Passive Components Blog
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • NewsFilter
    • All
    • Aerospace & Defence
    • Antenna
    • Applications
    • Automotive
    • Capacitors
    • Circuit Protection Devices
    • electro-mechanical news
    • Filters
    • Fuses
    • Inductors
    • Industrial
    • Integrated Passives
    • inter-connect news
    • Market & Supply Chain
    • Market Insights
    • Medical
    • Modelling and Simulation
    • New Materials & Supply
    • New Technologies
    • Non-linear Passives
    • Oscillators
    • Passive Sensors News
    • Resistors
    • RF & Microwave
    • Telecommunication
    • Weekly Digest

    Bourns Releases High Current Metal Alloy-based, Multilayer Power Chip Inductors

    Smiths Interconnect Extends Space-Qualified, High-Reliability Fixed Chip Attenuators 

    Samtec Expands Offering of Slim, High-Density HD Array Connectors

    Bourns Unveils High-Precision Wirewound Resistor with Long-Term Stability

    Common Mode Chokes Selection for RF Circuits in Next-Generation Communication Systems

    Capacitor Self-balancing in a Flying-Capacitor Buck Converter

    Littelfuse Acquires Basler Electric Enhancing High-Growth Industrial Market

    DigiKey Grows Inventory with Over 31K New Stocking Parts in Q3 2025

    Murata Expands Automotive Metal Frame Y2/X1 Safety MLCC Capacitors to 500V

    Trending Tags

    • Ripple Current
    • RF
    • Leakage Current
    • Tantalum vs Ceramic
    • Snubber
    • Low ESR
    • Feedthrough
    • Derating
    • Dielectric Constant
    • New Products
    • Market Reports
  • VideoFilter
    • All
    • Antenna videos
    • Capacitor videos
    • Circuit Protection Video
    • Filter videos
    • Fuse videos
    • Inductor videos
    • Inter-Connect Video
    • Non-linear passives videos
    • Oscillator videos
    • Passive sensors videos
    • Resistor videos

    Common Mode Chokes Selection for RF Circuits in Next-Generation Communication Systems

    Capacitor Self-balancing in a Flying-Capacitor Buck Converter

    How to Select Ferrite Bead for Filtering in Buck Boost Converter

    Power Inductors Future: Minimal Losses and Compact Designs

    Percolation Phenomenon: Degradation of Molded Power Inductors in DC/DC Converters

    Connector PCB Design Challenges

    Efficient Power Converters: Duty Cycle vs Conduction Losses

    Ripple Steering in Coupled Inductors: SEPIC Case

    SEPIC Converter with Coupled and Uncoupled Inductors

    Trending Tags

    • Capacitors explained
    • Inductors explained
    • Resistors explained
    • Filters explained
    • Application Video Guidelines
    • EMC
    • New Products
    • Ripple Current
    • Simulation
    • Tantalum vs Ceramic
  • Knowledge Blog
  • Suppliers
    • Who is Who
  • PCNS
    • PCNS 2025
    • PCNS 2023
    • PCNS 2021
    • PCNS 2019
    • PCNS 2017
  • Events
  • Home
  • NewsFilter
    • All
    • Aerospace & Defence
    • Antenna
    • Applications
    • Automotive
    • Capacitors
    • Circuit Protection Devices
    • electro-mechanical news
    • Filters
    • Fuses
    • Inductors
    • Industrial
    • Integrated Passives
    • inter-connect news
    • Market & Supply Chain
    • Market Insights
    • Medical
    • Modelling and Simulation
    • New Materials & Supply
    • New Technologies
    • Non-linear Passives
    • Oscillators
    • Passive Sensors News
    • Resistors
    • RF & Microwave
    • Telecommunication
    • Weekly Digest

    Bourns Releases High Current Metal Alloy-based, Multilayer Power Chip Inductors

    Smiths Interconnect Extends Space-Qualified, High-Reliability Fixed Chip Attenuators 

    Samtec Expands Offering of Slim, High-Density HD Array Connectors

    Bourns Unveils High-Precision Wirewound Resistor with Long-Term Stability

    Common Mode Chokes Selection for RF Circuits in Next-Generation Communication Systems

