1

EE 242 EXPERIMENT 1: ENERGY STORAGE AND TRANSFER CIRCUIT

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PURPOSE:

To demonstrate that inductors and capacitors can store energy.
To determine the exchange of energy between a capacitors and an inductors
To observe the exponential decay of stored energy in a capacitor or an inductor
To investigate how ideally diodes behave in a circuit

LAB EQUIPMENT:

1 HP/Agilent E3640A DC Power Supply (or TPS-4000, Dual-Tracking DC Power Supply)
1 Agilent 34410A Digital Multimeter/Timer/Counter
1 HP 427A Analog Voltmeter
1 8H Inductor
1 Decade Resistance Box (min rating of 300 mA at 10 Ohms)
1 IN2615 Diode, A, 600 V (or equivalent)
1 Decade capacitor box, 1 F/Step
1 Watch with 1 second resolution
11 Banana-to-Banana leads (to be checked out from senior project lab, 20-111)
DISCUSSION
A current i
L
through an inductor L causes an energy W
L
to be stored in the induced magnetic field.
(W
L
= L i
L
2
). Similarly, a voltage v
C
across a capacitor C causes an energy W
C
to be stored in the
induced electric field (W
C
= C v
C
2
).

Simple Model
To illustrate the exchange of energy between a
capacitor and an inductor, consider the circuit
shown on the right. Before the switch is opened,
the current through the inductor is at its steady
state maximum value and the energy stored in
the inductor is W
L
= L i
L
2
. There is no energy
stored in the capacitor since the voltage across it
is zero (same as the inductor which acts as a
short in the steady state).


1
Original experiment, amended and 01/15/09, John Saghri

t = 0
+
-
R = 10
V
S

L
i
L

C
10 F
Diode
Figure 1
2
Once the switch is opened, the current in the inductor will be forced to flow to the capacitor-diode
branch (diode will be in forward biased) and will charge the capacitor negatively. Thus the energy
stored in the inductor transfers to the capacitor. Once the inductors energy completely transfers to
the capacitor (i.e., the current through the inductor becomes zero and the voltage across the
capacitor reaches the maximum), the capacitor starts to discharge very slowly through the large
back resistance of the diode.


Detailed Analysis

For the circuit of Figure 1, assuming actual
components, we will show that for t > 0, the
natural response of the circuit will look like the
waveform shown. The magnitude of the voltage
across the capacitor will peak from zero very
quickly and then drops back to zero very slowly.
Before opening the switch, the circuit is assumed
to be in the steady state. That is the inductor is
shorted and the capacitor has zero voltage across it.
At t = 0
-
and t = 0
+
, the current through the inductor will be V
S
/R. When the switch is opened, the
current will flow through the capacitor and will negatively charge it very quickly (since the diode is
in the forward direction with respect to initial direction of current). Once the capacitor is fully
charged, the current changes direction but now faces the diode in the backward direction (which
acts like a very large, e.g., >100 k , resistor) and hence will take a relatively very long time to
discharge.
To analyze the natural response theoretically, we
separately look at the two time periods to 0 < t t
peak

(when the diode is in the forward direction with respect
to current) and t > t
peak
(when the diode is in the
backward direction with respect to current). For 0 < t
t
peak
, the equivalent circuit looks like the circuit shown
on the right. Here R
F
represents the total forward
direction resistance of the diode and the internal
resistances of the inductor and the wires (R
F
is typically
<5 ). Note that in the actual circuit that we construct
L
i
L

C
10 F
R
F

t
V
C

V
peak

t
peak

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in the lab, there is an analog voltmeter connected across
the capacitor. However, for simplicity, since its internal
impedance is large ( 10 M) we do not include it in
the circuit. Also note that at t =0
+
, I
L
=V
S
/R and V
C
= 0.
Since the value of R
F
is very small, the natural response
of the series RLC circuit will be under-damped. This is
because the damping rate =R
F
/ 2 L will likely be less
than the resonant frequency
o
= 1 / ( L C )

(for the
selected values of L and C). Hence the voltage across
the capacitor will start to be a damped oscillatory
waveform as shown. Since =R
F
/ 2 L is very small,
the damped frequency of oscillation
d
= (
o
2
-
2
)

will tend to be very large. This means the time it takes
for the capacitor to reach its peak, i.e., t
peak
, (shown on
the graph), will be very short (i.e., t
peak
0).

Now consider the period t > t
peak
(when the diode is
in the backward direction with respect to current).
Here we have the same RLC circuit as before except
we replace the R
F
with the backward resistance of the
diode R
R
. Unlike R
F.
, R
R
is very significant (e.g., >
100 k) . In this case the circuit natural response will
likely be over-damped since >
o
. The natural
response will be the sum of two exponential decays of
the form;

V
C
(t) = k
1
e
- t /

1
+ k
2
e
- t /

2
with respective time constants of
1
= - 1 / s
1

and
2
= - 1 / s
2

,
where s
1

=- +(
2
-
o
2
)

and s
2

=- - (
2
-
o
2
)

.

