PHYS 222 Leader: Alek Jerauld
Worksheet 22 – RL and LC Circuits Course: PHYS 222
Supplemental Instruction Instructor: Dr. Paula Herrera-Siklódy
Iowa State University Date: 3/19/12
Useful Equations
L RL Circuits: time constant
R
i(t )
1 et
Current in RL circuits (growth)
R
t
i(t ) I0e Current in RL Circuits (decay)
1
LC LC Circuit Angular Frequency
1
U LI 2
2 Energy stored in an inductor
Related Problems
1) A 15.0 ohm resistor and a coil are connected in series with a 6.30-V battery with
negligible internal resistance and a closed switch. (Book 30.20)
(a) At 2.00 ms after the switch is opened the current has decayed to 0.210 A. Calculate the
inductance of the coil.
I0 0.42 A
R
t
tR
i(t ) I 0e L/ R
L 0.0433 H
i
ln
I0
(b) Calculate the time constant of the circuit.
L
2.89 ms
R
(c) How long after the switch is opened will the current reach 1.00% of its original value?
t
i(t ) I0e
t
0.01I 0 I0e t ln 0.01 13.3 ms
2) A 7.60-nF capacitor is charged up to 13.0 V, then disconnected from the power supply
and connected in series through a coil. The period of oscillation of the circuit is then
measured to be 8.60×10−5 s. (Book 30.29)
(a) Calculate the inductance of the coil.
1
LC
2
T
2 1 T2
L 2 0.0247 H
T LC 4 C
(b) Calculate the maximum charge on the capacitor.
Max charge occurs when voltage across capacitor is max, with means all the energy is
stored in the capacitor:
Q CV 9.88(108 ) C
(c) Calculate the total energy of the circuit.
CV 2
U 6.42(107 ) J
2
(d) Calculate the maximum current in the circuit.
LI 2 max CV 2 CV 2
U max I max 7.22(103 ) A
2 2 L
3) An LC circuit containing an 86.0-mH inductor and a 1.50-nF capacitor oscillates with a
maximum current of 0.760 A. (Book 30.33)
(a) Calculate the maximum charge on the capacitor.
LI 2 max Q 2
U max Qmax I max LC 8.63(106 ) C
2 2C
(b) Calculate the oscillation frequency of the circuit.
1
f 1.4(104 ) Hz
2 2 LC
(c) Assuming the capacitor had its maximum charge at time t= 0, calculate the energy
stored in the inductor after 2.45 ms of oscillation.
LI 2
U max
2
t
I I max sin(t ) I max sin
LC
2
LI 2 t
U max max sin 0.0189 J
2 LC