Response Of First Order R-C & R-L Circuits:

R-C Circuits:
OBJECTIVE:

In this lab, we will build the simple series RC circuit, and using the oscilloscope, measure the voltages is to
introduce you to the use of an oscilloscope and to use this instrument to observe and measure the transient
response of this simple RC circuit as it is being charged and discharged.

APPARATUS:

 Oscilloscope

 Function generator

 0-40 volt power supply

 Circuit box

 Multimeter

 Miscellaneous banana lead wires

Caution:
Please, be careful in handling all of the equipment in this laboratory. The equipment is expensive and can
be easily damaged if misused.

PROCEDURE:

Oscilloscope and Power Supply:

1: Begin by locating the ON/OFF button on top of the oscilloscope. Press this button.The front screen should light
up. The oscilloscope will then conduct a self-test to verify the instrument is operating correctly. Wait for the
confirmation that everything is OK before proceeding.
It is always a good idea to check the settings of an oscilloscope before beginning any measurements. The following
is the set-up procedure to prepare the oscilloscope for the measurements in this laboratory experiment. Most of
these settings are probably already preset. Just verify the settings to be sure.The oscilloscope will always reset
to the previous settings (the settings that were on the oscilloscope when it was turned off).

2: Check oscilloscope settings.

A: Press the DISPLAY button. The settings (shown on the right edge of the screen) should be:
1: Type [Vectors]
2: Persist [Off]
3: Format [YT]
4: Contrast Increase (Adjustable as needed)
5: Contrast Decrease (Adjustable as needed).

NOTE: If the intensity is OK, skip this step.

B: Press the TRIGGER MENU button. On the right side of the oscilloscope screen, there are five sections controlled
by the five buttons to the right of these sections.
1: Video [Edge]
2: Slope [rising]
3: Source [CH 1]
4: Mode [Auto]
5: Coupling [DC]

If the settings are not preset to these values, press (once) the button located to the right of the section, next to
the scope screen.
C: Press the CH 1 MENU button. The four sections (in the same location as the five sections in part a above, should
be set to the following.
1: Coupling [DC]
2: BW Limit [OFF]
3: Volts/Div [Coarse]
4: Probe [1x]
D: Press the HORIZONTAL MENU button. The following are the sections that should be selected.
1: [Main]
2: Trig knob [Level]
E: Press the MEASURE button. The five sections should be set to the following.
1: Source [Type]
2: CH 1 [Freq]
3: CH 1 [Period]
4: CH 1 [Pk - Pk]
5: CH 1 [Cyc RMS]
F: Locate the VOLTS/DIV knob for CH 1 and adjust it until 2.00 V is displayed on the lower left of the oscilloscope
screen.
G: The MEASURE DISPLAY mode should remain on your screen while performing all of your measurements.
3: You are now ready to set the controls on the power supply in order to get an output to observe on the
oscilloscope.
Caution:
Follow these steps carefully.

A: Below the display, you will find three buttons/switches, the leftmost is the POWER switch, then
the Range switch, and then the CC Set button.
B: Make sure the power supply On/Off switch is set to Off.
C: On the right side of the power supply, there are two knobs, the Voltage and the Current knob.
D: Rotate both the Voltage and the Current knobs fully counterclockwise (while the power supply is still off).
E: Turn the power supply on.
F: You should see an LED display on the left side of the power supply. The left half of the display shows the voltage,
the right half of the display shows the current (in amps).
G: Press the Range button down.
H: Hold the CC Set button down and, at the same time, rotate the Current knob clockwise until the current display
reads 0.25 A. This will be the maximum current available from the power supply. Release the CC Set button. Now
the display should read zero (0) for the current.

Do not change this setting for the rest of the experiment.

I: The Voltage knob may now be used to vary the output voltage from the power supply.

4: Check that the VOLTS/DIV setting on the scope is 2.00 V. Connect the output of the power supply (+) and (–) to
the CH 1 input of the oscilloscope with the BNC-banana cables. Increase the output voltage of the power supply and
see if there is correlation between the power supply output meter reading and the oscilloscope display. Observe
the movement of the trace and the reading on the Cyc RMS on the right section of the screen. Reverse the leads
on the power supply. Sketch the waveform using the screen template and the Paint program and upload.

Disconnect the power supply and place it aside.

Oscilloscope and Function Generator:
1: You will now use a function generator to produce a signal on the oscilloscope. In order to prepare the generator
for use, preset the control as follows.
A: Press the POWER button (orange button on the lower left side).
B: Press the [1k] button on the top row of green buttons.
C: Press the [sine wave] button on the second row of green buttons.
D: Adjust the FREQUENCY control until a reading of 1.500 is displayed on the generator digital readout.
E: The MOD ON and MOD EXT lights should be off.
F: Rotate the AMPL knob clockwise about 1/2 turn. This should produce an output of about 10 volts.
Determine Voltage and Frequency: Method 1
2: The oscilloscope VOLTS/DIV and SEC/DIV settings should be the following.
A: VOLTS/DIV: 2.00 V
B: SEC/DIV: 250 μs (This setting may be checked by looking at the bottom of the screen [after the symbol M].)
3: Using the two BNC-banana cables connect the OUTPUT of the function generator to CH 1 of the oscilloscope.
Adjust the AMPL(itude)control of the function generator in order to display a 2-3 division waveform on the screen.
Note as you adjust the AMPL, the section on the right side (Pk-Pk) of the oscilloscope is reading the peak-to-peak
voltage of the waveform on the screen.
4: Determine the frequency of the sine wave by using the value of the SEC/DIV shown on the screen and counting
the cycles of the waveform (your TA will discuss this in more detail during his lab presentation).
A: f =1/p (Hz)

