Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology

Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering

Dhaka-1205, Bangladesh

Laboratory On Electrical Circuits-I

EEE 102

Experiment Number - 4

Name of the Experiment:

Time Responses of R-L and R-C Circuits With DC Excitation

(Time Responses of First Order Systems)

Venue of the Experiment :

Electrical Circuit Laboratory I or II (Ground Floor-East)
ECE Building (East Wing), West Plassey Campus, BUET
Duration: 3 class hours (1 laboratory slot).
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 Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering
EEE102 Electrical Circuits-I Laboratory (Experimental Part)

Experiment Number-4

Time Responses of R-L and R-C Circuits With DC Excitation

(Time Responses of First Order Systems)

Introduction:
A dc voltage applied across a capacitor charges the capacitor to the value of impressed
voltage by a time determined by the resistance of the path of charging and the value of
capacitor. Similarly an inductor current reaches a constant steady state value after a time
determined by the resistance of the path and the inductance and the inductance value. This
experiment is intended to observe the time response of R-C and R-L circuits with dc step
input to them.

R-C Charging Circuit:

Initially capacitor C has no charge.
For Rcur = 0 in the circuit of Fig 1, when switch 1 is closed and switch 2 is opened at t =
0+sec.,
1
C
∫ idt + Ri=V dc =15 V
1 di
or, i+ R =0
C dt
di
or, i=−RC dt
−1 di
or, RC dt = i
The solution of which is,
−1
t
i= A e RC
V dc
At t = 0+, i=
R
V
yielding, A= dc
R
Therefore the solution for i is,
V dc −1 t
i= e RC (1)
R
Again,
V dc −v C V −1 t
=i= dc e RC
R R
2

V dc v C V dc −1 t
or, − = e RC
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R R R
 −1
or. v C =V dc (1−e RC t ) (2)

R-C discharging Circuit:

Initially capacitor C has Vdc.= 15 V voltage
For Rcur = 0 in the circuit of Fig 2, when switch 1 is opened and switch 2 is closed at t =
0+sec.,
1
C
∫ idt + Ri=V dc =0 V
1 di
or, i+ R =0
C dt
di
or, i=−RC dt
−1 di
or, RC dt = i
The solution of which is,
−1
t
i= A e RC
V dc
At t = 0+, i=
R
V dc
yielding, A=
R
Therefore the solution for i is,
V dc −1 t
i= e RC (3)
R
Again,
V c −0 V dc −1 t
=i= e RC
R R
v C V dc −1 t
or, = e RC
R R
−1
or. v C =V dc e RC t (4) 3
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 R
1 2

Ch1
220 C
2

15 V d c
V1 47uF
O sc ref
0
1

100 Rcur

Charging RC Ch2 Inv Ext

Circuit In
reference
Rcur should be as low as possible
so that magnitude of current does not
change significantly
Fig. 1 R-C Charging circuit
R
1 2

0
Ch1
220 C
2
15 V d c

V1 47uF
O sc ref
1

100 Rcur

Disharging Ch2 Inv Ext

In
RC Circuit
reference
Rcur should be as low as possible
so that magnitude of current does not
change significantly
Fig. 2 R-C Discharging circuit
15
V
10
V
5
V
SEL>
> 0
V V(C1:+,C1:

150u -)

A
100u
A
50u
A
00s - 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50
A I(Rcur) s s s s Time
s s s s s s
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 Charging circuit curves R = 100k, C = 47uF, Rcur = 100, Vdc = 15V
15
V
10
V
5
V
SEL>
> 0
V V(C1:+,C1:

150u -)

A
100u
A
50u
A
00s - 5 10 15 20 25s 30 35 40 45 50
A I(Rcur) s s s s s s s s s
Time

Discharging circuit R = 100k, C = 47uF, Rcur = 100, Vdc = 15V

Fig. 3 Typical charging and discharging shapes of capacitor voltage vc an and capacitor
current ic of the R-C circuits of Figs. 1 and 2

