Chapter 21 Circuits and DC Instruments
21.6 DC Circuits Containing Resistors and Capacitors
Summary
- Explain the importance of the time constant,
, and calculate the time constant for a given resistance and capacitance. - Explain why batteries in a flashlight gradually lose power and the light dims over time.
- Describe what happens to a graph of the voltage across a capacitor over time as it charges.
- Explain how a timing circuit works and list some applications.
- Calculate the necessary speed of a strobe flash needed to “stop” the movement of an object over a particular length.
When you use a flash camera, it takes a few seconds to charge the capacitor that powers the flash. The light flash discharges the capacitor in a tiny fraction of a second. Why does charging take longer than discharging? This question and a number of other phenomena that involve charging and discharging capacitors are discussed in this module.
RC Circuits
An
Figure 1 shows a simple
In terms of voltage, this is because voltage across the capacitor is given by
The initial current is

Voltage on the capacitor is initially zero and rises rapidly at first, since the initial current is a maximum. Figure 1(b) shows a graph of capacitor voltage versus time (
where
where
More quantitatively, consider what happens when
This means that in the time
Discharging a Capacitor
Discharging a capacitor through a resistor proceeds in a similar fashion, as Figure 2 illustrates. Initially, the current is

The graph in Figure 2(b) is an example of this exponential decay. Again, the time constant is
During each successive time
Now we can explain why the flash camera in our scenario takes so much longer to charge than discharge; the resistance while charging is significantly greater than while discharging. The internal resistance of the battery accounts for most of the resistance while charging. As the battery ages, the increasing internal resistance makes the charging process even slower. (You may have noticed this.)
The flash discharge is through a low-resistance ionized gas in the flash tube and proceeds very rapidly. Flash photographs, such as in Figure 3, can capture a brief instant of a rapid motion because the flash can be less than a microsecond in duration. Such flashes can be made extremely intense.
During World War II, nighttime reconnaissance photographs were made from the air with a single flash illuminating more than a square kilometer of enemy territory. The brevity of the flash eliminated blurring due to the surveillance aircraft’s motion. Today, an important use of intense flash lamps is to pump energy into a laser. The short intense flash can rapidly energize a laser and allow it to reemit the energy in another form.

Integrated Concept Problem: Calculating Capacitor Size—Strobe Lights
High-speed flash photography was pioneered by Doc Edgerton in the 1930s, while he was a professor of electrical engineering at MIT. You might have seen examples of his work in the amazing shots of hummingbirds in motion, a drop of milk splattering on a table, or a bullet penetrating an apple (see Figure 3). To stop the motion and capture these pictures, one needs a high-intensity, very short pulsed flash, as mentioned earlier in this module.
Suppose one wished to capture the picture of a bullet (moving at
Strategy
We begin by identifying the physical principles involved. This example deals with the strobe light, as discussed above. Figure 2 shows the circuit for this probe. The characteristic time
Solution
We wish to find
The bullet’s velocity is given as
We set this value for the crossing time
(Note: Capacitance
Discussion
The flash interval of
RC Circuits for Timing
A more crucial use of
The artificial pacemaker is inserted near the heart to provide electrical signals to the heart when needed with the appropriate time constant. Pacemakers have sensors that detect body motion and breathing to increase the heart rate during exercise to meet the body’s increased needs for blood and oxygen.

Calculating Time: RC Circuit in a Heart Defibrillator
A heart defibrillator is used to resuscitate an accident victim by discharging a capacitor through the trunk of her body. A simplified version of the circuit is seen in Figure 2. (a) What is the time constant if an
Strategy
Since the resistance and capacitance are given, it is straightforward to multiply them to give the time constant asked for in part (a). To find the time for the voltage to decline to
Solution for (a)
The time constant
Solution for (b)
In the first 8.00 ms, the voltage (10.0 kV) declines to 0.368 of its initial value. That is:
(Notice that we carry an extra digit for each intermediate calculation.) After another 8.00 ms, we multiply by 0.368 again, and the voltage is
Similarly, after another 8.00 ms, the voltage is
Discussion
So after only 24.0 ms, the voltage is down to 498 V, or 4.98% of its original value. Such brief times are useful in heart defibrillation, because the brief but intense current causes a brief but effective contraction of the heart. The actual circuit in a heart defibrillator is slightly more complex than the one in Figure 2, to compensate for magnetic and AC effects that will be covered in Chapter 22 Magnetism.
Check Your Understanding
1: When is the potential difference across a capacitor an emf?
PhET Explorations: Circuit Construction Kit (DC only)
An electronics kit in your computer! Build circuits with resistors, light bulbs, batteries, and switches. Take measurements with the realistic ammeter and voltmeter. View the circuit as a schematic diagram, or switch to a life-like view.

