Theoretical and Experimental Analysis of Energy in Charging a Capacitor by Step-Wise Potential

Abstract

In this paper, charging capacitor in RC circuit, to a final voltage, via arbitrary number of steps, is investigated and analyzed both theoretically and experimentally. The obtained results show that the stored energy in the capacitor is constant independent of N, but the dissipated energy in the resistor and the consumed energy by the power supply decreases as number of steps N increases (adiabatic charging). The limit when the step number goes to infinity is examined and our result shows that the dissipated energy vanishes theoretically. This limit is carried out experimentally by using a ramp potential.