- #1
Ramanujan143
- 10
- 1
Edit: sorry i realized i posted this in the wrong section. Can some move it to hw? Thank you.
Hey i was studying intro E&M recently and i started learning about RC circuits. Up until this point everything, concept wise, has made sense for me. Then I learned how RC circuits work, and the math makes complete sense to me, but a lot of it seems to defy what i already know. I can't find any answers anywhere, and even textbooks seem to ignore what i am having a hard time understanding. I'm hoping it's just a simple misconception that I'm having, because i don't think anyone else has these questions.
1. First I'm curious why an uncharged capacitor does not contribute to the resistance of a circuit. I under stand that since it's uncharged the voltage drop across it is zero, but why doesn't the same apply to an open circuit. Isn't it harder for charge to move from one plate to the other through the space.
2. Second, if positive charge is moving from the positive terminal of the batter to the negative, why does charge build up on either plate. Why doesn't the charge just continue through the whole circuit to the other end of the battery. And what makes the charge build up on the specific plate that it does. I can't really find an explanation. I don't think i really need to understand this because mathematically it makes complete sense, but it's really bugging me.
I think i might have more questions but i'll stick to these for now. Thanks in advance.
Hey i was studying intro E&M recently and i started learning about RC circuits. Up until this point everything, concept wise, has made sense for me. Then I learned how RC circuits work, and the math makes complete sense to me, but a lot of it seems to defy what i already know. I can't find any answers anywhere, and even textbooks seem to ignore what i am having a hard time understanding. I'm hoping it's just a simple misconception that I'm having, because i don't think anyone else has these questions.
1. First I'm curious why an uncharged capacitor does not contribute to the resistance of a circuit. I under stand that since it's uncharged the voltage drop across it is zero, but why doesn't the same apply to an open circuit. Isn't it harder for charge to move from one plate to the other through the space.
2. Second, if positive charge is moving from the positive terminal of the batter to the negative, why does charge build up on either plate. Why doesn't the charge just continue through the whole circuit to the other end of the battery. And what makes the charge build up on the specific plate that it does. I can't really find an explanation. I don't think i really need to understand this because mathematically it makes complete sense, but it's really bugging me.
I think i might have more questions but i'll stick to these for now. Thanks in advance.
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