Solution

ID: past-exam-of-the-physics-course-of-the-year-1-of-the-natural-sciences-course-of-the-university-of-cambridge/2012/paper-1/section-c/c11/b/solution

For free parallel RLC voltage decay, measure and branch currents from A to B. Then
There is no external current, so Kirchhoff's current law gives . Differentiating yields
For the characteristic equation is . Its underdamped roots give
The supplied inequality makes real. A real physical voltage has the general form , the real part of the printed complex expression. A general complex-valued solution uses both roots, . The inductor's initial current is fixed consistently by the undifferentiated current balance; it is not an arbitrary additional voltage-mode constant.

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