Physics 1122
Experiment 5
Name_________________________________
Pre Lab
Instructor name _________________________
1. (a) Define capacitance and write the expression for the capacitance of a parallel plate capacitor.
(b) Calculate the area of a 1.00-F parallel plate capacitor having a plate separation of 1.00 mm.
2. Write an expression for the potential difference Vc as a function of time across the capacitor in the
circuit shown below.
+
V0 ‐
R
C
3. If the battery in the circuit above is removed, the capacitor discharges through the resistor. Write
the expression for Vc as a function of time during the discharge.
4. A student built a simple RC circuit consisting of a 1000 ohms resistor, a 500 µF capacitor, and a
5.00 volts battery connected in series. (a) If the capacitor was initially uncharged, how long does it
take the voltage across it to reach 4.00 volts? (b) How many time constants was this?
5. A student discharged an 800 F capacitor in a simple RC circuit and used the data recorded to plot
the graph shown below, where Vc is the voltage of the capacitor and V0 is the voltage of the battery.
Using the proper graphing method calculate the resistance of the resistor.