You and your friend are trying to determine if you can use a capacitor to extend
ID: 2138739 • Letter: Y
Question
You and your friend are trying to determine if you can use a capacitor to extend the
lives of batteries in circuits. You suggest that you try a simple circuit with a capacitor,
originally uncharged, connected to a battery through a switch. To monitor the output
energy, you put a light bulb in series with the capacitor. Your friend believes that when
the switch is closed the capacitor charges up and the bulb gets brighter and brighter
until the brightness levels off. The bulb then stays on until the switch is opened. Do
you agree?
Restate the problem. Do you agree with your friend? If not, describe what you think
the behavior of the circuit will be. Give your reasoning. Explain what is going on in
each component of the circuit.
Sketch a qualitative graph of the bulb
Explanation / Answer
Capacitor is a device which stores energy in terms os charge. when battery is connected to the capacitor it starts gainning energy exponentially until it is fully charged(at infinite time). when battery is disconnected charge remains in the capacitor hence energy, that energy is used by the bulb to light up for few moment(depending on the charge holding capacity of the capacitor ). brightness of the bulb will increase exponentilly when switched on and will decrease by same way when switched off.
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