A circuit is constructed with four resistors, one capacitor, one battery and a switch as shown. The values for the resistors are: R1 = R2 = 61.0 Ω, R3 = 50.0 Ω and R4 = 94.0 Ω. The capacitance is C = 51.0 μF and the battery voltage is V = 24.0 V.The switch has been open for a long time when at time t = 0, the switch is closed. What is I1(0), the magnitude of the current through the resistor R1 just after the switch is closed?http://assets.openstudy.com/updates/attachments/4f4c2abae4b0acf2d9fda490-mrshappy0-1330402842870-rccircuit.png

Question

anonymous · Answer

I know you need to treat the capacitor as a wire at t=0, but I'm not sure what to do with all my unknowns

kropot72 · Answer

We assume that C is completely discharged at t = 0. When the switch is closed there will be an inrush of current to charge C which initially has zero volts across it. The instantaneous current at the moment the switch is closed is
$$I _{i}(0)=\frac{24}{61+94}\ amps$$