Calculating Voltage Across R and C in Series

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Homework Statement


A resistor with resistance R and a capacitor with capacitance C are connected in series to an AC voltage source. The time-dependent voltage across the capacitor is given by V[tex]_{C}[/tex](t) = V[tex]_{C_0}[/tex] sin([tex]\omega[/tex]*t). (there are no superscripts, but they show up as super for me, though I wanted them to be subscripts)

If R=3 k Ohms , C=100 pF, V[tex]_{C0}[/tex]=100 mV, and angular frequency [tex]{\omega}[/tex]= 10^5 rad/s, what is V[tex]_{R}[/tex]?

Homework Equations



[tex]\frac{V_{C_{0}}{\cdot}R}{\frac{1}{C{\cdot}{\omega}}}[/tex]

The Attempt at a Solution


So I plugged in the variables with 3 k Ohms being 3000 [tex]\frac{m^{2}*kg}{s*C^{2}}[/tex], 100 pF being 1E-9 [tex]\frac{s^{2}*C^{2}}{m^{2}*kg}[/tex], 100 mV being 1 [tex]\frac{m^{2}*kg}{C*s^{2}}[/tex] and 10[tex]^{5}[/tex].

When I plugged it all into the equation I got .03 V which is 30 mV*rad. So first there was the problem of the radians being there there is no information about changing it into meters or other useful information. Do I need to use a trig function perhaps?

The hint I was given was : Use the equation obtained in Part B (the equation above) to work out the answer. Be careful of powers of ten in your calculation.

Thank you
 
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hi themonk! :smile:

(have an omega: ω and try using the X2 icon just above the Reply box :wink:)
themonk said:
When I plugged it all into the equation I got .03 V which is 30 mV*rad. So first there was the problem of the radians being there there is no information about changing it into meters or other useful information. Do I need to use a trig function perhaps?

mmm … you really like breaking down your https://www.physicsforums.com/library.php?do=view_item&itemid=101", don't you? :smile:

radian is dimensionless (metre metre-1) …

you can just multiply any unit by it, and the result is in the same units

for example, if an object moves with position x = rcosωt, y = rsinωt, its velocity is (-ωrsinωt, ωrcosωt), which looks as if it is in units of metre radians per second, but is in fact only metres per second :wink:
 
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Thanks tiny-tim for your advice and help! In the end I had converted 100 pF to 1E-9 F rather than 1E-10 so my answer was off by one degree (30 mV vs 3 mV). And I thought the radians would "disappear" somehow, so thanks again.
 

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