- #1
ViolentCorpse
- 190
- 1
In a series RC circuit, the current flows until the voltage of the capacitor equals that of the source so that the two voltages oppose each other and there's no net flow.
In a parallel circuit, the current indeed does stop flowing through the branch the capacitor is attached to (after the transients have died out of course), but for some reason my intuition (which is almost always wrong) tells me that the capacitor should prevent the voltage source from producing any current through the parallel resistor also, since there are only two nodes and on these nodes the capacitor and the source voltage should oppose each other, producing 0 current through the parallel resistor as well as through itself.
Mathematically, I think I understand why what really happens should happen, but I want a better physical understanding of it. I hope you get what I'm trying to say...
In a parallel circuit, the current indeed does stop flowing through the branch the capacitor is attached to (after the transients have died out of course), but for some reason my intuition (which is almost always wrong) tells me that the capacitor should prevent the voltage source from producing any current through the parallel resistor also, since there are only two nodes and on these nodes the capacitor and the source voltage should oppose each other, producing 0 current through the parallel resistor as well as through itself.
Mathematically, I think I understand why what really happens should happen, but I want a better physical understanding of it. I hope you get what I'm trying to say...
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