LTspice LC Tank Circuit – Simulation and Analysis

ltspice

Difference in simulation falstad and LTspice. I have made this oscillating circuit, which I am simulating. It is simple and it is identical in both simulations. The values are: R=10 Ohm, C=50uF, L=1H. In falstad the output voltage has a sinusoidal wave with a Vmax of capacitor of around 10V(slightly less) which is decreasing over time, while the Ltspice model has a Vmax of capacitor of around 5.2V.

I suspect it has something to do with the transient analysis, but I already stated that .ic(V)=0 in LT spice.

Output Falstad.com
Output LTspice

Best Answer

If you're after the voltage across the capacitor, then you need to tell LTspice to do a differential measurement. This is done by left-clicking on the left side of the capacitor while holding the LMB down, moving the probe to the right side of the capacitor, and releasing the mouse button. In the example below, the nodes the capacitor is connected to are labeled "a" & "b". The graph shows the voltage across the capacitor as V(a,b) (red trace) and the voltage across the inductor is V(b) (green trace). The graph values are very close to Jan's calculations.

enter image description here