Product Summary
Students collect data to understand the relationship between charging and discharging rates and the capacitance and resistance in a simple circuit. The time constant is derived and exponential growth and decay are explored.
PASCO Advantage: The RC Circuit experiment is extremely simple and transparent to set up. It is very easy to measure the time to half charge. It is also easy to verify that the curve is exponential using the curve-fitting capability of PASCO Capstone software.
Designed for use with any of the following
- 850 Universal Interface
- 550 Universal Interface
Concepts
- Charging and discharging a capacitor
- Exponential growth and decay
- Time constants
What's Included
Data Collection Software
This product requires PASCO software for data collection and analysis. We recommend the following option(s). For more information on which is right for your classroom, see our Software Comparison: SPARKvue vs. Capstone »
Interface Required
This product requires a PASCO Interface to connect to your computer or device. We recommend the following option(s). For a breakdown of features, capabilities, and additional options, see our Interface Comparison Guide »
Experiments
Experiment Library
Perform the following experiments and more with the RC Circuit Experiment.
Visit PASCO's Experiment Library to view more activities.
College / Physics
The manner by which the voltage on a capacitor decreases is studied. The half-life for the decay is measured directly and also calculated using the capacitive time constant.
