Lab 12: Capacitors in DC Circuits

Capacitors in DC Circuits Lab

• The lab aims to study the charging and discharging of a capacitor and draw the waveform.

Apparatus and Components Required

• 1 Kit KL 21001
• 2 resistors of 100 Ω each
• 1 capacitor of 10 µF
• 1 bread board
• 1 multimeter
• 1 function generator
• 1 CRO (Cathode Ray Oscilloscope)
• Connecting wires

Circuit Making on Bread Board

• Connect a 100 Ω resistor and a 10 µF capacitor in a series circuit.
• Adjust the function generator to produce a 1 KHz square wave.
• Apply the input square wave to the circuit.
• Connect CRO channel 1 to the input leads to observe the input square wave.
• Connect CRO channel 2 across the capacitor to observe the output waveform.

Measuring Time Constant

• The time constant τ is calculated by the formula τ = RC.
• Measure the time constant for the circuit with one resistor and one capacitor.
• Repeat the experiment for a circuit with two 100 Ω resistors in series and one 10 µF capacitor.
• Record the computed and measured values of the time constant.

This lab experiment aims to study the charging and discharging of a capacitor in a DC circuit. It involves setting up a series circuit with a resistor and capacitor, and observing the waveform. The apparatus required includes a kit, resistors, capacitors, and a multimeter.