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The RC time constant, denoted τ (lowercase tau), the time constant (in seconds) of a resistor–capacitor circuit (RC circuit), is equal to the product of the circuit resistance (in ohms) and the circuit capacitance (in farads):
A resistor–capacitor circuit (RC circuit), or RC filter or RC network, is an electric circuit composed of resistors and capacitors. It may be driven by a voltage or current source and these will produce different responses. A first order RC circuit is composed of one resistor and one capacitor and is the simplest type of RC circuit.
In an RL circuit composed of a single resistor and inductor, the time constant (in seconds) is = where R is the resistance (in ohms ) and L is the inductance (in henrys ). Similarly, in an RC circuit composed of a single resistor and capacitor, the time constant τ {\displaystyle \tau } (in seconds) is: τ = R C {\displaystyle \tau =RC}
Figure 1: Simple RC circuit and auxiliary circuits to find time constants. Figure 1 shows a simple RC low-pass filter. Its transfer function is found using Kirchhoff's current law as follows. At the output, = , where V 1 is the voltage at the top of capacitor C 1. At the center node:
Position vector r is a point to calculate the electric field; r ... Series circuit equations RC circuits: Circuit equation + = Capacitor charge = (/) ...
Since every circuit has not only resistance, but also capacitance and inductance, a delay in voltage and/or current at the load is apparent until the steady state is reached. In a pure RC circuit, the output risetime (10% to 90%) is approximately equal to 2.2 RC. [10]
The constant = is called the relaxation time or RC time constant of the circuit. A nonlinear oscillator circuit which generates a repeating waveform by the repetitive discharge of a capacitor through a resistance is called a relaxation oscillator.
The product τ (tau) = RC is called the time constant of the circuit. The ratio then depends on frequency, in this case decreasing as frequency increases. This circuit is, in fact, a basic (first-order) low-pass filter. The ratio contains an imaginary number, and actually contains both the amplitude and phase shift information of the filter.