Resistor-Capacitor Circuits

You have already learned about circuits with constant currents. Now consider a circuit with a capacitor. When a capacitor is introduced to a circuit, the rate of charge built up on its plates will cause the current to vary with time. This rate of charge built up is dependant on the capacitance of the capacitor and the resistance in the circuit. In the circuit below, there is a resistance R, a capacitor with capacitance C, a battery (potential E), and a switch S.

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