RC Circuits

TESTING INVESTIGATION: RC CIRCUIT

(Activity 2: Collecting Graphs to Describe Capacitor Behavior, AP Physics 2 Curriculum Module, The Capacitor as a Bridge from Electrostatics to Circuits)

GIVEN: Batteries, breadboard, resister, capacitor, voltage sensor, oscilloscope

TASK: Design an RC circuit and examine the variations in voltage and current

POSTER: Describe what is happening as the capacitor charges and discharges.

1. Graph voltage as a function of time across the capacitor and across the resister as the

capacitor charges and discharges.

2. Graph current as a function of time

EXTENSION

ACTIVITY 3: Experimenting with Capacitors in a Parallel Circuit from AP Physics 2

Curriculum Module, The Capacitor as a Bridge from Electrostatics to Circuits), p. 44