B: f = frequency
C: p = the period of the sine wave (number of divisions × SEC/DIV)
5: What is the frequency of the waveform and the voltage of the waveform?
6: Once again sketch the waveform observed in steps 3 and 4, using the screen template and Paint.
Determine Voltage and Frequency: Cursor Method
Another method to measure the voltage output and the frequency of the generator is the cursor method.
7: To determine the voltage output, press the CURSOR MENU button. Using the buttons next to the scope screen,
set the following selections.
A: Type [Voltage]
B: Source [CH 1]
While on the Voltage setting, two cursors may be moved up and down the oscilloscope screen. Use the
two VERTICAL POSITION knobs to move one cursor to the top edge of the waveform on the screen and move the
other cursor to the bottom edge of the waveform. The voltage is then determined as the difference between
cursor 2 and cursor 1.

8: What is the voltage reading?

9: How does it compare with the value in step 5? Which would you say would be a more accurate reading? Explain.
10: To determine the frequency, press the CURSOR MENU button and using the buttons next to the screen, set the
following.
A: Type [Time]
B: Source [CH 1]
While on the Time setting, use the two VERTICAL POSITION knobs to move one cursor to the beginning of one cycle
and the other cursor to the beginning of the next cycle. The frequency (and the period) is then determined as the
difference between cursor 2 and cursor 1.

11: What is the frequency reading?

12: How does it compare with the value in step 5? Which would you say would be a more accurate reading? Explain.
Examine Different Frequencies:
13: Press the [10k] button on the generator.Discuss what happens to the waveform on the scope screen when the
generator is set to 10k. Sketch the waveform for that frequency. Be sure to label the sketch.
14: Press the MEASURE button and you will see that the period and the frequency of the waveform may be read in
the sections on the right side of the oscilloscope screen.Take some time to become more familiar with the
information displayed on the oscilloscope screen.
15: Vary the FREQUENCY control and the AMPL control and discuss what happens to the waveform and the readings
on side sections of the oscilloscope screen.
16: Set the output frequency of the function generator to 100 kHz. Adjust the SEC/DIV knob until at least four
complete sine waves are visible on the screen. Sketch the waveform.
17: Switch the function generator to the square wave output, 2 kHz frequency. Compare the frequency output of
the generator to the frequency measured with the oscilloscope. Determine the voltage of the waveform and
sketch the waveform.
Measuring the Transient Behavior of a Simple RC Circuit:
The objective of this experiment is to observe and measure the transient response of a series resistor-
capacitor RC circuit. You will also see how to use this to measure and determine the capacitance in such a
circuit.The basic unit of capacitance is farad, which is defined as the capacitance necessary to store one
coulomb of charge at a potential difference of one volt. The most commonly used units are microfarads (1 μF =
10−6 F) and picofarads.(1 pF = 10−12 F).
The capacitor which you will probably use will be marked with a decimal fraction in which case the units are in
μF.
 Figure 7
Finding the Capacitance of a Capacitor:
1: Connect the circuit as shown in Figure 7.
2: Set the frequency of the function generator to 1 KHz (square wave), the amplitude to maximum.
3: Set the oscilloscope as described in the Oscilloscope and Power Supply section of this experiment.
4:Connect CH 1 input of the oscilloscope across the capacitor C in the circuit. Rotate the knobs on the oscilloscope
to display the decaying voltage on the capacitor such that the trace touches the top line of the screen and decays
to the
bottom line of the screen. The trace does not have to fill the screen (horizontally), but it does have to extend over
at
least 4-5 divisions in order to measure the decay constant.
5: Record the voltage value of this waveform for at least 10 evenly spaced time intervals from the peak of the
wave through its decay to the baseline and record these readings in Table 1. Record these readings as a time and
voltage for each reading.
6: Using this data, record in Table 1 the time and the ln(Voltage).
7: Plot this as a scatter plot using Excel. Using the trendline feature in Excel, fit this curve with linear function and
find the slope and intercept of this curve.
8: How are these two quantities related to the qmax and RC of this circuit as described in
q(t) = qmaxe−t/RC?

9: Disconnect the resistor R from the circuit and measure its resistance. (Note that the internal resistance of the
function generator is 50 ohms.)
10: Calculate the experimental value of the capacitor (C) in the circuit using the formula
τ = RC,
where R is the TOTAL resistance in the circuit. Call it (experimental) C1. Do not forget the units.

