Lab 7 Capacitors
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St. Petersburg College *
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Course
1054
Subject
Electrical Engineering
Date
Dec 6, 2023
Type
Pages
16
Uploaded by BarristerArmadillo3019
1
Lab 7: Capacitors
Objective: The purpose of this lab is to study circuits with capacitors using simulated electric
circuits.
Procedure:
1.
You do not need to write a full lab report for this lab.
Record the Title, date, and page
numbers in your lab report.
Then follow the steps below. Copy each question, and then
add the answer below the question.
Be sure to clearly label all data that you record into
your lab report.
Be sure to write down all equations used and show all calculations
completely.
2.
Review capacitors section in Chapter 19 and 21 in your textbook and PPT slides.
3.
First, we are going to find theoretical values using the circuits shown below. Copy the
circuits to your lab report, and answer the questions.
Part A: Capacitors in Series
4.
Three capacitors (C1 = 1 x 10
-13
F, C2 = 2 x 10
-13
F and C3 = 3 x 10
-13
F) are connected
in series as shown in Figure 1. The battery voltage is 1.5 V. Internal resistance of the
battery and wire resistance are negligible.
Figure 1
5.
Calculate the following values. Show complete work.
A)
Calculate the equivalent capacitance of the circuit.
Equivalence Capacitance.
1/C = 1/C1 + 1/C2 + 1/C3
1/C= 10^13 (1/1 +1/2+1/3)
C= 6/11 x 10^-13
C= 0.545 x 10^-13 F
answer
2
B)
Calculate the total charge Q stored in the three capacitors (this is the same charge in a
capacitor with the equivalent capacitance calculated above).
Q = C(eq) V = 0.545 x 1.5 x 10^-13 C
→
Q = 0.818 x 10^-13 C
C)
Calculate the voltage across C1, voltage across C2, and voltage across C3.
Q/C = V
V (c1) = Q/ C1 = 0.818 x 10^-13/ 1 x 10^-13
→
Vc1 = 0.818 V
V (c2) = 0.818 x 10^-13 / 2 x 10^-13
→
Vc2 = 0.409 V
V (c3) = 0.818 x 10^-13 / 3 x 10^-13
→
Vc3 = 0.273 V
D)
Do above voltage values add up to the voltage provided by the battery?
Yes, the above voltage values add up to the voltage provided because if you add them up, it will
equal to 1.5 V.
Values calculated in steps A-D are theoretical values for capacitors in series.
Now, we
build the same circuit using a PhET simulation.
Part B: Capacitors in Parallel
6.
Three capacitors (C1 = 1 x 10
-13
F, C2 = 2 x 10
-13
F and C3 = 3 x 10
-13
F) are connected
in parallel as shown in Figure 2. The battery voltage is 1.5 V. Internal resistance of the
battery and wire resistance are negligible.
Figure 2
3
7.
Calculate the following values. Show complete work.
E)
Calculate the equivalent capacitance of the circuit.
C(eq) = C1 + C2 + C3
= (1+2+3) x 10^-13 F
→
C(eq) = 6 x 10^-13 F
F)
Calculate the total charge Q stored in the three capacitors (this is the same charge in a
capacitor with the equivalent capacitance calculated above).
Q = C(eq) V
= (6 x 10^-13 F) (1.5V)
→
Q= 9 x 10^-13 C
G)
Calculate the charge in C1, charge in C2, and charge in C3.
Charge for C1
Q1= C1V0
= (1 x 10^-13F)(1.5V)
→
Q1 = 1.5 x 10^-13 C
Charge for C2
Q2 = C2V0
= (2 x 10^-13)(1.5V)
→
Q2 = 3 x 10^-13C
Charge for C3
Q3= C3V0
= (3 x 10^-13F)(1.5V)
→
Q3 = 4.5 x 10^-13C
H)
Do above charge values in step (G) values add up to the total charge calculated in step
(F)?
