Capacitors: store
electrical charges.
Its basic schematic form is
below
Introduction
Firstly, we define
what we call
CAPACITANCE:
the ability of an
isolated conductor
to store the charge
given to it.
Introduction
A capacitor is a device which stores
electric charge. Capacitors vary in shape
and size, but the basic configuration is
two conductors carrying equal but
opposite charges and separated by an
insulator. Capacitors have many
important applications in electronics.
Both capacitors were initially
uncharged but have +Q and –Q when
connected to a battery; (a) a parallel
plate capacitor (b) a closed capacitor
with insulating material b/w the
Introduction
Some examples include storing electric
potential energy, delaying voltage changes
when coupled with resistors, filtering out
unwanted frequency signals, forming
resonant circuits and making frequency-
dependent and independent voltage
dividers when combined with resistors.
Different Types of
Capacitors
Capacitance
In the picture below, the capacitor is symbolized by a set of parallel lines.
Once it's charged, the capacitor has the same voltage as the battery (1.5
volts on the battery means 1.5 volts on the capacitor) The difference
between a capacitor and a battery is that a capacitor can dump its entire
charge in a tiny fraction of a second, where a battery would take minutes
to completely discharge itself.
When a voltage is applied to an empty capacitor, current flows
through the capacitor and each side of the capacitor becomes
charged. The two sides have equal and opposite charges. When
the capacitor is fully charged, the current stops flowing. The
collected charge is then ready to be discharged
Electric field line
Parallel Plate Capacitor
Two conducting plates, each
having a surface area A,
separated by distance d, and
a voltage V is applied.
Capacitance
This was derived from integrating the
Qd Gauss’ Law expression for a
V d Ed conducting plate.
o o A
These variables represent a
d o A constant of proportionality
V ( )Q Q ( )V
o A d between voltage and charge.
Q CV What this is saying is that
o A YOU CAN change the
C capacitance even though it
d represents a constant. That
CHANGE, however, can only
happen by physically
changing the GEOMETRY of
the capacitor itself.
Capacitor Problems
What is the AREA of a 1F capacitor that has a plate
separation of 1 mm?
A
C o Is this a practical capacitor to build?
D NO! – How can you build this then?
12 A
1 8.85 x10 The answer lies in REDUCING the
0.001 AREA. But you must have a
A 1.13x108 m2 CAPACITANCE of 1 F. How can
you keep the capacitance at 1 F
and reduce the Area at the same
time?
Sides 10629 m Add a DIELECTRIC!!!
Problems
Dielectric
dielectric is an insulating material placed between the
conductors to help store the charge. In the previous example
we assumed there was NO dielectric and thus a vacuum
between the plates.
A
C k o
d
k Dielectric
All insulating materials have a dielectric
constant associated with it. Here now
you can reduce the AREA and use a
LARGE dielectric to establish the
capacitance at 1 F.
Using MORE than 1
capacitor
Let’s say you decide that 1
capacitor will not be
enough to build what
you need to build. You
may need to use more
than 1. There are 2
basic ways to assemble
them together
Series – One after
another
Parallel – between a set
of junctions and parallel
to each other.
Capacitors in Series
Capacitors in series charges each other by INDUCTION. So they
have the SAME charge. The electric potential on the other hand
is divided up amongst them. In other words, the sum of the
individual voltages will equal the total voltage of the battery or
power source.
Capacitors in Parallel
In a parallel configuration, the voltage is the same
because ALL THREE capacitors touch BOTH ends
of the battery. As a result, they split up the charge
amongst them.
Stored Energy from a Capacitor
– A calculus perspective
Capacitors “STORE” energy
Anytime you have a situation where energy is “STORED” it is called
POTENTIAL. In this case we have capacitor potential energy, Uc
Suppose we plot a V vs. Q graph.
If we wanted to find the AREA we
would MULTIPLY the 2 variables
according to the equation for Area.
A = bh
When we do this we get Area =
VQ
Let’s do a unit check!
Voltage = Joules/Coulomb
Charge = Coulombs
Area = ENERGY
Potential Energy of a
Capacitor Since the AREA under the line is a
triangle, the ENERGY(area) =1/2VQ
1 Q
U C VQ C
2 V
U C 1 V (VC ) 1 CV 2
2 2
This energy or area is referred
2
as the potential energy stored Q Q
inside a capacitor. U C 1 ( )Q
2 C 2C
Note: The slope of the line is
the inverse of the capacitance.
most common form
Capacitors of other shapes
Energy density of a
capacitor
The forms of the
symbol of the
capacitor can be
shown as
Review Questions
Example
(a) Calculate the capacitance of a parallel-plate
capacitor whose plates are 20 cm × 3.0 cm and
are separated by a 1.0-mm air gap. (b) What is
the charge on each plate if a 12-V battery is
connected across the two plates? (c) What is
the electric field between the plates?
(d) Estimate the area of the plates needed to
achieve a capacitance of 1 F, given the same
air gap d.
Hints
Problems/Class Work
Assuming the three capacitors are connected
as shown, how would the quantity be
calculated if V = 10V?
