Institute of Technology (AMIT)

FECE

Fundamentals of Electrical Engineering

Chapter 4
Response of First Order Transient Circuits
 Introduction

Capacitors:
• A capacitor is a passive element designed to store energy as an electric field.
• A capacitor consists of two conducting plates separated by an insulator (or dielectric).
• A capacitor can take a shorter time than a battery to charge up and can release all the
energy very quickly.
• The amount of charge stored, represented by q, is directly proportional to the applied
voltage v so that, …..…4.1

Capacitance is the ratio of the charge on one plate of a capacitor to the voltage
difference between the two plates, measured in farads (F).
1 farad =1 coulomb/volt ……….. 4.2 2
Cont.
• To obtain the current-voltage relationship of the capacitor, take the derivative of
both sides of Eq. (4.1).
(since ) ….. 4.3
• To obtain the voltage-current relationship of the capacitor, integrate equation 4.3.
,

where v(to) = q(to)/C is the voltage across the capacitor at time to.
The instantaneous power delivered to the capacitor is;
The energy stored in the capacitor is therefore;

or
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Cont.

We should note the following important properties of a capacitor:

1. A capacitor is an open circuit to dc.
2. The voltage on a capacitor cannot change abruptly.
Series and parallel capacitor
• Series capacitor: The equivalent capacitance of series- connected capacitors is the reciprocal
of the sum of the reciprocals of the individual capacitances.

• Parallel Capacitor: The equivalent capacitance of N parallel-connected capacitors is the

sum of the individual capacitances.

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Inductors
• An inductor is a passive element designed to store energy in its magnetic field.
• If current is allowed to pass through an inductor, it is found that the voltage across
the inductor is directly proportional to the time rate of change of the current.

• The current-voltage relationship is obtained as;

• Integrating both side gives or

• The power delivered to the inductor is;

• The energy stored is;

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 Cont.
• We should note the following important properties of a inductors:
1. An inductor acts like a short circuit to dc.
2. The current through an inductor cannot change instantaneously.
Series and parallel inductors
• Consider a series connection of N inductors, The inductors have the same current through them.

• The equivalent inductance of parallel inductors is the reciprocal of the sum of the reciprocals of the
individual inductances.

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Summary

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Transients
• The time-varying currents and voltages resulting from the sudden
application of sources, usually due to switching, are called transients.
• Transients are created due to energy storage behavior of capacitors and
inductors.
•There are no transient phenomena in purely resistive circuits.

• But in reality, there is also no purely resistive circuit. Because the

conductors making the circuit have capacitive and inductive properties.
• By writing circuit equations, we obtain integro-differential equations.
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First order circuit
• First order circuits are those having only one storage elements, a capacitor or an
inductor with a resistor or combination of resistors.

• A circuit that can be simplified to a Thevenin equivalent connected to either a single

equivalent inductor or capacitor.

RL circuit RC circuit
• A first-order circuit is characterized by a first-order differential equation.
• But, the source is either none (natural response) or step source.
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 Source free RC circuit
• A source free RC circuit occurs when its dc source is suddenly disconnected.
• The energy already stored in the capacitor is released to resistors.
Consider the circuit shown below.

• Since the capacitor is initially charged, we can assume that at t = 0, the initial
voltage is V(0) = Vo
• Applying KCL at the top node of the circuit yields;
i𝑐 + = 0 by definition, and
Thus, (first order differential equation)
To solve it, we rearrange the terms as, then, integrate both side gives,
Where lnA is integration constant
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 Cont.
• Thus,

• From initial conditions A=V(0)=Vo, and v(t) =Vo e − t/RC

• This shows that the voltage response of the RC circuit is an exponential decay of the
initial voltage Vo.
• Since the response is due to the initial energy stored and the physical characteristics
of the circuit and not due to external voltage or current source, it is called natural
response of the circuit.
• The natural response of a circuit refers to the behavior (in terms of voltage and
current) of the circuit itself with no external sources of excitation.

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 Cont.
• The rapidity with which the voltage decreases are expressed in terms of time constant
denoted by 𝜏.
• The time constant of the circuit is the time required for the response to decay to a
factor of 1/e or 36.8% of its initial value.

Therefore, at t=𝜏, the equation becomes; ( Therefore,

𝑉𝑜 −𝑡/ �
𝜏=RC)

� 𝑡 𝑒 �𝑜 �
The exponential decaying voltage can be written as
( t)= �� = �
− 𝑡/ �
�

� �
And the current �
� �

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Cont.

