Resistance and Capacitance in a DC Circuit PH 2223-12 Zachary Butler Lab partner: Alex Ellis Instructor: Godfred Inkoom Introduction:

In this lab the objective is to observe the decay of a current and to measure the two RC decay half-life of that current. An exponential curve is the result of any case where an instantaneous rate of a variable is proportional to the variable itself, and we know a current can be dened as an instantaneous ow rate of charge. So, we can then measure the current as a function of time, and nd out that it exponentially decays, so it has a half-life. The term half-life can be dened as the amount of time for the current to be reduced by 0.5. The rst half-life will be long enough to measure it using a multimeter and stopwatch, but when measuring the second half-life be sure to use an oscilloscope and a signal generator because these will be one to appear more often in electronic circuits.

Methods and Materials: To complete this lab experiment my partner and I used a power supply, voltmeter, capacitor, resistor, signal generator, stopwatch, and also a oscilloscope. First task in Part 1 is to turn off the power supply and set up the circuit. Once the circuit is set up, turn the power back on and adjust to 2 volts and begin to time it using a stopwatch. Record the time and voltage every 15 seconds for 5 minutes. Next, disconnect the wires and short them together and follow the same steps stated above to record time and voltage. Then, using the collected data plot step 1 and step 2 on separate plots, and using these plots we can nd an experimental half-life. Lastly, using a multimeter measure resistance, from this we then could measure our half-life and get a value for capacitance. We then compare it to the manufacturers claim of it being a 1F capacitor with a 20% tolerance. For part 2 we began once again by turning the power off and setting the circuit up. Next, set the signal generator to a frequency such that the period of the square wave is longer than what you expect your RC decay life to be. Record the collected data of the half-life using the oscilloscope. Lastly, compare this value to your value you calculated previously.

Results: Time 0 15 30 45 60 75 90 105 120 135 150 165 180 195 210 225 240 255 270 285 300 2.0 2.07 2.069 2.069 2.069 2.069 2.069 2.069 2.069 2.069 2.069 2.068 2.068 2.068 2.068 2.068 2.068 2.068 2.068 2.068 2.068 Charging V 2.068 0.173 0.136 0.113 0.095 0.078 0.066 0.055 0.042 0.039 0.033 0.027 0.023 0.02 0.016 0.014 0.012 0.01 0.009 0.007 0.006 Discharging B

**Error in results due to human error. Oscilloscope Reading = 0.4/6

Discussion: In conclusion, the half-life was found to be 60 seconds and the capacitor was 10% over the allowed tolerance. These results coincides with our predictions.