1. Lab #4: RC and RL Circuits
remember what capacitors and inductors are
remember why circuits containing them can have currents that change with time
No lab report, just excel spreadsheet

2. Capacitor
Two plates with a dielectric in between

3. RC Circuit: close switch
Charge will flow to the capacitor, charging it and raising its potential. The potential will asymptotically approach V0. The current will be biggest at the beginning, when DV is greatest, and will get smaller as DV decreases (as the cap charges).
Note: Vc+vr= constant!
RC time constant (t): time for cap to charge to .63 of Vo
Current to drop to .37 of max value

4. RC Circuit: Open Switch
Discharge with same RC time constant

5. Experiment
Be careful with the grounds! Outer shield on bnc cable from scope is at ground. Make sure it goes on ground side of cap when measuring it
instrumentation amplifier: needed when measuring voltage across R
calculate RC from the values in the circuit
measure the RC time constant (t), which is the time to drop to 0.37% of maximum signal and compare
compare

6. Inductor
Sprague-Goodman
A coil of wire
Minus sign means sense of the voltage will be to oppose the change in current.

7. Inductors L/R time constant
Instead of a step function change in voltage, the inductor will develop a voltage across it due to the change in current which will partially cancel the voltage in the battery and reduce the current.
Experiment: similar to first part, but with L/R circuit
L/R time constant

8. 174 refresher
If you have made two measurements of the same thing, how do you check to see if they agree within errors -> Is their difference zero within errors?
Calculate chi2 and prob of having a difference that big or bigger…

9. Sqrt(12) When you have an LSB, what is the random error?
Imagine a step with width a centered at zero.
Remember:

10. Hints
When wiring circuit, use black wires only for portions of circuit at ground.
When wiring the circuit, first wire everything except the scope. Add it last.
Be sure scope is DC coupled (AC coupling adds an extra capacitor, beyond the one you want to measure)
make sure ch1 and ch2 are on x1 setting
Make sure they have the same v/division scale
When you measure R, L, and C, make sure they are not still in the circuit. If you put an ohm meter across a resistor in a circuit, you measure the resistance of the circuit, not of the resistor, etc.
Don’t really need an external trigger for this lab. Can trigger off signal itself.

11. Hints
lab starts pg 39
on pg 39 you are just making pretty pictures that you paste in your spreadsheet. On page 40, most of A.2 is just making pretty pictures. The real work starts at the second-to-last sentence of A.2. Here you get the instructions for measuring tau.
Only 6 lcr meters in class. They come in two different types. For systematic errors, see manual on your desk top (be careful to use the correct one). Only consider systematic errors in L,R and C measurements, not in scope measurements
for A-1, replace 2nd sentence with “Capture both waveforms using wavestar. Then sketch Vin-Vc and show to your instructor.
capture VR in A-2. Be sure to use the instrumentation amplifier when measuring VR
when calculate lifetime, need an error
for example, in A-3, need to calculate errors and say if they are consistent within errors
do not do A.4
DO NOT DO SECTION B.3