ConcepTest 1 Capacitors
Capacitor C1 is connected 1) C1
across a battery of 5 V. An 2) C2
identical capacitor C2 is 3) both have the same charge
connected across a battery of 10 4) it depends on other factors
V. Which one has more charge?
Ans: Since Q = CV and the two
capacitors are identical, the one that is
connected to the greater voltage has
more charge,
charge which is C2 in this case.
ConcepTest 2 Varying Capacitance I
What must be done to a 1) increase the area of the plates
capacitor in order to 2) decrease separation between the plates
increase the amount of 3) decrease the area of the plates
charge it can hold (for a 4) either (1) or (2)
constant voltage)? 5) either (2) or (3)
+Q –Q
Ans:Since Q = CV,
CV in order to increase the
charge that a capacitor can hold at constant
voltage, one has to increase its capacitance.
capacitance
Since the capacitance is given by C 0 A,
d
that can be done by either increasing A or
decreasing d.
ConcepTest 3 Varying Capacitance II
1) the voltage decreases
A parallel-plate capacitor
2) the voltage increases
initially has a voltage of 400 V
and stays connected to the 3) the charge decreases
battery. If the plate spacing is 4) the charge increases
now doubled, what happens? 5) both voltage and charge change
Ans. Since the battery stays connected, +Q –Q
the voltage must remain constant!
Since C 0 A , when the
d
spacing d is doubled, the capacitance C
is halved. And since Q = CV,
CV that
means the charge must decrease.
decrease
Follow-up: How do you increase the charge?
ConcepTest 4 Varying Capacitance III
1) 100 V
A parallel-plate capacitor initially has
a potential difference of 400 V and is 2) 200 V
then disconnected from the charging 3) 400 V
battery. If the plate spacing is now
4) 800 V
doubled (without changing Q), what is
5) 1600 V
the new value of the voltage?
Ans: Once the battery is disconnected, Q +Q –Q
has to remain constant,
constant since no charge can
flow either to or from the battery. Since
C 0 A , when the spacing d is
d
doubled, the capacitance C is halved. And
since Q = CV,
CV that means the voltage must
double.
double
ConcepTest 5 Capacitors I
1) Ceq = 3/2C
What is the equivalent capacitance,
2) Ceq = 2/3C
Ceq , of the combination below? 3) Ceq = 3C
4) Ceq = 1/3C
5) Ceq = 1/2C
Ans: The 2 equal capacitors in
series add up as inverses,
inverses giving
1/2C. These are parallel to the first
one, which add up directly.
directly Thus,
the total equivalent capacitance is
3/2C.
ConcepTest 6 Capacitors II
How does the voltage V1 across 1) V1 = V2
the first capacitor (C1) compare to 2) V1 > V2
the voltage V2 across the second
3) V1 < V2
capacitor (C2)?
4) all voltages are zero
Ans: The voltage across C1 is
10 V. The combined
capacitors C2 + C3 are parallel
to C1. The voltage across C2 +
C3 is also 10 V. Since C2 and
C3 are in series, their voltages
add. Thus the voltage across
C2 and C3 each has to be 5 V, Follow-up: What is the current in
which is less than V1. this circuit?
ConcepTest 7 Capacitors III
1) Q1 = Q2
How does the charge Q1 on the first
2) Q1 > Q2
capacitor (C1) compare to the charge
Q2 on the second capacitor (C2)? 3) Q1 < Q2
4) all charges are zero
Ans: We already know that
the voltage across C1 is 10 V
and the voltage across both
C2 and C3 is 5 V each. Since
Q = CV and C is the same for
all the capacitors, we have
V1 > V2 and therefore Q1 > Q2.
Exercise
5.) Given a set of capacitors C1 + C2 + ...+ Cn , where n is
greater than 1, will a greater equivalent capacitance result by
adding them in parallel or in series?
a. in series.
b. in parallel.
c. they will be the same.
d. This cannot be determine without know the value of each
capacitor and number of capacitors in the system.
6.) Given n capacitors with charge Q and capacitance C, will
you get the greatest energy stored:
a. in series.
b. in parallel.
c. They will be the same.
d. This cannot be determine without knowing more about the
situation
Exercise
7.) Select the option that best describes a dielectric.
a.) A dielectric is a non-conducting material.
b. A dielectric is the material when placed between the
plates of a capacitor will increase the electric field.
c. A dielectric is something that when placed between the
plates decreases the capacitance of the capacitor.
d. All of these choices are true.
[Link] capacitors of capacitance 10µF and 40µF when
connected in series will yield an equivalent capacitance
of
a. 50 µF
b. 25 µF
c. 8 µF
d. 30 µF
Exercise
[Link] area of each plate of a parallel plate capacitor is 4 x
10-2m2. If the thickness of the dielectric placed in between
the plates is 10-3 and the relative permittivity of the dielectric
is 7, then the capacitance of the capacitor
a. 2.478 x 10-9F
b. 0.2478 x 10-9F
c. 2.478 x 10+9F
d. 2.478 F
[Link] two capacitors of capacitances 2 pF and 6 pF
connected in parallel, the effective capacitance is
a. 8 pF
b. 12 pF
c. 3/2 pF
d. 4 pF
solution: C = (ε *ε x 1 x A)/d = 4 x 10-2 x 7x
o r
8.85x10-12/10-3 = 2.478 x 10-9F
0 r A 8.85 10 12 7 4 10 2
C 2.478 x 10 9 F
d 10 3