    Capacitor Self-balancing in a Flying-Capacitor Buck Converter

    Littelfuse Acquires Basler Electric Enhancing High-Growth Industrial Market

    DigiKey Grows Inventory with Over 31K New Stocking Parts in Q3 2025

    Murata Expands Automotive Metal Frame Y2/X1 Safety MLCC Capacitors to 500V

    Trending Tags

    • Ripple Current
    • RF
    • Leakage Current
    • Tantalum vs Ceramic
    • Snubber
    • Low ESR
    • Feedthrough
    • Derating
    • Dielectric Constant
    • New Products
    • Market Reports
  • VideoFilter
    • All
    • Antenna videos
    • Capacitor videos
    • Circuit Protection Video
    • Filter videos
    • Fuse videos
    • Inductor videos
    • Inter-Connect Video
    • Non-linear passives videos
    • Oscillator videos
    • Passive sensors videos
    • Resistor videos

    Common Mode Chokes Selection for RF Circuits in Next-Generation Communication Systems

    Capacitor Self-balancing in a Flying-Capacitor Buck Converter

    How to Select Ferrite Bead for Filtering in Buck Boost Converter

    Power Inductors Future: Minimal Losses and Compact Designs

    Percolation Phenomenon: Degradation of Molded Power Inductors in DC/DC Converters

    Connector PCB Design Challenges

    Efficient Power Converters: Duty Cycle vs Conduction Losses

    Ripple Steering in Coupled Inductors: SEPIC Case

    SEPIC Converter with Coupled and Uncoupled Inductors

    Trending Tags

    • Capacitors explained
    • Inductors explained
    • Resistors explained
    • Filters explained
    • Application Video Guidelines
    • EMC
    • New Products
    • Ripple Current
    • Simulation
    • Tantalum vs Ceramic
  • Knowledge Blog
  • Suppliers
    • Who is Who
  • PCNS
    • PCNS 2025
    • PCNS 2023
    • PCNS 2021
    • PCNS 2019
    • PCNS 2017
  • Events
No Result
View All Result
Passive Components Blog
No Result
View All Result

RLC Circuit Switching Response Explained

2.5.2025
Reading Time: 8 mins read
A A

This article based on Knowles Precision Devices blog explains how an RLC circuit responds to a switching pulse.

One of the fundamental roles of capacitors is charging and discharging energy predictably. Many electronics applications leverage capacitors to store energy and release it in a controlled pulse of current or voltage. Here, we’ll revisit how pulses are produced in a basic RLC circuit featuring a capacitor (C), inductor (L) and resistor (R). 

RelatedPosts

Knowles Releases High Q Non-Magnetic X7R MLCCs for Medical Imaging

Knowles Unveils High-Performance Safety-Certified MLCC Capacitors

Knowles Releases Inductors for Mission-Critical RF Applications

Series RLC Circuit

As mentioned above, a series RLC circuit, show in Figure 1, is made up of the three most common passive components in electronics engineering. When the capacitor is charged to an initial voltage (V0) and switched to discharge via the resistor and inductor (I0=0), three types of responses can occur depending on the component values involved.

Figure 1. Series RLC circuit with a switch

When assessing current in an RLC circuit, damping dictates which equation you should use to determine how current varies over time. Is the system overdamped, critically damped or underdamped? The damping ratio, ζ, places a system into one of these categories. 

Two RLC circuit parameters can be used to understand a system’s damping ratio: neper frequency and resonant angular frequency.

Neper Frequency 

The neper frequency refers to an exponential transience rate. In other words, how quickly is energy lost from the system?

Find the neper frequency α using: 

Resonant Angular Frequency 

The resonant angular frequency ω0 indicates what frequency a system will oscillate at: 

In combination, these parameters can be used to calculate the damping factor and identify which mathematical model would best represent the system’s behavior. 

Damping Factor 

Refocusing on the damping factor, the value for ζ places the system into one of three categories. There are three cases to consider: 

Case 1: Overdamped: ζ > 1 

Case 2: Critically Damped: ζ = 1 

Case 3: Under Damped: ζ < 1 

where:

Capacitor Discharge Current Theory derives solutions for current over time for each damping case. Here, we’ll leverage those results for the sake of example. 

Case 1: Overdamped Current Response 

When ζ > 1, apply the following equation: 

where:

To observe an overdamped response, shown in Figure 2, charge the capacitor to 10V and set C to 2.0μF, L to 5.0mH and R to 200Ω.

Figure 2. Current over time for an overdamped RLC circuit

Case 2: Critically Damped Current Response Case 3: Underdamped Current Response 

When ζ = 1, apply the following equation: 

To observe a critically damped response, shown in Figure 3, keep C and L the same and set R to 100Ω. As shown, critically damped cases typically have higher peak amplitudes than overdamped cases. 

