Physics › Section O · Current and circuits › Topic O.9
RC circuits
Put a resistor in series with a capacitor and the circuit acquires a sense of time: the capacitor charges and discharges gradually, at a pace set by a single number. That idea times blinking lights, wiper pauses and the first heart pacemakers.
In this topic
- Circuits that change with time
- Charging: the story
- Charging: the equations
- Landmarks of the time constant
- Worked example: charging a timing capacitor
- Discharging
- Worked example: a bleeder resistor
- Where the energy goes
- RC circuits at work
- Common mistakes to avoid
- Key takeaways
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