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Discharging a Capacitor through a Fixed Resistor

AQA A-level PhysicsCapacitorsLesson 8 of 12

The diagram below shows a capacitor charging-discharging circuit. When the switch is moved to the left the battery charges the capacitor. When it is moved to the right the capacitor discharges through the resistor. Because the capacitor and resistor are in parallel the current through the resistor decreases as the potential difference across both decreases. The rate of change of charge, current and potential difference is exponential.

Diagram

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