Set-up
See the image below for the basic set up of the RC circuits lab.
- Next we will start the Pasco Capstone Software
- Click hardware setup and follow the instructions on the next 2 images
- Commonly we will use the following settings
- Frequency 230Hz
- Amplitude 10V
- Sensor sample rate 500kHz
- Next we hide the Signal generator settings by click on its icon again.
- Then we drag the “graph” icon onto the blank space
- The we click “select measurement” and set it to show use voltage vs time
It may be necessary to change the frequency to get a more accurate logarithmic graph. If the time between charge and discharge is too long we should increase frequency. If our graph looks less logarithmic and more like a repeated shark fin decrease the frequency.
*note* If the graph shows a chaotic bounce around a flat line with no curve then likely the signal generator wasn’t turned to on or auto or there is a break in the circuit.