Name: Discharge a Capacitor

Category: Electricity and Magnetism

Subcategory: Capacitance

Classes: PHYS 102/106, PHYS 309

Comments: A capacitor is charged and discharged using a screwdriver, yielding a loud pop and spark. This can also be used to calculate the time constant using a stop watch, since the RC time is large.

Equipment:

SW DC power supply
5MFD 600 V capacitor
Large (>1 M) resistor
Breadboard
DMM

Location:

108B E3
108B A3
108B D3
108B D4
108B D4

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