The sum would be Q 1 +2 +3
(1.5 x 10^-13) + (3x 10^-13) + (4.5 x 10^-13)
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4
→
9 x 10^-13 C
Values calculated in steps E-G are theoretical values for capacitors in parallel.
Part C: Capacitors in both Series & Parallel
8.
Three capacitors (C1 = 1 x 10
-13
F, C2 = 2 x 10
-13
F and C3 = 3 x 10
-13
F) are connected
as shown in Figure 3. The battery voltage is 1.5 V. Internal resistance of the battery and
wire resistance are negligible.
Figure 3
9.
Calculate the equivalent capacitance of the circuit. Show complete work. This is the
theoretical value for the capacitor combination.
Simulated Values:
10.
Now we are going to build the circuits shown in Figure 1, Figure 2 and Figure 3 using a
PhET simulation. Go to PhET simulation
https://phet.colorado.edu/sims/cheerpj/capacitor-lab/latest/capacitor-
lab.html?simulation=capacitor-lab
11.
Spend a few minutes exploring the functionalities of the different tabs/panels.
12.
Go to
Multiple Capacitors
tab.
Check “
Plate Charges
”, “Total Capacitance”, “Stored
Charge”, and “Voltmeter” boxes.
13.
Build the circuit shown in Figure 1 (capacitors in series)
by using “3 in Series” option
.
Change capacitance values according to C1, C2 and C3 values given in step 4, and set
5
battery voltage to 1.5 V. Complete Table 1 using the values shown in the simulation. Use
the Voltmeter in the simulation to measure voltage across each capacitor.
14.
Take a screenshot of the circuit and copy it to your lab report.
Capacitors in Series photo 1,2,3
C1
6
C2
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7
C3
8
Theoretical
Values
Simulated Values
% Error
= abs value of E-T/ T
x 100
Equivalent
Capacitance (F)
0.55 x 10^-13 F
0.05 x 10^-12F
5%
Total Charge (C)
0.82 x 10^-13 C
0.82 x 10^-13C
0
Voltage across C1
(V)
0.81 V
0.818
0.24%
Voltage across C2
(V)
0.41 V
0.409
0.24%
Voltage across C3
(V)
0.27 V
0.273
1.11%
Table 1: Capacitors in Series
15.
Now build the circuit shown in Figure 2 (capacitors in parallel)
by using “3 in Parallel”
option. Change capacitance values according to C1, C2 and C3 values given in step 6,
and set battery voltage to 1.5 V. Complete Table 2 using the values shown in the
simulation.
16.
Take a screenshot of the circuit and copy it to your lab report.
9
Capacitors in Parallel photo 1,2,3
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10
11
Theoretical
Values
Simulated Values
% Error
abs value of E-T/T x
100
Equivalent
Capacitance (F)
6 x 10^-13 F
0.060 x 10^-12 F
90%
Total Charge (C)
9 x 10^-13 C
9x 10^-13
0
12
Table 2: Capacitors in Parallel
17.
Now build the circuit shown in Figure 3 (capacitors in both series & parallel)
by using “2
in Parallel + 1 in Series” option
. Change capacitance values according to C1, C2 and C3
values given in step 6, and set battery voltage to 1.5 V. Complete Table 3 using the
values shown in the simulation.
18.
Take a screenshot of the circuit and copy it to your lab report.
Capacitors in both series and parallel 1,2,3
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13
14
15
Theoretical
Values
Simulated Values
% Error
abs value of E-T/T x
100
Equivalent
Capacitance (F)
0.83 x 10^-13 F
0.08 x 10^-12 F
3.61 %
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16
Table 3: Capacitors in both Series & Parallel
19.
In each circuit, do your theoretical values (calculated values) agree with simulated values? If
not, explain possible errors in the discussion section of the report. Remember that if % error
is greater than 10%, theoretical and simulated values do not agree.
In each circuit, my theoretical values did agree with the simulated values. They were extremely
close in value. The percentage error for these values was below 10%.
References:
College Physics Textbook. 2023. Lab Template provided by instructor.
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