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View Full Version : How will a capacitor discharge?


Cho
Aug 12, 2008, 08:26 AM
Suppose an input voltage changes from 0 to V volts during which a capacitor gets charged fully.Now if the potential is kept constant will the capacitor start discharging or will the charge inside the capacitor remain constant?

ebaines
Aug 13, 2008, 09:16 AM
Remember that the current through a capacitor is a function of the rate of change of voltage across it:


i = C \frac {dV} {dt}


You can see that if you keep the voltage constant, current flow is 0.

Cho
Aug 14, 2008, 07:22 PM
Even if a resistor is connected to it??

ebaines
Aug 15, 2008, 05:39 AM
even if a resistor is connected to it???

Yep, as long as the voltage across the cap is constant. If that resistor is in parallel with the capacitor you'll get current through the resistor (I = V/R), but not through the capacitor. If the resistor is in series with the cap then there's no current flow - unless the voltage is made to vary.