Solving Discharging Capacitor: Why εC in Denom.

  • Context: Graduate 
  • Thread starter Thread starter iScience
  • Start date Start date
  • Tags Tags
    Capacitor
Join the discussion
Registration is free. Ask a follow-up in this thread, or start your own.
2 replies · 1K views
iScience
Messages
466
Reaction score
5
$$\epsilon=IR+V_C$$

$$\epsilon=IR+\frac{Q}{C}$$

$$\frac{dQ}{dt}=\frac{\epsilon-Q/C}{R}$$

$$\int\frac{dQ}{C\epsilon-Q}=\int\frac{dt}{RC}$$

$$-ln(\frac{\epsilon C-Q}{\epsilon C})=\frac{t}{RC}$$

in previous step I am confused as to why the εC is in the denominator.

if we have $$\int\frac{1}{x-2}dx$$

the answer is $$ln(x-2)$$

there's no denominator, so where is the one in the derivation popping up from?
 
Physics news on Phys.org
Perhaps the author used definite integrals, not indefinite integrals. Had he used the latter, there would have been a constant of integration, which seems to be missing from your equations.
 
##\frac{dQ}{Cε - Q} = \frac{dt}{RC}##
##\int^Q_{Q_0} \frac{dQ'}{Cε - Q'} = \int^t_{t_0} \frac{dt'}{RC}##
##ln|Cε - Q| - ln|Cε - Q_0| = \frac{t}{RC} - \frac{t_0}{RC}##
##ln(\frac{Cε - Q}{Cε - Q_0}) = \frac{t}{RC} - \frac{t_0}{RC}##

Q = 0 when t = 0
So you can set ##Q_0## and ##t_0## to 0.