RC Circuits

Instructions on how to use the animation below:

This java applet try to show the transient behavior that occurs when the capacitor is being charged and discharged.

1. You will find a 10 Volt Voltage source. Click within the green area and drag the mouse up/down to change its value.

2. A 100k ohms resistor and a 100uF in series C(k=10³, u=10^-6 )

3. There is a switch to control the flow path of the circuit. Click near the (Black) switch to change between horizontal position: charging and vertical position: discharging. If you click the mouse button twice, the timing record t will be reset to zero.

4. Press Start to start the animation. The program will show the voltage of capacitor(Vc) and resistor. It also draw Vc-t(ime) curve.

5. You can change the switch at any time.

6. If the mouse is inside the Vc-t plot area, its values corresponding to the mouse position will be displayed. If you drag the mouse, it will show the relative value.

7. The animation is suspended when you press the mouse button. If you click with left mouse button, animation continues when you release the mouse button. If you click with the right mouse button, you will need to press the mouse again to resume.