Calculate capacitor charging and discharging times, voltage levels, and energy storage. Includes RC time constant analysis and detailed timing calculations.
Capacitor charging is the process of storing electrical energy in a capacitor, while discharging is the release of that stored energy. The process follows exponential curves based on the RC time constant.
The RC time constant (τ) is the time required for a capacitor to charge to 63.2% of the applied voltage or discharge to 36.8% of its initial voltage. It's calculated as τ = R × C.
A capacitor is considered fully charged after approximately 5 time constants (5τ), reaching about 99.3% of the applied voltage. In practice, this is close enough to consider it fully charged.
The charging/discharging rate is affected by the resistance in the circuit (higher resistance = slower charging) and the capacitance value (higher capacitance = slower charging).