Oscillations in an LC Circuit

By the end of this section, you will be able to:

• Explain why charge or current oscillates between a capacitor and inductor, respectively, when wired in series
• Describe the relationship between the charge and current oscillating between a capacitor and inductor wired in series

It is worth noting that both capacitors and inductors store energy, in their electric and magnetic fields, respectively. A circuit containing both an inductor (

) and a capacitor (

) can oscillate without a source of emf by shifting the energy stored in the circuit between the electric and magnetic fields. Thus, the concepts we develop in this section are directly applicable to the exchange of energy between the electric and magnetic fields in electromagnetic waves, or light. We start with an idealized circuit of zero resistance that contains an inductor and a capacitor, an

circuit.

An

circuit is shown in Figure 11.5.1. If the capacitor contains a charge

before the switch is closed, then all the energy of the circuit is initially stored in the electric field of the capacitor (Figure 11.5.1(a)). This energy is

(11.5.1)

When the switch is closed, the capacitor begins to discharge, producing a current in the circuit. The current, in turn, creates a magnetic field in the inductor. The net effect of this process is a transfer of energy from the capacitor, with its diminishing electric field, to the inductor, with its increasing magnetic field.

(Figure 11.5.1)

In Figure 11.5.1(b), the capacitor is completely discharged and all the energy is stored in the magnetic field of the inductor. At this instant, the current is at its maximum value

and the energy in the inductor is

(11.5.2)

Since there is no resistance in the circuit, no energy is lost through Joule heating; thus, the maximum energy stored in the capacitor is equal to the maximum energy stored at a later time in the inductor:

(11.5.3)

At an arbitrary time when the capacitor charge is

and the current is

, the total energy

in the circuit is given by

Because there is no energy dissipation,

(11.5.4)

After reaching its maximum

, the current

continues to transport charge between the capacitor plates, thereby recharging the capacitor. Since the inductor resists a change in current, current continues to flow, even though the capacitor is discharged. This continued current causes the capacitor to charge with opposite polarity. The electric field of the capacitor increases while the magnetic field of the inductor diminishes, and the overall effect is a transfer of energy from the inductor back to the capacitor. From the law of energy conservation, the maximum charge that the capacitor re-acquires is

. However, as Figure 11.5.1(c) shows, the capacitor plates are charged opposite to what they were initially.

When fully charged, the capacitor once again transfers its energy to the inductor until it is again completely discharged, as shown in Figure 11.5.1(d). Then, in the last part of this cyclic process, energy flows back to the capacitor, and the initial state of the circuit is restored.

We have followed the circuit through one complete cycle. Its electromagnetic oscillations are analogous to the mechanical oscillations of a mass at the end of a spring. In this latter case, energy is transferred back and forth between the mass, which has kinetic energy

, and the spring, which has potential energy

. With the absence of friction in the mass-spring system, the oscillations would continue indefinitely. Similarly, the oscillations of an

circuit with no resistance would continue forever if undisturbed; however, this ideal zero-resistance

circuit is not practical, and any

circuit will have at least a small resistance, which will radiate and lose energy over time.

The frequency of the oscillations in a resistance-free

circuit may be found by analogy with the mass-spring system. For the circuit,

, the total electromagnetic energy

is

(11.5.5)

For the mass-spring system,

, the total mechanical energy

is

(11.5.6)

The equivalence of the two systems is clear. To go from the mechanical to the electromagnetic system, we simply replace

by

,

by

,

by

, and

by

. Now

is given by

(11.5.7)

where

. Hence, the charge on the capacitor in an

circuit is given by

(11.5.8)

where the angular frequency of the oscillations in the circuit is

(11.5.9)

Finally, the current in the

circuit is found by taking the time derivative of

:

(11.5.10)

The time variations of

and

are shown in Figure 11.5.1(e) for

.

An LC Circuit

In an

circuit, the self-inductance is

and the capacitance is

. At

, all of the energy is stored in the capacitor, which has charge

. (a) What is the angular frequency of the oscillations in the circuit? (b) What is the maximum current flowing through circuit? (c) How long does it take the capacitor to become completely discharged? (d) Find an equation that represents

.

Strategy

The angular frequency of the

circuit is given by Equation 11.5.9. To find the maximum current, the maximum energy in the capacitor is set equal to the maximum energy in the inductor. The time for the capacitor to become discharged if it is initially charged is a quarter of the period of the cycle, so if we calculate the period of the oscillation, we can find out what a quarter of that is to find this time. Lastly, knowing the initial charge and angular frequency, we can set up a cosine equation to find

.

Solution

a. From Equation 11.5.9, the angular frequency of the oscillations is

b. The current is at its maximum

when all the energy is stored in the inductor. From the law of energy conservation,

so

This result can also be found by an analogy to simple harmonic motion, where current and charge are the velocity and position of an oscillator.

c. The capacitor becomes completely discharged in one-fourth of a cycle, or during a time

, where

is the period of the oscillations. Since

the time taken for the capacitor to become fully discharged is

.

d. The capacitor is completely charged at

, so

. Using Equation 11.3.3, we obtain

Thus,

, and

Significance

The energy relationship set up in part (b) is not the only way we can equate energies. At most times, some energy is stored in the capacitor and some energy is stored in the inductor. We can put both terms on each side of the equation. By examining the circuit only when there is no charge on the capacitor or no current in the inductor, we simplify the energy equation.

The angular frequency of the oscillations in an

circuit is

. (a) If

what is

? (b) Suppose that at

, all the energy is stored in the inductor. What is the value of

? (c) A second identical capacitor is connected in parallel with the original capacitor. What is the angular frequency of this circuit?

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