Quantitative Measurements on an RC System
Our experiment required that we make an RC circuit with a power supply, resistor, and capacitor in series. The resistor is used to slow down the charge time in order to make it more clear. The capacitor was shown on logger pro via a voltage measuring lead. Our group was able to initially predict that there would be an inversely proportional relationship between Potential and Time. This is shown on our graph below.
Based on the graph of the Discharge represented by the lower pink curve, we were able to conclude that the value of the constant B in the exponential equation should be close to zero. Also, the value for A in the equation should be close to the original voltage of 4.5 volts from the power supply. Finally, the charge time should be the same for both the charge and discharge.
We found our experimental Charge time to be C=.00362 seconds. The theoretical charge time was found by using an actual measured resistance value of 21,500 ohm's, and plugging it into the equation tau=1/RC. With the capacitance known we found the theoretical time to be .00465 seconds. This was a 22 percent error deviation from our measured value. This is most likely due to the fact that some of our capacitor values were based on what they were labeled which were incorrect.
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