How do I calculate the time it takes to discharge a capacitor?

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Homework Help Overview

The discussion revolves around calculating the time it takes to discharge a capacitor from a fully charged state to a specified percentage of its initial charge. The subject area is electrical circuits, specifically focusing on capacitor discharge behavior.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory, Conceptual clarification, Mathematical reasoning

Approaches and Questions Raised

  • Participants explore the relationship between the time constant (RC) and the discharge equation. Questions arise regarding the specific equation for discharge and how to manipulate it to find the time variable.

Discussion Status

Participants are actively engaging with the problem, with some offering guidance on the relevant equations and others questioning the original poster's understanding of how to apply these equations to find the time of discharge. There is a constructive exchange of ideas, but no explicit consensus has been reached.

Contextual Notes

There is mention of potential constraints such as the values for resistance (R) and capacitance (C) being provided in the context of the test question, but these details are not confirmed.

puhdanks
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I have a test coming up and i know what some question will be on. One question is about the time it takes to discharge a capacitor from "full" to a given point or percent of initial charge. How would i go about doing this.



I know the it has to do with the time constant RC and the equation of discharging a capacitor i just don't know how i would find the time it takes.



The Attempt at a Solution

 
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You said you know the equation for discharging a capacitor, so what is that equation? Is it not an equation for the TIME to discharge a capacitor? If not, what is it?
 
well i guess i should have said i think i need to use it and its [q=q(naught)e^(-t/RC)]
 
does it just become [(percent droped)=e^(t/rc) i will probably be given r and c
 
Yes, you have right idea, so now how do you solve that for t ?
 

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