i always knew that current will take all paths, even the other post on this forum said so, but i was doing this RC circuit today where the resistor and the capacitor are wired in parallel, i was told that the capacitor charges quickly because the current " will the take the path of least resistance", so now i am confused
The path of least resistance
resistance
Related Solutions
The Thevenin equivalent resistance is one that looks to the circuit you want to replace. To find this value, all independent sources must be passivated.
Passivate ideal voltage source means replacing it by a short circuit. Passivate ideal current source means replacing it by an open circuit.
If the 5V supply is passivated in this specific case, the two resistors are connected in parallel, and here the value of the Thevenin equivalent resistance.
simulate this circuit – Schematic created using CircuitLab
ERRATA: In the schematic, "V2" must be \$V_{th}\$, Thevenin's equivalent voltage source.
Took me a few rewatches to understand him. The Voltage Divider is for the FTDI's Tx/ESP's Rx line, not the power. A 5V signal on the Rx line would kill the ESP, so it needs to be brought down. Since it's an input, likely High Impedance, it will barely affect the voltage divider, keeping the divider voltage at 3.2V as selected.
The power comes from a bench power supply set to 3.3V.
Best Answer
The current will mostly flow through the capacitor at the beginning because at time=0 the capacitor isn't full and basically looks like a short to the circuit. Since it looks like a short to the circuit, it charges very quickly. As the capacitor charges, it starts to look like an open circuit though. You could think of it as a variable resistor that starts at 0 and goes up to infinite as you charge it.
Once the capacitor is charged, the resistance is infinite and all of the current will flow through the resistor instead of the capacitor.