RC Charging Table
Percentage of Maximum
Time
RC Value
Constant
Voltage Current

0.5 time constant 0.5T = 0.5RC 39.3% 60.7%

0.7 time constant 0.7T = 0.7RC 50.3% 49.7%

1.0 time constant 1T = 1RC 63.2% 36.8%

2.0 time constants 2T = 2RC 86.5% 13.5%

3.0 time constants 3T = 3RC 95.0% 5.0%

4.0 time constants 4T = 4RC 98.2% 1.8%

5.0 time constants 5T = 5RC 99.3% 0.7%

R-L Circuit Response to DC step response:

Initially the current through L is zero at the switch is closed at t = 0 + sec, the KVL equation of
the circuit of R-L circuit with dc input of Fig. 4 is,
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di
L + Ri=V dc=15 V
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dt
 di R V dc
+ =
dt L L
the solution of the first order differential equation is,
i=i ss +i tr ( ¿ i=i pi +i cf )
−R
V dc t
i= +Ae L
R
at t = 0, i = 0,
V dc
0= +A
R
−V dc
or, A =
R
The complete solution thus stands as,
V dc
i= ¿)
R

R 0.2 2H o r ch o ke c o il
1 2

10k 1

L
15 V d c

V1

Ch1
Rcur 100 Ext
In
O sc ref
RL with Step dc
Circuit
reference
Rcur should be as low as possible
so that magnitude of current does not
change significantly
Fig. 4 R-L first order Circuit with dc step input
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 40m
A

30m
A

20m
A

10m
A

00s - 0.5m 1.0m 1.5m 2.0m 2.5m 3.0m 3.5m 4.0m 4.5m 5.0m
A I(Rcur)
s s s s s s s s s s
Time

R-L circuits i for R = 220, L=0.22H and Rcur = 220, Vdc =15V
Fig. 5 Typical Current shape of the circuit of Fig. 4 with dc step input.

Experiment:

1. a) Construct the circuit of Fig. 1 or 2 (R-C circuit with an additional resistance in series
with with R-C, the voltage of which is to be measured to trace the current of the circuit). In
place of the oscilloscope, multimeter in voltage scale has to be used for reading the capacitor
voltage and Rcur voltage with time. In case of availability of the single sweep storage
oscilloscope, the two traces can be recorded by the oscilloscope. With non storage
oscilloscope, the path of charging and discharging of voltage and current can be observed if
triggered by capacitor voltage at the external trigger input but the oscilloscope will not retain
the result as shown in R-L circuit with available digital storage oscilloscopes. For this part of
the experiment carefully read and record capacitor voltage and Rcur voltage with time for
charging and discharging by operating the switches as indicated. Use the circuit parameters of
Figs. 1 and 2 for the experiment (use mobile phone stop watch or any other watch to record
the time of charging or discharging).

b) repeat a with charging resistance value to 320 (220+100).

2. a) Construct the circuit of Fig. 3 (R-L circuit with an additional resistance in series with
with R-L, the voltage of which is to be measured to trace the current of the circuit). The
oscilloscope is a digital storage oscilloscope which has the facility to store, record and
display any voltage variation that has taken place only once (single sweep mode). The
voltage of Rcur is connected to channel 1 of the oscilloscope for observing and storing the
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voltage shape from the moment of triggering the display. To initiate the triggering the
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oscilloscope at the same time as the switch is closed, the Rcur voltage is also fed to the
external trigger input of the oscilloscope. The oscilloscope is now not in auto mode which
keeps the reading repeat (refresh) after each sweep. The analog/digital storage oscilloscope is
now set to acquire and single sweep mode. As the switch is closed the single sweep display
will change its display and if the trigger is right the R-L time response will be displayed and
stored on the screen. For getting the display correct, the trigger level may be required to be
adjusted in several attempts.

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