Solving the Capacitance Circuit: Time Constant & Charging Process

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Homework Help Overview

The discussion revolves around a circuit involving capacitors and resistors, focusing on the time constant of the charging process and the charge on a specific capacitor over time. The original poster presents a scenario where capacitors are initially discharged, and questions arise regarding the effects of changing resistance and capacitance values on the charging behavior.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory, Assumption checking, Conceptual clarification

Approaches and Questions Raised

  • The original poster attempts to determine the equivalent resistance and capacitance to calculate the time constant. They express uncertainty about the impact of increasing resistance and decreasing capacitance on the charging speed. Other participants suggest verifying the equations used for series and parallel combinations and provide hints on charge distribution.

Discussion Status

The discussion is active, with participants offering guidance on understanding the relationships between resistance, capacitance, and charge. There is a mix of attempts to clarify concepts and check assumptions, but no consensus has been reached on the implications of the changes to the circuit parameters.

Contextual Notes

Participants note the absence of a visual reference (Figure 3) that is crucial for understanding the circuit configuration. There is also mention of potential confusion regarding the application of series and parallel capacitance equations.

yikes_physics
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capcitance again FTL :(

Homework Statement



All capacitors of the open circuit in Figure 3 are discharged at time t = 0, when the switch
S is turned on and capacitors starts to be charged. What is the time constant \tau of the charging process? What is the charge on capacitor C2 at an arbitrary time t > 0? If the resistances R1 and R2 are increased by a factor of 2, while capacitances C1 and C2 are decreased by a factor of 2, would the charging process occur faster or slower?


Homework Equations


Resistors in sereis = R1 + R2 +...
capacitors in series = C1 + C2 + ...
capacitors in parallel = 1/C1 + 1/C2 + ...
Voltage across a capacitor = V(o)e^-(delta t/\tau)
capacitor discharging = I(o)e^-(t/\tau) = Q(o)e^-(t/\tau)


The Attempt at a Solution


ok, bak with another one of these variable infested things, lol. First, i find R(eq) by adding the resistors in series and find Ceq by first combining the capacitors in series and then adding them in parallel. Now i have R(eq) and C(eq). Multiplying these together nets me \tau, correct?

if that's right, i then take \tau and place it in the equation V(o)e^-(delta t/\tau) where my voltage is half of C(eq). This is because both pieces of parallel capacitors get equal voltage.

As for the final part of the question, i would assume that the charge occurs faster due to the lower capacitance, but I am not sure by how much. since the resistors add in series, they simple become 2R(eq) while C(eq) goes up much more, or is this wrong to assume? any direction would be awesome.

ps. you guys are THE WIN...end of story
 
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It would be great if you could post your Figure 3.
 
doh! sry, i meant to put it as an attachment, but i guess my comp skills are down there with my physics ability, lol. here it is.
 

Attachments

Charge constant is given by RC, where R is the total resistance in the circuit and C is the total capacitance in the circuit.
For the second part, at any instant voltage across the parallel combination of capacitors is the same. Using charge distribution formula you can find the charge on C2.
For third part, again find the total resistance and capacitor in the circuit and hence find the time constant.
 
You switched the series/parallel capacitance equations, careful. I don't know if it was a typo or not, but I thought I would point that out.
 

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