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MASSACHUSETTS INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY

Department of Physics

Problem Solving 8: RC and LR Circuits Solutions

OBJECTIVES

1. To understand how the charge on a capacitor and the current through a charging RC circuit
behave as a function of time.
2. To derive and solve the differential equation for the charge on a capacitor in a charging RC
circuit.
3. Explain the meaning of the time constant for the current in a charging RC circuit.
4. To understand how the current through an inductor in an LR circuit behaves as a function of
time for the case when a switch in the circuit is opened.
5. To derive and solve the differential equation for the current through an inductor in an LR
circuit when a switch is opened.

Problem 1 Charging a Capacitor

Consider the circuit shown below. The capacitor is connected to a DC source of emf ! . At time
0 t = , the switch S is closed. The capacitor initially is uncharged,

Q(t = 0) = 0.



Question 1: At 0 t = , what is the current in the circuit?

Solution:

In particular for 0 t < , there is no electric potential difference across the capacitor so the
capacitor acts like a short circuit. At 0 t = , the switch is closed and current begins to flow
according to
0
I
R
!
=

At this instant, the potential difference from the battery terminals is the same as that across the
resistor. This initiates the charging of the capacitor. As the capacitor starts to charge, the electric
potential difference across the capacitor increases in time. The electric potential differences
across a capacitor are summarized in the figure below.

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Question 2: Using Kirchhoffs loop rule, find the differential equation satisfied by the charge

Q(t) on the capacitor.

Solution:

We choose

Q on the capacitor, assign a direction to the current

I , and traverse the loop in a
clockwise direction as shown in the figure below.



Using Kirchhoffs loop rule that the sum of the potential differences across each element is zero
we find that

0 = ! " I R "
Q
C


According to our choices the current and charge are related by

I = +dQ/ dt , therefore the
differential equation satisfied by the charge

Q(t) on the capacitor is given by


0 = ! "
dQ
dt
R "
Q
C


Question 3: Using your differential equation that you found in Question 2, explain in your own
words how that the charge on the capacitor behaves as a function of time.

Solution: Since I must be the same in all parts of the series circuit, the current across the
resistance R is equal to the rate of increase of charge on the capacitor plates. The current through
the circuit will continue to decrease because the charge already present on the capacitor makes it
harder to put more charge on the capacitor. Once the charge on the capacitor plates reaches its
maximum value, the current in the circuit will drop to zero. This is evident by rewriting the loop
law as
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I(t) R = ! "
Q
C



We shall solve the differential equation

dQ
dt
R = ! "
Q
C
you found in Question 2 by the method
of separation of variables. The first step is to separate terms involving charge and time, (this
means putting terms involving

dQ and

Q on one side of the equality sign and terms involving
dt on the other side),


dQ
! "
Q
C
#
$
%
&
'
(
=
1
R
dt )
dQ
Q" C!
= "
1
RC
dt

Question 4: Integrate both sides of the above equation to find an expression for the charge

Q(t)
on the capacitor as a function of time. You will be setting up definite integrals with limits of
integration that cover the time interval

[0,t] and the corresponding charge interval

[0,Q(t)] .

Solution:

We can integrate both sides of the above equation,


d ! Q
! Q " C#
0
Q(t )
$
= "
1
RC
d ! t
0
t
$


which yields


ln
Q(t) ! C"
!C"
#
$
%
&
'
(
= !
t
RC


Question 5: If you havent already done so you can now exponentiate both sides of your result
from Question 4 using the fact that exp(ln ) x x = to yield to find an expression for

Q(t) .

Solution:

Exponentiating both sides yields


Q(t) ! C"
!C"
#
$
%
&
'
(
= e
!t / RC
.

A little algebraic rearrangement yields

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Q(t) = C!(1" e
"t / RC
)

Question 6: What is the maximum value of the charge on the capacitor?

Solution:

In the limit as time approaches infinity,

lim
t !"
e
#t / RC
= 0, and so the maximum charge is

Q
max
= C! .

Question 7: Make a plot of the charge

Q(t) as a function of time

t . Label all appropriate values
on your plot.

Solution:

The time dependence of

Q(t) is plotted in the below:



Question 8: After a very long time, how does the electric potential difference across the
capacitor compare to the electric potential difference across the battery?

Solution:

We know the charge on the capacitor we also can determine the electric potential difference
across the capacitor,

!V
C
(t) =
Q(t)
C
= "(1# e
#t / RC
)

After a sufficiently long time the charge on the capacitor approaches the value

Q(t = !) = C" = Q
max
. At that time, the electric potential difference across the capacitor is equal
to the applied electric potential difference across the battery and the charging process effectively
ends,

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!V
C
=
Q(t = ")
C
=
Q
max
C
= #

Question 9: Find an expression for the current

I(t) through the circuit as function of time

t .

