Heres an important point to keep in mind, whether the capacitor is charging up or discharging, the time constant (tau, or τ) in an RC circuit always represents 63.2% of the change at one time constant (t = 0 to τ). This is true whether we are watching the capacitor charge or discharge.
The time factor of a capacitor typically refers to the time constant (τ), which defines the rate at which the capacitor charges or discharges. The time factor determines how quickly a capacitor reaches a significant portion (63.2%) of its maximum voltage during charging or drops to 36.8% during discharging.
It takes about one capacitor time constant (τ) for the capacitor to reach 63% of its maximum voltage. After five time constants, the capacitor is almost fully charged, at 99%. The larger the time constant, the slower the capacitor charges, making it crucial for designing circuits that require specific charge rates.
Hence, the charging time of a capacitor is directly proportional to its capacitance. Time constant $\tau =RC$ Whenever a voltage or current constantly changes value, it exhibits transient effects. The voltage across the resistance and capacitance in an RC circuit have these characteristics.
For a resistor-capacitor circuit, the time constant (in seconds) is calculated from the product (multiplication) of resistance in ohms and capacitance in farads: τ=RC. However, for a resistor-inductor circuit, the time constant is calculated from the quotient (division) of inductance in henrys over the resistance in ohms: τ=L/R.
The RC Time Constant (τ) of a capacitor is the amount of time it takes for a capacitor to charge to 63% of the supply voltage which is charging it. For a fully charged capacitor, the RC time constant is the amount of time it takes for a capacitor to discharge to 63% of its fully charged voltage.