Question

A horizontal portion of a circuit contains 3 aligned points A, B and C. A 2.0uF and a 3.0uF capacitor are shunted between A and B, and there is a 5uF capacitor between B and C. Above this alignment is a series connection of a 100V battery and a switch S1 connected to A and C. Below the alignment is a 10 ohm resistor and a switch S2 connected to A and C. The switches are initially opened.
(i) Draw a diagram of the circuit
(ii) If a resistor is connected in series to the 10 ohm resistor, will the flow of charge be affected? Explain.

Answer 1

Explanation

1)

2)

• Since the $S_1$ switch has not been closed there is neither a connected circuit nor any way for the capacitors to get charged.
• Therefore, it does nothing in this case but when another resistor is connected in series, the effective circuit resistance increases, thereby decreasing the flowing current.
• It will take more time to discharge the capacitors which were given the same charge as with the $\small 10 \Omega$ only.
• It is understood by the current equation of RL circuits $\small i=i_0e^{-\frac{t}{RC}}$ : $\small R\uparrow\implies t\downarrow$