11: The component value of the capacitor is written on the side of the capacitor. Read and record this value as C2.
12: What is the percent error between the experimental value and the component value of the capacitor? Which
value do you consider to be more accurate? Why?
 R-L Circuits:
OBJECTIVE:

The objective of this experiment is to examine the dynamic behavior of an LR circuit by using an oscilloscope to
visualize the voltage across the resistor for both rising and decreasing current. You will also determine the time
constant and inductance of the coil.

EQUIPMENT:

 PASCO circuit board

 Capstone software
 Signal interface with power output
 Connecting wires
 Multimeter

PROCEDURE:

Setting Up the LR Circuit:

The RLC circuit board that you will be using consists of three resistors and one inductance coil among other
elements. The value of the inductor can be changed by inserting an iron core into the coil. In theory you can,
therefore, have different combinations of resistors and capacitors.

1: Connect the far right output terminal of the signal interface to the inductor at point 9.
2: Connect point 1 to the second output terminal of the signal interface to complete the circuit.
3: Connect the voltage probe into analog channel A.
4: To measure the voltage across the resistor, connect one lead of the voltage probe to point 8 and the other lead
to point 1. Make sure that the ground of the interface (the "–" lead) is connected to the same side of the resistor
as the ground of the signal generator (power output).
Procedure A: Determining L from Time Constant:
The computer will function as the oscilloscope to record
ΔVR
and as the signal generator.
5: Open the Capstone file associated with this lab. A screen similar to Fig. 8 is displayed.

6: The file should open with the signal generator set to produce a positive square wave.
7: If not already set, set the voltage to 7-V amplitude with the frequency at any value between 120 and 180 Hz and
set the voltage offset to 7 V.
8: Turn on the signal generator by clicking ON in the signal generator window, and monitor the signal by
clicking MONITOR in the main window. There should be a signal trace like that shown in Fig. 9. This will allow you to
observe how the voltage on the resistor varies as a function of time. Click STOP after a few seconds. The data will
remain in the scope window until the next time the START button is clicked.

9: Adjust the voltage (potential difference) and time scales so that about one wavelength is displayed in the scope
window, by placing the cursor on the values of each scale and dragging left-right or up-down as appropriate.
10: Select the Show Coordinates button from the buttons above the graph. See Fig. 10.
11: Using Show Coordinates, determine the starting time (i.e., when the potential difference begins to increase from
0 volts) and record it on the worksheet.
12: Calculate 63% of the maximum potential difference (0.63 ΔVf).
13: Use Show Coordinates to determine the time at which that potential difference occurs. Record this time on the
worksheet.

14: From the two time values obtained in steps 11 and 13, determine and record the time required for the signal to
go from
ΔVR = 0 to ΔVR = 0.63 ΔVf.
This is your experimental value for the time constant τ.
15: Use a multimeter to measure the combined resistance of the coil and resistor in series. This is the total
resistance of the circuit. See Appendix K.To do this, remove any other wire leads from the PASCO circuit board
and then connect the multimeter around the resistor and inductor combination, as shown in Fig. 11.

16: Calculate the experimental value of the inductance using Eq. (5) and the experimental values of τ
and R. Record this value on the worksheet.

17: Use the inductance value printed next to the inductor on the PASCO circuit board as the accepted value, and
record this on the worksheet.
18: Calculate the percent error between the experimental and accepted values of the inductance, and record it on
the worksheet. See Appendix B.
Procedure B: Measuring Voltage for Increasing Current:
19: From the recorded oscilloscope trace, measure the voltage ΔVR across the resistor and the time t for six
points on the rising part of the curve. Record these values in Data Table 1.
20: From the final potential difference and the values of ΔVR that you just recorded, calculate the quantities for the
remaining two columns in Data Table 1.
21: Use Excel to plot
−ln[(ΔVf − ΔVR)/ΔVf ] versus t for the six points. See Appendix G.
22: Using the trendline option in Excel to draw the best fit line to your data, determine the slope of the
line.See Appendix H. Record this on the worksheet.
23: Use the slope value to find the inductance and record this on the worksheet.
24: Calculate the percent error between the accepted value of the inductance and the value obtained from the
slope of the graph. Record this value on the worksheet.
 Procedure C: Measuring Voltage for Decreasing Current:
25: From the recorded oscilloscope trace, measure the voltage
ΔVR across the resistor and the time t for six points on the falling part of the curve. Record these values in Data
Table 2.Note that ΔV0 for the falling part of the curve is the same as ΔVf for the rising part of the curve.
26: From the initial potential difference ΔV0 and the values of ΔVR that you just recorded, calculate the quantities
for the remaining two columns in Data Table 2.
27: Use Excel to plot −ln[(ΔVR)/ΔV0] versus t for your six points.
28: Using the trendline option in Excel to draw the best fit line to your data, determine the slope of the line and
record this value on the worksheet.
29: From the slope value find the inductance and record this on the worksheet.
30: Calculate the percent error between the accepted value of the inductance and the value obtained from the
slope of −ln[(ΔVR)/ΔV0] versus t graph. Record this value on the worksheet.

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