Figure 3. Current over time for an underdamped RLC circuit

Case 3: Underdamped Current Response 

When ζ < 1, apply the following equation: 

To observe an underdamped response, shown in Figure 4, keep C and L the same and set R to 50Ω. With all over variables remaining constant over time, resistance drives damping. As resistance decreases, the damping ratio decreases and peaks get larger. In this case, oscillation and decay, a pair known as ringing, become more pronounced too. The damping ratio determines the rate at which decay occurs.  

Figure 4: Current over time for an underdamped circuit with 50Ω resistance (left) vs. 10Ω resistance (right) 

Peak current varies among damping cases, which is best observed on a single plot, Figure 5. 

Figure 5: Current over time for various damping ratios in an RLC circuit

The Impact of Capacitance on Circuit Response 

Changing resistance (Figure 3) has the most significant impact on damping ratio; however, changes in capacitance and inductance can also change the shape of the system response. 

Consider the earlier equation: 

where,

By rewriting ζ in terms of α and ω, you have: 

The damping ratio was 2.0 when values were set to C = 2.0µF, L = 5.0mH and R = 200Ω. By changing C to 1.0µF, the damping ratio is approximately 1.41. Since this is still considered an overdamped condition, you can use the equation for an overdamped case to compare 2.0µF and 1.0µF of capacitance, Figure 6. 

Figure 6: Current over time for an overdamped circuit with different capacitor values in an RLC circuit

The area under 1.0µF capacitance case is smaller, which is reasonable to expect from a smaller capacitor that stores less charge. 

Here, we’ve explored:  

  • The three relevant equations for current waveform in an RLC circuit
  • The cases in which those equations are valid (depending on the damping ratio range) 
  • How adjusting the capacitance value in the RLC circuit changes the shape of the waveform

Related

Source: Knowles Precision Devices

Recent Posts

Bourns Releases High Current Metal Alloy-based, Multilayer Power Chip Inductors

31.10.2025
1

Bourns Unveils High-Precision Wirewound Resistor with Long-Term Stability

30.10.2025
3

Common Mode Chokes Selection for RF Circuits in Next-Generation Communication Systems

30.10.2025
5

Capacitor Self-balancing in a Flying-Capacitor Buck Converter

30.10.2025
4

Murata Expands Automotive Metal Frame Y2/X1 Safety MLCC Capacitors to 500V

30.10.2025
13

Vishay Releases Space-Grade 150 W 28V Planar Transformers

29.10.2025
12

Exxelia 4-Terminal Safety Capacitors Compliant with NF F 62-102 Railway Standard

27.10.2025
25

Samsung Releases Automotive Molded 2220 1kV C0G MLCC

23.10.2025
43

How to Select Ferrite Bead for Filtering in Buck Boost Converter

23.10.2025
41

VINATech Offers Smallest 100µF Al-Hybrid Capacitor

23.10.2025
41

Upcoming Events

Nov 4
10:00 - 11:00 PST

Design and Stability Analysis of GaN Power Amplifiers using Advanced Simulation Tools

Nov 4
November 4 @ 12:00 - November 6 @ 14:15 EST

Wirebond Materials, Processes, Reliability and Testing

Nov 6
14:30 - 16:00 CET

Self-healing polymer materials for the next generation of high-temperature power capacitors

View Calendar

Popular Posts

  • Buck Converter Design and Calculation

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Boost Converter Design and Calculation

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Flyback Converter Design and Calculation

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • LLC Resonant Converter Design and Calculation

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Ripple Current and its Effects on the Performance of Capacitors

    3 shares
    Share 3 Tweet 0
  • MLCC and Ceramic Capacitors

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Dual Active Bridge (DAB) Topology

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • What is a Dielectric Constant and DF of Plastic Materials?

    4 shares
    Share 4 Tweet 0
  • SEPIC Converter Design and Calculation

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Flying Capacitors

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0

Newsletter Subscription

 

Passive Components Blog

© EPCI - Leading Passive Components Educational and Information Site

  • Home
  • Privacy Policy
  • EPCI Membership & Advertisement
  • About

No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • Knowledge Blog
  • PCNS

© EPCI - Leading Passive Components Educational and Information Site

This website uses cookies. By continuing to use this website you are giving consent to cookies being used. Visit our Privacy and Cookie Policy.
Go to mobile version