The power dissipated in the resistor is;

The energy absorbed by the resistor up to time t is;

Notice that as which is the same as the energy initially stored in the capacitor.
The energy that was initially stored in the capacitor is eventually dissipated in the resistor.
The Key works with a source-free RC Circuit is Finding:
1. The initial voltage V(0) = Vo across the capacitor.
2. The time constant 𝜏.
• With these two items, we obtain the response as the capacitor voltage Vc(t) = V(t) = Vo e − t/𝜏.

• Once the capacitor voltage is first obtained, other variables (capacitor current, resistor voltage and
resistor current can be determined.
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Source free RL circuit
• Consider the circuit to the right side
• Assume the circuit response is the current i(t) through the inductor.

• At t=0, the inductor current is i(0)=io,

• Applying KVL around the loop, + =0
But, and =𝑖𝑅 therefore, =0
Rearranging the equation gives; solving for i gives again;

i(t) = Io e − (R/L)t
• This shows that the natural response of the RL circuit is an exponential decay of the initial current.
• The time constant 𝐿𝑅
= /𝑅 and i(t)=𝐼𝑜𝑒 − 𝑡/𝜏
• The voltage across the resistor is (t)=iR=𝐼𝑜R𝑒 − 𝑡/𝜏

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Cont.
The power dissipated in the resistor is,
The energy absorbed by the resistor is

Or

Note that as which is the same a s the initial energy stored in the inductor
The Key Works with a Source-free RL Circuit is to Find:
1. The initial current I(0) = Io through the inductor.
2. The time constant 𝜏 of the circuit.
With the two items, we obtain the response as the inductor current.

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Examples
1. In figure below, let Vc(0) = 15V, find Vc, Vx and Ix for t>0

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 Step function
• Step function is the most widely used function in circuit analysis.
• The unit step function u(t) is 0 for negative values of t and 1 for positive values of t
Mathematically, u 𝑡 = 0, 𝑡 < 0
1, 𝑡 > 0
It is undefined for t=0 Step function

If the abrupt change occurs at t=to instead of t=0, the unit step function becomes
0,𝑡 < 𝑡𝑜
𝑡 − 𝑡𝑜 =
U 1, 𝑡 > 𝑡𝑜

We use the step function to represent an abrupt change in voltage or current,

V 𝑡 = 0,𝑡 < 0
�, 𝑡 > 0
The response of the circuit to the step input
� voltage or current is called step response.

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Step response of an RC circuit
• When dc source is suddenly applied to an RC circuit, the voltage or current can be
modelled as a step function, and the response is known as a step response.
• The step response of a circuit is, its behavior when the excitation is the step
function, which may be a voltage or a current source.
• The capacitor voltage V(t) is selected as a circuit response to be determined.
• Consider the circuit when the switch is on at t=0

• For t > 0,
• Solving for v, 𝑣 (𝑡) = 𝑉𝑠 + (𝑉𝑜 − 𝑉𝑠)𝑒 − 𝑡/𝜏
and is known as complete response of the circuit
to a sudden application of dc voltage.
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Cont.
The voltage of a capacitor cannot change instantaneously,
Finally,

Complete response =natural response (storage) + forced response(independent source)

• If we assume that the capacitor is
uncharged initially, we set
• then,

Or Complete response = transient response + steady state response (permanent)

The transient response is the The steady state response is

circuit’s temporary response the behavior of the circuit a
that will die out with time long time after the external
excitation is applied

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Cont.
The complete response can also be written as,

Where v(0) is the initial voltage at t=0+ and V(∞) is the final or steady state value of the voltage.

In general to find the step response of RC circuit requires

 The initial capacitor voltage V(0)
 The final capacitor voltage V(∞)
 The time constant 𝜏

• V(0) is obtained from the given circuit for t<0 but V(∞) and 𝜏are obtained from the circuit for t >0.
• If the switch changes position at t=to instead of t=0, there is a time delay in the response so that the
above response equation becomes

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Step response of an RL circuit
Consider the circuit shown on the right side,

We know that the transient response is a decaying exponential, that is

The steady state response is

And therefore,
From initial current Io in the inductor
A=

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Cont.
• Where, are the initial and final values of i, respectively.
• Thus, to find the step response of an RL circuit requires three things:
 The initial inductor current I(0) at t=0
 The final inductor current I(∞)
 The time constant 𝜏

I(0) is obtained from the given circuit for t < 0 but I(∞) and 𝜏 are obtained from
the circuit for t > 0.

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 THANK YOU !!!
END OF CHAPTER FOUR

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