Definition
An electrical circuit containing both a resistor and a capacitor connected together. Because the capacitor takes time to charge through the resistor and to discharge through it, the circuit reacts to changes in voltage on a predictable time delay rather than instantaneously. This delay is called the RC time constant and is equal to the resistance multiplied by the capacitance.
Plain English
A simple electrical circuit made from a resistor and a capacitor working together. The combination produces a built-in time delay, so voltage rises and falls smoothly instead of jumping instantly.
Context Anchor
Seen in aircraft electrical and electronic system descriptions, especially in maintenance manuals, wiring diagrams, radios, instruments, and timing or filtering circuits.
Derivation
R is the standard electrical symbol for resistance and C for capacitance. The name simply states the two components that make the circuit behave the way it does.
Why Pilots Care
RC circuits are the building blocks of timing, filtering, and signal-shaping inside avionics. They are why some indicator lights fade rather than snap, why certain instruments take a moment to settle, and how electrical noise is kept out of radio and instrument signals.
Analogy
Think of filling a bucket through a narrow hose. The hose limits how fast water gets in, so the bucket fills gradually rather than all at once. The resistor is the hose; the capacitor is the bucket.
Grounding Statement
When power is applied, the capacitor in an RC circuit does not charge instantly; the resistor controls how fast that change happens.
Intuition Check
RC does not mean remote control here. In this context, RC means resistor-capacitor, referring to the two electrical parts that make the circuit work.
Example Sentence 1
The avionics technician traced the fault to a failed capacitor in the RC circuit that smooths the voltage feeding the navigation display.
Example Sentence 2
Maintenance checked the RC circuit to confirm the proper timing delay on the warning light.