives an accurate
measurement of V
0
, although it is a factor of 10 smaller.
3
50
0.01 f
V
0
V
C
1000
0.1V
0
50
Signal
Generator
Hi Lo
To Channel 1
To Channel 2
x 0.1
of oscilloscope of oscilloscope
V(t)

T
2
T
0
V
0
2
T
-
t
Note that if Channel 1 were connected to the Hi terminal, the voltage
observed would be reduced by the voltage drop across the internal 50 ohm
resistance.
What kind of oscilloscope pattern do you expect? Set the period of the
square wave long enough that the capacitor completely charges or discharges in
less than one-half period. Observe one period of the charge and discharge of the
capacitor. Measure the value of t
e
in two ways:
1. as the time for the capacitor to charge from zero voltage to 0.63V
0
.
2. as the time for the capacitor to discharge from V
0
to 0.37V
0
. These values
of t
e
should equal RC.
Compare your measured values with the value of RC obtained from the
known values of the circuit components. Note that R must include the internal
resistance of the square-wave generator, which is 50 .
3.2. Experiment No. 2: Low-Pass Filter Circuit
The same setup that you used in Experiment No. 1 can be used to measure
the response of the RC circuit to a sinusoidal voltage by using the sine-wave output
of the function generator.
Consider the ratio of
0
to
out in
V V V V
c
as a function of frequency. In the
notes handed out at the Friday lecture, the calculated response is shown to be
( )
1 2
2
1
,
1
1
1
]

+
out
in
V
V
RC
(1)
where = 2f is the angular frequency.
We can rewrite this equation in a form which is useful for other types of
circuits also if we define
1
2 f
c c
RC

Then we have
( )
1 2
2
1
1
1
1
]

+
out
in
V
V
c

(2a)
This could equally well be written
( )
1 2
2
1, <<
1
c
, >>
c
1
out
in
f f
V
V f f f f
c
f f
c

'
1

1
]

+
(2b)
where f
c
= 1/2RC.
4
As shown in Sprott and in your notes, the phase of V
out
relative toV
in
is
given by

1
tan -
_


,

f
f
c

(3)
The attenuation can be expressed in decibels, a term with which you are
probably familiar in the context of sound intensity levels. However it is applied to
power levels of any sort. A bel is a factor of 10 in power. 10 decibels = 1 bel. (bels
are almost never used). For attenuation, a negative sign is implicit. Thus
attenuation in decibels is given by
( )
10 10
10 log 20 log .
out out in in
A dB P P V V
(4)
The extra factor of 2 in the second line of Eq. (4) comes because voltage
squared is proportional to power (as in P = V
2
/R). Thus, for example, a factor of 10
reduction in voltage corresponds to an attenuation of 20 dB, and represents a factor
of 100 reduction in power.
You should generally plot frequency response data on log-log scales. If you
do so, then the asymptotic behavior described by Eq. (2a) for f >> f
c
, which is
~ ,
out in
V V f f
c
gives a line of slope -1.
If the y-axis is labeled in decibels, as Fig. 4(a), this slope is also described
as 20 dB per decade (a decade is a factor of 10 in frequency or ) or approximately
6 dB per octave (an octave is a factor of 2 in frequency or ).
The phase is shown in Fig. 4(b) as a function of f/f
c
.
(a) (b)
Fig. 4
5
-40
-30
-20
-10
0
0.01 0.1 1 10 100
f/f
c
A (dB)
0.01 0.1 1 10 100
/2
/4
0

f/f
c
(rad)
The objective now is for you to measure
out in
V V
and the phase

as
functions of frequency and to compare your results with the theoretically predicted
results, Eq. (2b) and Eq. (3).
Use a frequency counter to measure the frequency. A good procedure is to
first determine f
c
by finding the frequency for which the amplitude is reduced to
0.707V
in
.
Then measure both
out in
V V
and

over the range from approximately 0.01

f
c
, to 100 f
c
, with three points per decade of frequency. An easy way to do this is to
choose frequencies in the sequence 1, 2, 5, 10, 10
n
Hertz.
To measure the phase shift, set up a dual-trace display of
out
and V
in
V
on the
oscilloscope, with both amplitudes large.
Fig. 5 shows schematically the relationship of the waveforms for low,
intermediate and high frequencies compared to f
c
.
Fig. 5
Offset the traces vertically until they are both centered on the same
horizontal line.
Then measure the time difference t between corresponding zero crossings.
Note that as you change voltage scales the zero axis may shift, so be sure
that the two traces have their horizontal axes coincident. The phase shift is
0 0
360 360

t
t f
T

.
To get the sign right, note which waveform is leading the other. (The
output is expected to lag behind the input, because the capacitor has to charge. This
6
is a negative phase shift.) "Leading" means to the left on the screen (earlier in the
trace).
Your instructor will show you how to locate an Excel spreadsheet that is
already formatted for your data. As implied by the entries on the data sheet, a good
way to minimize errors is to record values from the oscilloscope in terms of
divisions on the screen, record the scale factor, and then multiply to obtain volts or
seconds.
Plot log
out in
V V
vs. log f and compare with Eq.(2b) and Fig.4(a). Is the
high-frequency data fit reasonably by a line of slope -1? This line should intersect
the f-axis at log f
c
. Compare your measured value of f
c
with the value calculated
from R and C.
Plot
vs. log f
and compare with Eq.(3) and Fig. 4(b). Eq. (3) predicts
that for f = f
c
the phase shift should be -/4. Compare your data with this value.
3.3. Experiment No. 3: Transient Response V
R
(t)
Now look again at the transient response of the circuit, but this time by
measuring the voltage V
R
across the resistor as the capacitor charges and
discharges.
First exchange places of the resistor and the capacitor on the circuit board
to obtain the circuit shown in Fig. 6. This is not necessary conceptually, but it is
necessary in this setup because the signal generator and the oscilloscope have a
common ground, i.e. both the signal generator and the oscilloscope have one
terminal connected to the power line ground. (If you have an oscilloscope or a
voltmeter whose inputs are both isolated from ground, you can place them across
any component to determine the voltage drop across it.)
Now switch to the square wave output of the generator.
Fig. 6
7
50
0.01 f
V
0
V
C
1000
0.1V
0
50
Signal
Generator
Hi Lo
To Channel 1
To Channel 2
x 0.1
of oscilloscope of oscilloscope
Set the period of the square wave long enough that the capacitor
completely charges or discharges in less than one-half period.
Observe the voltage V
R
across the resistor for one period of the charge and
discharge of the capacitor.
Compare your observed waveforms with the graphs in Figs. 1(e) & 1(f).
Measure the values of t
e,
as the time for V
R
to drop to 0.37 of its initial value for
both the charging and the discharging parts of the cycle.
Compare your measured values with the value of RC calculated from the
known values of the circuit components.
Note as before that the R you use in calculating t
e
must include the internal
resistance of the square-wave generator, which is 50 .

8