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    Back To Basics - The Series R-C Circuit

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    Moti Hilely
    The document derives the exponential solution to the differential equation that describes the voltage across a capacitor in a series RC circuit. It starts from first principles using Kirchhoff's voltage law and the properties of resistors and capacitors. It then proves that the exponential function is a valid solution by taking derivatives and using Taylor series expansions to show it satisfies the differential equation.

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    Back To Basics - The Series R-C Circuit

    Uploaded by

    Moti Hilely
    8 views3 pages
    The document derives the exponential solution to the differential equation that describes the voltage across a capacitor in a series RC circuit. It starts from first principles using Kirchhoff's voltage law and the properties of resistors and capacitors. It then proves that the exponential function is a valid solution by taking derivatives and using Taylor series expansions to show it satisfies the differential equation.

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    Back to Basics - The Series R-C Circuit

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    The document derives the exponential solution to the differential equation that describes the voltage across a capacitor in a series RC circuit. It starts from first principles using Kirchhoff's voltage law and the properties of resistors and capacitors. It then proves that the exponential function is a valid solution by taking derivatives and using Taylor series expansions to show it satisfies the differential equation.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pdf or txt
    8 views3 pages

    Back To Basics - The Series R-C Circuit

    Uploaded by

    Moti Hilely
    The document derives the exponential solution to the differential equation that describes the voltage across a capacitor in a series RC circuit. It starts from first principles using Kirchhoff's voltage law and the properties of resistors and capacitors. It then proves that the exponential function is a valid solution by taking derivatives and using Taylor series expansions to show it satisfies the differential equation.

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    © All Rights Reserved
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    Back to Basics: The R-C Circuit

    Introduction: Electrical engineers must surely know how to analyze the circuit in Figure 1. It
    should be second nature to all of us. But I wonder how many of us remember how to derive the
    solution. How would you teach it to a student who’s
    starting from scratch with just the V-I characteristics of
    v=i R for a resistor and i=C dv/dt for a capacitor? As a
    tutor of Circuit Analysis student, I came to thinking
    about this just recently and I came up with a lesson that
    teaches this basic subject without any assumptions or
    missing steps.
    It starts with deriving the circuit equation. KVL and
    Figure 1 The Series R-C Circuit
    Ohm’s law gives us…
    vs = iR + vc
    dvc
    and since, i = C ,
    dt
    dvc
    RC + vc = vs [1]
    dt

    A complete solution combines the particular solution for the given source with the solution for
    vs=0. That source-free solution is usually the first part taught to the new student.

    How do we know that the source-free solution is an exponential?: In the


    absence of an applied source, there can still be a response if there’s an initial charge on the
    capacitor producing vc(0) = Vo. At this point, the experienced EE knows the answer. For…
    dvc
    RC + vc = 0 [2]
    dt

    a solution that is infinitely differentiable is given by…


    t
    vc (t) = V0 e− ⁄RC [3]
    I’ve taught this solution by explaining the property by which exponentials are proportional to
    their own derivatives but that’s like saying, “It’s the solution because it’s the solution.” In fact,
    we can prove that [2] is the solution and here’s how.
    Equation [2] gives us a formula for the first derivative of vc(t)…
    dvc (𝑡) 1
    = (− RC) vc (t) [4]
    dt

    We can differentiate both sides [4] to find the second derivative…


    d2 vc (𝑡) d dvc (𝑡) d 1 1 2
    = dt ( ) = dt ((− RC) vc (t)) = (− RC) vc (t) [5]
    dt2 dt
    By the same reasoning,
    d𝑘 vc (𝑡) 1 𝑘
    = (− RC) vc (t) [6]
    dt𝑘

    For such a function that is infinitely differentiable, the Maclaurin series expansion (Taylor series
    about t=0) is
    dvc (t) d𝑛 vc (𝑡) 𝑡𝑛
    vc (t)=vc (0)+ ( | ) t + ∑∞
    n=2 [( | ) 𝑛! ] [7]
    dt t=0 dt𝑛 𝑡=0

    Using Equations [3-6]…


    𝑡 V 𝑡 𝑛
    vc (t)=V0 + V0 (− RC) + ∑∞ 0
    n=2 [ 𝑛! (− RC) ] [8]

    Equation [8] is the solution to Equation [2] for vc(0) = V0 expressed as a power series.
    We can express it in closed form by the following derivation. First, we define a new function,
    vc (t) x
    f(x, t) ≜ ( ) [9]
    V0

    Then to expand f(x,t) into a Maclaurin series in t we find…


    vc (t) x vc (0) x
    f(x, 0) = ( ) =( ) =1 [10]
    V0 V0

    and
    x−1 vc (t) x−1 x
    ∂f(x, t) vc (t) 𝑑 ⁄V vc (t) 1 vc (t) 1 vc (t) 𝑥
    0
    = 𝑥( ) = 𝑥( ) [(− ) ] = (− ) ( ) = (− ) f(x, t)
    ∂t V0 𝑑𝑡 V0 RC V0 RC V0 RC

    So that
    ∂f(x,t) 𝑥 𝑥
    | = (− RC) f(x, t) = (− RC) [11]
    ∂t 𝑡=0

    Also
    ∂2 f(x, t) ∂ ∂f(x, t) ∂ 𝑥 𝑥 2
    = ( ) = ((− ) f(x, t)) = (− ) f(x, t)
    ∂t 𝑥 ∂t ∂t ∂t RC RC

    and, in general,
    ∂𝑛f(x,t) 𝑥 𝑛
    = (− ) f(x, t) [12]
    ∂t𝑛 RC

    so that
    ∂𝑛f(x,t) 𝑥 𝑛
    | = (− ) [13]
    ∂t𝑛 𝑡=0 RC

    Using these results, the Maclaurin series expansion of f(x, t) is


    vc (t) x xt xt
    n
    1
    f(x,t)= ( ) =1+ (− RC) + ∑∞
    n=2 [(− RC) ] [14]
    V0 n!

    vc (xt)
    Comparing [14] to [7] we find that the right side of Equation [14] is .
    V0

    This means that…


    vc (xt) vc (t) x
    =( ) [15]
    V0 V0

    If we set t=-RC and x=-τ/RC,


    vc (−RC) −τ/RC 1 −τ/RC
    vc (τ)=V0 ( ) = V0 [2+ ∑∞
    n=2 (𝑛!)] [16]
    V0

    The term inside the brackets is a constant that can be evaluated to arbitrary precision by
    summing through a sufficient number of terms. Through fourteen decimal points, the value is…
    ∞
    1
    [2+ ∑ ( )] = 2.718 281 828 459 05
    𝑛!
    n=2

    This is precisely the value of Euler’s constant, e!


    dvc
    And that is precisely why the solution to RC + vc = 0 for vc(0) = Vo is { Drum roll, please}
    dt

    𝐭
    𝐯𝐜 (𝐭) = 𝐕𝟎 𝐞− ⁄𝐑𝐂

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