Section Summary
- An
circuit is one that has both a resistor and a capacitor. - The time constant
for an circuit is . - When an initially uncharged (
at ) capacitor in series with a resistor is charged by a DC voltage source, the voltage rises, asymptotically approaching the emf of the voltage source; as a function of time, - Within the span of each time constant
, the voltage rises by 0.632 of the remaining value, approaching the final voltage asymptotically. - If a capacitor with an initial voltage
is discharged through a resistor starting at , then its voltage decreases exponentially as given by - In each time constant
, the voltage falls by 0.368 of its remaining initial value, approaching zero asymptotically.
Conceptual Questions
1: Regarding the units involved in the relationship
2: The
3: When making an ECG measurement, it is important to measure voltage variations over small time intervals. The time is limited by the
4: Draw two graphs of charge versus time on a capacitor. Draw one for charging an initially uncharged capacitor in series with a resistor, as in the circuit in Figure 1, starting from
5: When charging a capacitor, as discussed in conjunction with Figure 1, how long does it take for the voltage on the capacitor to reach emf? Is this a problem?
6: When discharging a capacitor, as discussed in conjunction with Figure 2, how long does it take for the voltage on the capacitor to reach zero? Is this a problem?
7: Referring to Figure 1, draw a graph of potential difference across the resistor versus time, showing at least two intervals of
8: A long, inexpensive extension cord is connected from inside the house to a refrigerator outside. The refrigerator doesn’t run as it should. What might be the problem?
9: In Figure 4, does the graph indicate the time constant is shorter for discharging than for charging? Would you expect ionized gas to have low resistance? How would you adjust
10: An electronic apparatus may have large capacitors at high voltage in the power supply section, presenting a shock hazard even when the apparatus is switched off. A “bleeder resistor” is therefore placed across such a capacitor, as shown schematically in Figure 6, to bleed the charge from it after the apparatus is off. Why must the bleeder resistance be much greater than the effective resistance of the rest of the circuit? How does this affect the time constant for discharging the capacitor?

Problem Exercises
1: The timing device in an automobile’s intermittent wiper system is based on an
2: A heart pacemaker fires 72 times a minute, each time a 25.0-nF capacitor is charged (by a battery in series with a resistor) to 0.632 of its full voltage. What is the value of the resistance?
3: The duration of a photographic flash is related to an
4: A 2.00- and a
5: After two time constants, what percentage of the final voltage, emf, is on an initially uncharged capacitor
6: A
7: A heart defibrillator being used on a patient has an
8: An ECG monitor must have an
9: Figure 7 shows how a bleeder resistor is used to discharge a capacitor after an electronic device is shut off, allowing a person to work on the electronics with less risk of shock. (a) What is the time constant? (b) How long will it take to reduce the voltage on the capacitor to 0.250% (5% of 5%) of its full value once discharge begins? (c) If the capacitor is charged to a voltage

10: Using the exact exponential treatment, find how much time is required to discharge a
11: Using the exact exponential treatment, find how much time is required to charge an initially uncharged 100-pF capacitor through a
12: Integrated Concepts
If you wish to take a picture of a bullet traveling at 500 m/s, then a very brief flash of light produced by an
13: Integrated Concepts
A flashing lamp in a Christmas earring is based on an
14: Integrated Concepts
A
16: Unreasonable Results
(a) Calculate the capacitance needed to get an
17: Construct Your Own Problem
Consider a camera’s flash unit. Construct a problem in which you calculate the size of the capacitor that stores energy for the flash lamp. Among the things to be considered are the voltage applied to the capacitor, the energy needed in the flash and the associated charge needed on the capacitor, the resistance of the flash lamp during discharge, and the desired
18: Construct Your Own Problem
Consider a rechargeable lithium cell that is to be used to power a camcorder. Construct a problem in which you calculate the internal resistance of the cell during normal operation. Also, calculate the minimum voltage output of a battery charger to be used to recharge your lithium cell. Among the things to be considered are the emf and useful terminal voltage of a lithium cell and the current it should be able to supply to a camcorder.
Glossary
- RC circuit
- a circuit that contains both a resistor and a capacitor
- capacitor
- an electrical component used to store energy by separating electric charge on two opposing plates
- capacitance
- the maximum amount of electric potential energy that can be stored (or separated) for a given electric potential
Solutions
Check Your Understanding
1: Only when the current being drawn from or put into the capacitor is zero. Capacitors, like batteries, have internal resistance, so their output voltage is not an emf unless current is zero. This is difficult to measure in practice so we refer to a capacitor’s voltage rather than its emf. But the source of potential difference in a capacitor is fundamental and it is an emf.
Problem Exercises
1:
3: (a)
(b) 2.00 s
5: 86.5%
7: (a)
(b) 30.0 ms
9: (a) 20.0 s
(b) 120 s
(c) 16.0 ms
11:
12:
15: (a) 4.99 s
(b)
(c)
(d) No