Question 25
LCR Railgun

Q 25. Consider a similar setup as the last question. Instead of just a capacitor, we now have a capacitor of capacitance \(C\), and an inductor of inductance \(L\). Other conditions remain the same. Find the charge on capacitor, the current through the circuit, and the velocity of the rod all as functions of time. Neglect the magnetic fields produced by the wires themselves.

\begin{circuitikz}
    \color{white};
    \draw (0,0) to [capacitor, l_=$C$] (0,1.5);
    \draw (0,1.5) to [inductor, l_=$L$] (0,3);
    \draw (0,0) -- (5,0);
    \draw (0,3) -- (5,3);
    \draw[densely dashed] (5,0) -- (6,0);
    \draw[densely dashed] (5,3) -- (6,3);
    \draw[very thick] (3,-.25) -- (3,3.25);
    \draw (3.85,3.35) node {$l, m, R$};
    \draw[->] (3,1.5) -- (3.5,1.5);
    \draw (4,1.5) node {$v_0$};
    \draw (2,1.5) node {$\otimes \vec{B}$};
    \end{circuitikz}


Solution:

Setting up equations similar to the last question, we get:

\[\dddot{q}L + \ddot{q} R + \dot{q} \frac{1}{C} + \dot{q} \frac{B^2l^2}{m}=0\]

\[\ddot{i}L + \dot{i} R + i \kappa = 0\]

Here, \(\kappa\) is the same as in last question,

\[\kappa \overset{\text{def}}{=}\frac{1}{C} + \frac{B^2l^2}{m} \]

Solving, and substituting initial conditions, and simplifying, we get:

\[i = \frac{v_0Bl}{\omega L} \sinh (\omega t) e^{-Kt}\tag1\]

Some superconstants used are defined as:

\[\omega \overset{\text{def}}{=} \frac{\sqrt{R^2 - 4 \kappa L}}{2L}\]

\[K \overset{\text{def}}{=} \frac{R}{2L}\]

A point to note is that \(K>\omega\) is always true. This ensures that as \(t\rightarrow \infty\), the current goes to zero. This can be easily proven. Try it!

From eq (1), we can write \(i = \dot{q}\) and integrate it over set limits to get the charge on the capacitor as a function of time:

\[q = \frac{v_0Bl}{L(K^2 - \omega^2)} \left[ 1 - \frac{\sqrt{K^2-\omega^2}}{\omega} \sinh (\alpha + \omega t) e^{-Kt} \right]\tag2\]

Where,

\[\alpha = \sinh^{-1} \left( \frac{\omega}{\sqrt{K^2-\omega^2}}\right)\]

From this, we can find the velocity as a function of time:

\[v = v_0 - \frac{qBl}{m}\tag3\]

Where \(q\) is the function as given in eq (2).

Further, we can find the time at which there exist maximum current in the circuit:

\[t\big|_{\text{max }i} = \frac{1}{\omega} \tanh^{-1} \left( \frac{\omega}{K}\right)\]

Hence, we can find the maximum current in the circuit:

\[i_{\text{max}} = \frac{v_0 Bl}{L} \sqrt{\frac{(K^2-\omega^2)^{ \left( \frac{K^2}{\omega^2} -1 \right)} }{(K^2+\omega^2)^{ \left( \frac{K^2}{\omega^2} +1 \right)}}}\]

As in the previous question, we can also find the total heat generated from the rod due to current flowing through it. Here we make use of the fact that \(\omega < K\) to evaluate an expression in the limit of the integral.

\[\int dH = \frac{v_0^2 B^2l^2 R}{\omega^2 L^2} \int_0^\infty \sinh^2(\omega t) e^{-2Kt} dt\]

\[\implies H = \frac{v_0^2 B^2l^2R}{4L^2K(K^2-\omega^2)}\]