TRANSIENT RESPONSE OF DC CIRCUITS

RC SERIES TRANSIENT CIRCUITS FOR DC INPUT

Consider the series RC circuit shown in Fig, when the switch is closed the
constant voltage source V is applied to the circuit. The capacitor is assumed to have
initial charge.

The differential equation for the circuit is,

1
C
Ri(t )  i (t ) dt  V

1  I ( S ) qo I (S ) Vo
Here, L   i(t ) dt     
 C  CS CS CS S

I ( s) V
R I (s)  
CS S

 1  V
R   I (s) 
 CS  S

 
(V ) C V 1 
I ( s)    
( RCS  1) R  S  1
 
 RC 

t
V  
i(t )    e RC
R
V
The initial value of current is, i (0) 
R

The final value of current is, i()  0

 V0  1 V 
At t  RC , i(1)    e  0.368  
R R

prepared by Prof.S.Nagammai, HOD/EIE, KLNCE

 TRANSIENT RESPONSE OF DC CIRCUITS
At this time, the current is 36.8% of its initial value.

 V  V0   RC
t
If the capacitor has no initial charge q0 , then the transient current is, i(t )    e
 R 
qo
Where V0 
C

The voltage drop across the resistor & capacitor is,

t t
V   
VR  Ri(t )  R    e RC  Ve RC
R

1 1 V   t
 
t

VC 
C  i (t ) dt     e
CR
RC dt  V 1  e

RC



Source free RC circuit

Consider a source free RC circuit shown in Fig below.
The capacitor is initially charged to V0 volts.
1
C
The differential equation is, Ri(t )  i (t )dt  0

1
C
Ri(t )  i(t )dt  V0  0

Taking Lapalce transform,

 1  Vo qo
R  I ( s)  where Vo 
 CS  S C
t
V  
i(t )   0  e RC
R
V0
The initial value of current is, i (0) 
R

The final value of current is, i()  0

 V0  1  V0 
At t  RC , i(1)    e  0.368  
R R

prepared by Prof.S.Nagammai, HOD/EIE, KLNCE

 TRANSIENT RESPONSE OF DC CIRCUITS
Problem 4.5:
Consider a series RC circuit with R  2K  , C  20 f excited by 50Volt DC source. The

capacitor has an initial charge q0  400 C with an upper plate negative. Find the

transient current.
Solution
The differential equation of the circuit is,
106
20 
2000 i(t )  i(t )  50

106 I (s) 400  106 50

2000I (s)   
20 S S (20  106 ) S

 106  50 20
 2000   I ( s)  
 20S  S S

 25  70 0.035
1   I ( s )  
 S  2000 S S

I (s)  S  25  0.035

0.035
I (s) 
S  25

i(t )  0.035 e25t Amps for t  0 sec

Problem 4.6: The switch in the circuit shown in Fig… has been closed for a long time
and it is opened at t 0 . Find VC (t ) for t  0 sec .

Solution:
When the switch is closed for a long time the steady state condition is established. Now
the capacitor acts as an open circuit. Now the circuit condition is shown in Fig...

prepared by Prof.S.Nagammai, HOD/EIE, KLNCE

 TRANSIENT RESPONSE OF DC CIRCUITS

20 9
V0   15Volt
12

When the switch is opened, referring in Fig ….

The differential equation is,

103
20 
10 i(t )  i(t ) dt  0

103 I ( S ) 15
10 I ( S )   0
20 S S

 50  15
10   I ( S ) 
 S  S

1.5
I (S ) 
S 5

i(t )  1.5 e5t Amps for t  0 sec

The drop across the capacitor is,

t
103 t  e5t 
VC (t )  V0 
1 t
 i (t ) dt  15   
1.5e5t dt  15  75    15 e
5t
C 0 20 0
 5 0

Ex.4.7.In the circuit shown in Fig…the switch is closed on position 1 at t 0 & then

moved to position 2 after 5 msec. Find the transient current expression’s for both
intervals. Sketch the transient current.

prepared by Prof.S.Nagammai, HOD/EIE, KLNCE

 TRANSIENT RESPONSE OF DC CIRCUITS
Solution:
With the switch is in position 1, the differential equation is,
106
50 
50  100i(t )  i(t ) dt

 2 104  50
100   I (S ) 
 S  S

100S  210  I (S )  50
4

 S  200 I (S )  0.5
0.5
I (S ) 
S  200

i(t )  0.5 e200 t Amps this current exists until t  5 m sec

At t  5 m sec , i(0.0054)  0.5 e2000.005t  0.184 Amps

When the switch is moved to position 2, the capacitor has a charge on the plates
resulting in a voltage
 5103 
 t
  6 
V0  V 1  e   50 1  e 5010
RC 100

  
 
 

When the switch is moved to position 2,

106
50 
100 i(t )  i(t )dt  20

 2  104  31.6 20

100   I ( s)  
 S  S S

100S  2 10  I (S )  51.6

4

 0.516
I ( s) 
S  200

200 t 0.005
i(t )  0.516 e for t  5 m sec

The sketch of the transient current is shown in Fig….

prepared by Prof.S.Nagammai, HOD/EIE, KLNCE

 TRANSIENT RESPONSE OF DC CIRCUITS

prepared by Prof.S.Nagammai, HOD/EIE, KLNCE

 TRANSIENT RESPONSE OF DC CIRCUITS
Problem 4.8:
In the circuit shown in Fig… the capacitor C2 has an initial charge q0  300 C .When the

switch is closed at t 0 , find the current transient & final value of voltage drop across
C2 .

