In: Physics
2. The LC circuit’s charge could be described by this second-order differential equation
L d2qdt2+C q=0
where q is the time-dependent charge in the circuit, L is inductance, and C is the capacitance.
The solution to that equation is
qt=q0cos(ωt+
ϕ) where q0 is the maximum charge in the circuit, w
is the angular frequency of the circuit, which equals
1L C , and f is the phase angle of the
circuit.
a. What does q(t) represent? Yes, I know it means “the charge” but of what? After all, the circuit has the same number of electrons and protons regardless of whether there is current flowing or not, so what does that quantity mean?
b. In order for the initial charge to be zero; that is, q(0) = 0, what does the phase angle f need to be?