CHARGING AND DISCHARGING OF A CAPACITOR

CHARGING AND DISCHARGING OF A CAPACITOR:-

Capacitor never charges or discharges alone but at least one resistance is attached with it.

Its charging and discharging behaviours both are not linear (straight line) but it is exponential (curved).

How long a capacitor will take in order to charge or discharge depends on product RC of circuit known as time constant that is the product of resistance (R) and capacitance (C) is constant which is time constant.

• CHARGING BEHAVIOUR:-

Charging behaviour is shown in the circuit diagram.
When terminal A is connected with C then circuit is complete and conventional anticlockwise current flows through the circuit. Capacitor gets charged. The charging of capacitor with time is shown in the following graph.
  

  

 RC- TIME CONSTANT FOR CHARGING:-

                             The time duration during which 63% of charge has been stored on the plate of a capacitor and 37% is unsorted is called RC- time constant for charging.

• DISCHARGING BEHAVIOUR:-

    Discharging behaviour is shown in the the circuit diagram.

When terminal A is connected with terminal B then a 

conventional clockwise current flow through the circuit

Discharging of a capacitor with time is shown by the following graph.

RC- TIME CONSTANT FOR DISCHARGING:-

       Time duration during which 63% of charge has been removed from plates of a capacitor and 37% is stored is called RC time constant for discharging.