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ABSTRACT

All the hybrid cars now have battery system to power the
vehicle

which

use

Nickel-Metal

Hydride

and

Lithium-Ion

technology. This experiment aims at investigating the possibility


of replacement of the battery pack with a combination of
capacitors. Capacitor is a passive device that is used to store
energy in form of electric field. The energy is stored by charging
the device and can be used by discharging the capacitor.
Capacitor can store electrostatic energy more densely than a
battery. Also the capacitor uses lesser space than the battery
which will help the vehicle weight and efficiency. Hence this is a
better choice over battery logically. But Capacitors do not provide
steady current as opposed to almost steady current provided by
the battery used because of certain factors developed in the
circuit. The decay in current is fast, and research is going on how
to increase the discharge time of capacitors. This experiment
seems to be a good way to investigate if this is replacement is
possible.

TABLE OF CONTENTS
CHAPTER

TITLE

PAGE NO
DEDICATION
ABSTRACT
TABLE OF CONTENTS
1

3
4

INTRODUCTION TO TITLE
1.1 BACKGROUND
1.2 LITERATURE STUDY
1.3 PROBLEM STATEMENT
METHODOLOGY
2.1 APPARATUS AND MATEIALS
2.2 PROCEDURE
2.3 DATA COLLECTION
RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS
3.1 OBSERVATIONS AND RESULTS
3.2 INTERPRETATION AND DISCUSSION
CONCLUSIONS

Chapter 1

INTRODUCTION
1.1 THEORY:
1.2 LITERATURE REVIEW
Capacitor is designed to store energy in the form of electric
field, as compared to the battery which makes it more
reliable compared to the battery. Capacitor is made up
of two electrodes (metal plates) facing each other, with a
gap in between. When a DC voltage (V) is applied to the two
electrodes, electrons will instantly collect on one side,
causing that electrode to have a negative charge, while
electrons on the other electrode will be lacking, which means
that it has a positive charge. This condition will remain also
when the DC voltage is removed.

In other words, an electric charge (Q) has now accumulated


between the two electrodes. When a so-called dielectric
(made of a ceramic material, plastic film, etc.) is inserted
between the two electrodes, the dielectric polarization effect
results in a higher charge.
Electrostatic capacity is a numeric value expressing how
much charge a capacitor can hold is called the electrostatic
capacity, or capacitance (C) for short. The capacitance of the
capacitor depends on the dielectric material used between
the metal plates.
1.3 THEORY :
The battery used in cars are made up of the electrolytes
which store chemical energy in them. The electrolyte is
made of two elements. The farther they are on the periodic
table, the more intense will their reaction be and more
energy will be liberated. But because of the chemical
reaction happening, battery cant be taken as a reliable
source of energy.
On the other hand capacitor uses electric energy stored in
the electric field and the dielectric. Since the breakdown of

dielectric is not easy and can be varied, based on the nature


of material used, it is more reliable source of energy. The
capacitance can be written as:

C=

Q
V

Where:
C = capacitance of the capacitor (farads)
Q = charge on each conductor (coulombs)
V= voltage between the plates (volt)
The amount of energy stored on a capacitor (w) can be
expressed as:
W=

CV
2

Since the battery gives DC, let us analyze capacitor in a DC


circuit, where it can replace the battery.

A series circuit containing only a resistor, a capacitor, a


switch and a constant DC source of voltage V0 is known as

a charging circuit. If the capacitor is initially uncharged while


the switch is open, and the switch is closed at t0, it follows
from Kirchhoff's voltage law that
t

V 0=v resistor ( t )+ v capacitor ( t ) =i(t) R+

1
i ( ) d
C t
0

Taking the derivative and multiplying by C, gives a first-order


differential equation:
RC

di (t )
+i (t )=0
dt

At t = 0, the voltage across the capacitor is zero and the


voltage across the resistor is V0. The initial current is then
i(0)=V 0 / R . With this assumption, solving the differential

equation yields:
i ( t )=

V 0 t /
e
R

V ( t )=V 0 1e

t
0

Where:
R = resistance in circuit
0 = Time constant (RC) of the circuit

1.4 PROBLEM STATEMENT


The goal of the experiment is to determine the time constant
and the capacitance of capacitors in R-C circuit.
1.5 OBJECTIVE
Determine the time constant and the capacitors in R-C circuit

CHAPTER 2
METHODOLOGY
2.1 APPARATUS AND MATERIAL
A 6V d.c.power supply,an on-off switch,a d.c. milliammeter,A stopwatch,resistorpack,connecting wires and a capacitor labelled C1

2.2 PROCEDURE
Connect up the circuit with switch S as shown in diagram.The connecting
wires with crocodile clips are to be connected to points X and Y and are meant for
connection to resistor-pack for selections of R ,where R is the effective resistance
across X and Y

Starting with R=6600,close switch and decrease R in the stages by proper


selection of combination of resistors from the resistor pack until the reading of
current IO in the miliammeter is 1.0mA.Next,record the value of IO and the
corresponding resistance R.
Open switch S and simultaneously start the stopwatch,observe the reading of
the milliammeter.Stop the stopwatch when the current reaches a certain value of
I.Record the time t and the corresponding value od I of the milliammter.Repeat this
I

step until obtain a new set of I and t.Record all reading and tabulated I,t, I

and

ln I

2.3 DATA COLLECTION


Many online sources were consulted before the data
collection and the easiest method has been used here. The
data has been tabulated and calculated on the basis of
established formula.