Solution :
63
The total capacitance of the circuit is, C  f  2 f
9

qo 300
The drop across capacitor C2 is, V2    100Volts
C2 3

When the switch is closed the differential equation is,

106
2 
10 i(t )  i(t )dt  0

 106  100
10   I (S )  0
 2S  S

 20S  10  I (S )  200
6

 S  5 10  I (S )  10
4

10
I (S ) 
S  5  104
4t
i(t )  10 e5 10

The drop across capacitor C2 is,

VC2  100 
1 t

C2 0
i(t )dt  100 
106 t

3 0
4
10  e510 t dt  100 
106

10
3 5  104
4
   4

e510 t  1  100  66.66 e510 t  1

4t
VC2  33.33  66.67e510

The final value of voltage drop is VC2 ()  33.33Volts

Problem 4.9: In the circuit shown in Fig…, find the time when the current from the
battery reaches 100 mA.

prepared by Prof.S.Nagammai, HOD/EIE, KLNCE

 TRANSIENT RESPONSE OF DC CIRCUITS

When the switch is closed, 50 resistors act as a dead element.

The differential equation is,

106
100 
10  70i(t )  i(t ) dt

 104  10
 70   I (S ) 
 S  S

10
I ( s) 
70S  104

1 143t
i (t )  e
7

The time at which the current reaches 0.1Amps is,

1
0.1  e143t
7

 ln 0.7
t  2.5 m sec
143

Problem 4.10: The switch in the circuit shown in Fig is moved from position 1 to 2 at
t=0. Find the expression for voltage across resistance and capacitor, energy in the
capacitor for t>0.

Solution:
With the switch is in position 1 for a long time the 50µf capacitor act as an open circuit
and it is charged to 50 volts.
With the switch moved to position 2, the differential equation is,
106
50 
20  100i(t )  i(t ) dt

 2 104  20 50
 100   I (S )  
 S  S S

prepared by Prof.S.Nagammai, HOD/EIE, KLNCE

 TRANSIENT RESPONSE OF DC CIRCUITS

100S  2 10  I (S )  70

4

 S  2 00 I (S )  0.7
0.7
I (S ) 
S  200
i(t )  0.7 e200 t Amps

VC (t )  V0 
1 t

C 0
i(t ) dt  50 
106 t
50  0

0.7e200t dt 
 
t
 50  70 e200t  20  70 e200t
0

A resistance R and 5  f capacitor are connected in series across a 100Volts D.C supply.
Calculate the value of ‘R’ such that the voltage across the capacitor becomes 50Volts in 5
sec after the circuit is switched on.
Solution:
The differential equation of the circuit is,
106
5 
Ri(t )  i (t )  100

106 I ( s) 100
RI (s)  
5 S S
 106  100
R   I (s) 
 5 S  S

 106  100
I (s)  S  
 5R  R

100
I ( s)  R
 106 
S  
 5R 

t 106
100 
i (t )  e 5R Amps for t  0 sec
R

Given that, voltage drop across the capacitor is 50Volts at t = 5 sec. Hence,

 
t
  
t 106 
VC  V 1  e RC
  100  1  e 5R 
   
 
 
t 106 

50  100 1  e 5 R 
 
 
t  106
ln  0.5  
5R
R  1.44 M 

prepared by Prof.S.Nagammai, HOD/EIE, KLNCE

 TRANSIENT RESPONSE OF DC CIRCUITS

The switch in the RC circuit with R  2K  , and a capacitor C  0.05 f was closed at t=0.
There was no charge initially stored on the capacitor. Find
(i) the voltage across the resistor at t = 60 Sec
(ii) the rate of change of capacitor’s voltage at t=100µs.
(iii) the time at which R is 2 V.
Solution:
With the switch closed the differential equation is,
106
0.05 
2000 i(t )  i(t ) dt  6

 2 107  6
 2000   I (S ) 
 S  S

 2000S  210  I (S )  6
7

 S  10000 I (S )  0.003
0.003
I (S ) 
S  10000
i(t )  0.003 e10000 t Amps

i) The voltage across the resistor at t = 60 Sec is,

t
 6
VR  Ve RC  6  e1000010  5.94Volts
 t

ii) The voltage drop across the capacitor is,
 

Vc (t )  V 1  e RC   6 1  e10000 t 
dVC d   t
 V RCt

The rate of change of capacitor voltage is,  V 1  e RC    e

dt t 100  sec dt     RC

dVC
 60000e10000 t  22072.8Volt / sec
dt t 100  sec

(iii) the time at which VR  2V is,

VR  6  e10000t  2  e10000t  0.33

t  109.86  sec

prepared by Prof.S.Nagammai, HOD/EIE, KLNCE