REQUIRED PRACTICAL. A student investigates the discharge of a capacitor of capacitance C through a resistor of resistance R = 15 kOhm. The capacitor is charged to V0 = 6.0 V and then allowed to discharge, with the pd V across the capacitor recorded at intervals using a voltmeter and a stopwatch. The equation for the discharge is V = V0 exp(-t/RC). Results are shown below.
t / s: 0, 20, 40, 60, 80, 100
V / V: 6.0, 3.3, 1.8, 0.97, 0.53, 0.29
(a)Explain how the equation V = V0 exp(-t/RC) can be rearranged into a form suitable for plotting a straight-line graph, stating what should be plotted on each axis and what the gradient represents.(3)
(b)Using the table of results, calculate ln(V) for t = 0 s and for t = 100 s, giving each answer to 2 decimal places.(2)
(c)Using your two values of ln(V) from part (b), calculate the gradient of the ln(V) against t graph, and hence determine the time constant RC of the circuit.(4)
(d)The resistor used has resistance 15 kOhm. Calculate the capacitance of the capacitor, giving your answer to an appropriate number of significant figures.(2)
(e)State one source of systematic error in this experiment and suggest a way of reducing it.(2)
(Total for Question 8 is 13 marks)