Introduction: Understanding and Visualizing RC Circuit on Evive's Oscillioscope

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Love Physics? Then this project is for you. You’ll get to learn the basics of a capacitor, an RC circuit, how does it charge and discharge when connected to a DC supply, and what its response is when connected to an AC supply. And all of this can be done with the help of evive’s inbuilt oscilloscope, beta function generator, and a few electronic components.

Ready for some RC fun? Let’s get started!

Step 1: Things Needed

Hardware

  • evive
  • Capacitor
  • 10k Ohm Resistor
  • Push Buttons
  • Jumper Cable

Step 2: What Is a Capacitor?

A capacitor is a device capable of storing electrical charges. The maximum amount of charge that can be accumulated, divided by per unit potential difference is a property called capacitor capacitance (C) and is an indicator of the amount of energy it can store.

Step 3: What Is an RC Circuit?

RC Circuit is the electric circuit which consists of Resistors and Capacitors.

Step 4: RC Charging Circuit

The process of storing energy (when connected to a positive DC source) through the resistor until the voltage level across it reaches up to the input voltage level is called as charging of a capacitor. The circuit diagram can be drawn as:

Capacitors are charged according to time by the equation:

Step 5: Charging Waveform

When we charge a capacitor, the voltage (or charge) increases with time. The graph of voltage (or charge) versus time is not linear but exponential (as shown in the figure below). After a time T =RC, the capacitor is 63% charged (or 0.63 x voltage of the battery V). T is a constant for a given capacitor and a given resistor. T is called the time constant.

Step 6: RC Discharging Circuit

When the capacitor is fully charged and the power source is disconnected, the capacitor starts returning energy to the circuit through the resistor is called as discharging of a capacitor.


Capacitors are discharged according to time by the equation:

Step 7: Discharging Waveform

When we discharge a capacitor, the voltage (or charge) decreases with time. The graph of voltage (or charge) versus time is not linear but exponential (as shown in the figure below).

Step 8: The Connections

Make the following circuit using the resistor of value 10 kOhm and the capacitor of value 100 μF.

Once you make the connections, ON the evive.

Step 9: Visualizing Charging Waveform

As you ON the evive, the evive Firmware shows. Open the option of Oscilloscope and see the waveforms.


Step 10: Visualizing Discharging Waveform

Step 11: Conclusion

Now you know what an RC circuit is, how does it charge, discharge, and what its response is to an AC input. Simply put, you’re smarter than before B-)

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