The magnitude of V
C
will decay to zero very slowly (large time constant) as shown in figure on the
right.




t
t
t
V
peak

t
peak

V
C

Natural response for period
t > t
peak

t
t
V
C

t
V
peak

t
peak

Natural response for period
0 < t t
peak

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PRELAB

In the circuit shown (constructed of ideal
elements), the inductor current at t = 0
+
was
2.0 A. The switch was opened at t = 0 sec and
the voltage across the capacitor, V
C
, quickly
reached a maximum (negative) value of - 10
V. After an elapse of 250 sec, V
C
dropped
down to - 5 V. Determine the value of L, the
back resistance of the diode, and the time
constant ( = RC ), of the capacitor discharge
circuit.

For simplicity, since the capacitor charges very quickly after opening the switch, you can assume
that it peaks instantly after opening the switch, i.e., t
peak
0. Note that the conservation of energy
principle always holds. That is the energy stored in the inductor at t = 0
-
, i.e., W
L
= L i
L
2
, is
equal to the energy stored in the capacitor at t 0
+
, i.e., W
C
= C v
C
2
, Also, since the capacitor
discharges very slowly after reaching its peak, you can assume that the inductor is shorted at hence
the natural response approximates that of a simple RC circuit i.e., V
C
= V
i
e
- t /
where V
i
is the
initial value of the capacitor voltage and is time constant RC. R represents the backward
resistance of the diode.

EXPERIMENTAL PROCEDURE

Safety Caution!!

The inductor and capacitor used in this experiment are capable of storing and discharging dangerous
amounts of energy. The hazard is negligible provided that you adhere to the circuit specifications
and changes outlined in the procedure.

Part a. Determining the inductance L via measurement of its transferred energy to a capacitor

1. Construct the circuit shown on the
right. Use the Agilent/HP DC
power supply for the source V
S
and
initially set it to zero volts. Leave
leads A and B open as shown.
Momentarily place a short across
the capacitor to discharge its initial
charge, if any.

t = 0
+
-
R = 10
V
S

L
i
L

C
10 F
Diode
Lead A
+
-
R = 10
V
S
L
i
L

C
10 F
Diode
Lead B
Analog
Voltmeter
V
C

+
-
+
-
V
R

Digital
Voltmeter
1
2
5

2. Connect leads A and B. Gradually increase the power supply voltage control clockwise to
achieve 50 mA inductor current. You should be able to measure i
L
indirectly via measuring
V
R
(remember that i
L
= i
R
= V
R
/R).

3. Quickly disconnect lead A and record maximum V
C
via the attached analog voltmeter (use
the - 300 or - 100 V scale). Repeat this step three times and average your result.

4. Repeat step 3 for i
L
= 50, 75 mA, and 100 mA. Enter your results in a table as shown below.











5. Calculate the maximum energy stored in the capacitor for each of the selected current values.
Recall that W
C
= C v
C
2
. Enter the results in the table you have constructed.

6. Assuming complete energy transfer, calculate the inductance of the inductor for each value of
the current. Enter the results in the table.
7. Compare the calculated values of L to the value marked on the inductor (nominal value by
the manufacturer) and to the measured value with the impedance bridge at 1000 (zero dc
bias). State the reasons for differences between the calculated, nominal, and the bridge
values of L.

Part b. Determining the analog voltmeter resistance

1. Discharge the capacitor by momentarily connecting a shorting lead across it.

2. Charge, i.e., energize the inductor with a current that will produce a maximum value of
V
C
in the 110- 130 V range.

3. Quickly disconnect lead A from point 1 (TOUCH ONLY INSULATED PARTS of the
circuit) and then disconnect lead B from point 1 to prevent charge leakage through the back
resistance of the diode (now the discharge of C is through the voltmeter only). As the
capacitor discharges, make several measurements of V
C
and corresponding values of time
(with the aid of a watch). You should have about ten equally-spaced measurements
(samples) spanning v
C
from peak its value to zero.

4. Select three pair of time-voltage values, e.g., [v
C
(t
1
), t
1
] , [v
C
(t
2
), t
2
], and [v
C
(t
3
), t
3
] from
your measurements in step 3 above. For each pair, calculate the time constant of the RC
i
L

mA
V
C

volts
(trial 1)
V
C

volts
(trial 2)
V
C

volts
(trial 3)
V
C

volts
Average
W
C

mJ

L
H

50

75

100

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discharge circuit and the voltmeters internal resistance R. Note that for an RC discharge
circuit, v
C
(t) = v
C max
e
t/
. In this equation v
C max
= v
C
(0
+
) which you measured in step 2.
Using this equation, you should be able to find using any one of the three time-voltage
pairs. The voltmeter resistance R can then be found via = RC. Enter your calculated
values of and R in the table below.









5. Using your measurements in steps 2 and 3, plot V
C
as a function of time. This curve
represents the discharge curve for the capacitor through the voltmeters impedance
(resistance).


ms
(trial 1)

ms
(trial 2)

ms
(trial 3)

ms
Average
R
ohms
(trial 1)
R
ohms
(trial 2)
R
ohms
(trial 3)
R
ohms
Average