No.
1
2
3
4
5
Average

Initial Current,I0/mA

CHAPTER 3

Resistance,R/

RESULT AND DISCUSSION


3.1 OBSERVATION AND RESULT
The measurements of power was done and the discharge
time for capacitor was found. The total discharge time was
measured, and it was assumed to be equal to 5 times of time
constant.

The best suited capacitor to replace was found

using hit and trial method. The observations have been


presented here:
Nature of capacitor

Capacitance

Ceramic
Aluminum Electrolyte
Tantalum
Niobium Oxide
Mica

(F)
150
100
33
100
0.002

Time (s)
75
50
16.5
50
Unable to

0.01

record
Unable to

0.1

record
Unable to

Thin Film
Film

Charge Time (s)

Discharge

record

We used a ceramic capacitor of 150 F capacitance to


achieve 75 seconds of light in bulb. That was when we
heated the bulb already to increase its resistance to

operating level and combined it in series with a rheostat to


get an equivalent resistance of 100 K. At lower values of
the equivalent resistance the discharge time could not be
recorded effectively. But yes, batteries were successfully
replaced by capacitors.
3.2 INTERPRETATION AND DISCUSSION
After the experiment had been done, the result shows
favorably that capacitors can be used to replace the battery
as the viable source of energy. This is obviously not a perfect
replacement yet, since the bulb only was lit for a short
period of time.
It we look at the data, we see that various kinds of dielectric
material has been tested in the circuit, which had to be
charged and then discharged which is a tedious process.
Also the time was considerably short as compared to the
battery. Also the current declined over time and the quality
of light was not as good as wed like to see the energy stored
on capacitor is not as usable in its present form. We would
like to see slower discharge time. Research is ongoing in this

direction and we hope to see some useful result in near


future. This is dependent on the time constant of the circuit
(RC). If we improve the value of resistance in circuit, we will
have slower discharge, but the energy dissipated through
the resistance will be lost as heat. Hence increasing the loss
of energy is not justified. The other way is to improve the
value of capacitance in the circuit. This can be done by
adding more capacitors in parallel. But the size acts as a
limitation, preventing the cluster of capacitors which can
easily provide the alternate to battery pack.
Errors occur during the investigation, such as systematic
error which cant be avoided and random error which is
human mistake. It is overcome by performing repeated
experiments to obtain secondary data in order to take
average from 3 or more readings, this has been shown to
increase the accuracy of the result and make it more
consistent.
During experiment, all the reading devices are checked for
wrong reading by doing a pre check over known value. The

ammeter and voltmeter should be accurate and the circuit


connections should be tight. All the precautions should be
taken against electric current and shocks. Rubber shoes
should be worn while performing the experiment. All the
equipment should be earthed properly.
QUESTIONS
A. How much charge can stay in capacitor?
A capacitor can hold CV charge. Here C is the capacitance of
capacitor and V is the voltage across the terminals of
capacitor.
B. What is the advantage of replacing battery by capacitor?
The advantages are as follows:
Considerably more charge cycle possible with capacitor
Faster charge and discharge possible.
Lower cost of manufacture with high reliability.
Easy to dispose compared to toxic elements used in
battery
C. How will automobile industry be benefitted by use of
capacitor instead of battery?

The efficiency of automobile will improve significantly if the


battery is replaced by capacitor resulting in higher mileage
per unit fuel, and more reliable source of energy with light
weight and more powerful technology.
CHAPTER 4
CONCLUSION
From the results, it was established that capacitor can be used as
a source of energy. From experiment it was found out that ceramic
capacitor had the best capacitance hence could store charges for
longest and had the largest discharge time.

In general, there is no doubt that battery is the most widely used


power source, which is because of the constant voltage supplied.
Capacitors though can be used as a power source, cannot
displace battery from its place because of the obvious limitation
of fast discharge time because of the circuit limitation. Research
is

being

done

supercapacitors

in

this

developed

direction,
that

and

have

there

have

considerably

been
larger

discharge time. They also tend to be bulkier and heavier than the

batteries used. Batteries can store a lot of energy in a small and


light package, but they cant charge or discharge very quickly or
last a long time the way supercapacitors can.

A very recent research by Kaner and El-Kady used manganese


dioxide (a material used for alkaline batteries) for the electrodes,
but also added a special three-dimensional laser-scribed graphene
(LSG) structure. Crucially, this graphene structure was specifically
designed for high conductivity, porosity and surface area, allowing
the device to pack much more energy per unit volume and mass

A single device that combines all of these positive attributes could


change the entire technological landscape of today, leading to
lighter, compact phones and electric cars that charge in seconds
instead of hours.

Reference:
1) http://www.global.tdk.com/techmag/electronics_primer/vol
1.htm
2) http://www.electronics-tutorials.ws/rc/rc_2.html
3) http://www.gizmag.com/high-energy-density-

4)

supercapacitor/37075/
http://www.instructables.com/id/The-ForeverRechargeable-VARIABLE-Super-Capacitor-/?ALLSTEPS

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