Solution:

The current is equal to the derivative in time of the charge,


I(t) =
dQ
dt
=
!
R
e
"t / RC
= I
0
e
"t / RC
.

The coefficient in front of the exponential is equal to the initial current

I
0
= ! / R through the
circuit when the switch was closed at 0 t = .

Question 10: Make a plot of the current

I(t) as a function of time

t . Label all appropriate
values on your plot.

Solution: The graph of current as a function of time is shown in the figure below:




The current in the charging circuit decreases exponentially in time,
/
0
( )
t RC
I t I e
!
= . This
function is often written as
/
0
( )
t
I t I e
! "
= where RC ! = is called the time constant. The time
constant ! is a measure of the decay time for the exponential function. This decay rate satisfies
the following property:

1
( ) ( ) I t I t e !
"
+ =
which shows that after one time constant ! has elapsed, the current falls off by a factor of
1
0.368 e
!
= , as indicated in the figure above. Similarly, the electric potential difference across
the capacitor (see figure below) can also be expressed in terms of the time constant ! :


!V
C
(t) = "(1# e
#t /$
) .
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Notice that initially at time 0 t = , ( 0) 0
C
V t = = . After one time constant ! has elapsed, the
potential difference across the capacitor plates has increased by a factor
1
(1 ) 0.632 e
!
! = of its
final value:


!V
C
(" ) = #(1$ e
$1
) = 0. 632# .

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Problem 2: Opening a Switch on an RL Circuit
The LR circuit shown in the figure below contains a resistor

R
1
and an inductance L in series
with a battery of emf

!
0
. The switch S is initially closed. At t = 0, the switch S is opened, so that
an additional very large resistance

R
2
(with

R
2
>> R
1
) is now in series with the other elements.




Solutions:

Question 1: If the switch has been closed for a long time before t = 0, what is the steady current

I
0
in the circuit?

Answer: There is no induced emf before t = 0. Also, no current is flowing on

R
2
. Therefore,

I
0
=
!
0
R
1
.

Question 2: While this current

I
0
is flowing, at time t = 0, the switch S is opened. Write the
differential equation for

I(t) that describes the behavior of the circuit at times t ! 0.

Answer: The differential equation is

!
0
" I(t )(R
1
+ R
2
) = L
dI(t )
dt
.

Question 3: Solve this equation (by integration) for

I(t) under the approximation that

!
0
= 0 .
(Assume that the battery emf is negligible compared to the total emf around the circuit for times
just after the switch is opened.) Express your answer in terms of the initial current

I
0
, and

R
1
,

R
2
, and L.

Answer: Under the approximation that !
0
= 0 , the equation is

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!I(t )(R
1
+ R
2
) = L
dI(t )
dt
.

The solution with the initial condition I(t = 0) = I
0
is given by

I(t ) = I
0
exp(!
(R
1
+ R
2
)
L
t ) .

Question 4: Using your results from part b), find the value of the total emf around the circuit
(which from Faraday's law is

!LdI / dt ) just after the switch is opened.

Answer:
! = "L
dI(t )
dt
t =0
= I
0
(R
1
+ R
2
) .

Question 5: How reasonable is your assumption in part b) that

!
0

could be ignored for times just
after the switch is opened?

Answer: Because I
0
= !
0
/ R
1
,


! =
!
0
R
1
(R
1
+ R
2
) = 1+
R
2
R
1
"
#
$
%
&
'
!
0
>> !
0
(!R
2
>> R
1
) .

Thus, the assumption that !
0
could be ignored for times just after the switch is open is OK.

Question 6: What is the magnitude of the potential drop across the resistor

R
2
at times t > 0,
just after the switch is opened? Express your answers in terms of

!
0
,

R
1
, and

R
2
.

Answer: The potential drop across R
2
is given by

!V
2
=
R
2
R
1
+ R
2
" =
R
2
R
1
+ R
2
#
$
%
&
'
(
1+
R
2
R
1
#
$
%
&
'
(
"
0
=
R
2
R
1
"
0
.


Question 7: How does the potential drop across

R
2
just after t = 0 compare to the battery emf

!
0
, if

R
2
= 80R
1
?

Answer: If

R
2
= 80R
1
,
!V
2
= 80 "
0
.


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Question 8: Based on your result from Question 7, why should you be very careful when you
open the switch?

Answer: When you open a switch in a circuit with a lot of energy stored in the magnetic field
the potential drop is eighty times the original emf of the battery. This is a very large potential
difference that can drive a large current through your body so you should be very careful, or you
may end up very dead!!