The discussion revolves around the calculation of power dissipation in a capacitor circuit connected to a battery with internal resistance. Participants explore whether to consider only the heat dissipated by the capacitor or to include the heat lost in the battery due to its internal resistance.
Participants express differing views on whether to include the heat dissipation in the battery when calculating total power dissipation, indicating that the discussion remains unresolved.
There are assumptions regarding the definitions of current flow in the circuit and the treatment of energy dissipation in both the capacitor and the battery that remain unaddressed.
mfb said:The capacitor will take some part of the energy released by the battery, only the fraction that is lost in the internal resistance gets converted to heat.
What current "through" capacitor? The current goes through the connecting wires and through the battery, during the charging process. But not through the capacitor.apkrishna1963 said:Capacitor connected to a battery of certain internal resistance. If it is asked to calculate what is power dissipated as heat, Does -the voltage across capacitor X current through capacitor- gives heat dissipated or should we add heat dissipated in battery by considering its internal resistance.