Answer to Question #311285 in Electric Circuits for haasggdfnsd

Question

Three identical capacitors are connected with a resistor in two different circuits. When they are connected in series, the time constant to charge up this circuit is 0.02s. What is the time constant when they are connected as in parallel?

Answer 1

Explanations & Calculations

• When series conneced,

$\qquad\qquad \begin{aligned} \small 0.02&=\small RC=R(\frac{C}{3})\\ \small RC &=\small 0.06\cdots(1) \\ \end{aligned}$

• When connected parallel,

$\qquad\qquad \begin{aligned} \small \tau&=\small RC_1\\ &=\small R(3C)\\ &=\small 3(RC)\\ &=\small 0.18\,s \end{aligned}$