Current and Voltage in RC Circuit
Safety Warnings
Warning: Capacitor Polarity
Warning: Discharge Before Handling
Purpose
Shows RC charging and discharging in real time. Students observe exponential decay of current and voltage on multimeters while an incandescent bulb provides a visual indicator that dims as the capacitor discharges.
Figure 1:
Initial state of the RC circuit with capacitor fully charged. The power supply displays charging circuit parameters while the two multimeters monitor discharge circuit current (I) and voltage (V) across the light bulb.
Figure 2:
Capacitor discharging through the light bulb. The illuminated bulb provides visual feedback while the meters show instantaneous current (105 mA) and voltage (2.85V) during the exponential decay process.
Equipment
- 1
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