CAPACITANCE

A capacitor consists of two conductors that

are close but not touching. A capacitor has
the ability to store electric charge.

CAPACITANCE
Parallel-plate capacitor connected to battery.
(b) is a circuit diagram.

CAPACITANCE

Consist of 2 parallel plate separated by a distance d

If connected to +ve and ve battery, electron are pulled of

the one plates, leaving its with a charge of +Q

Electron then transfer through battery to the other plate

leaving it with a charge of Q

This process stop when the potential different across the

plates equal to potential different of the battery

CAPACITANCE
When a capacitor is connected to a
battery, the charge on its plates is
proportional to the voltage:

The quantity C is called the

capacitance.
Unit of capacitance: the farad
(F)

COMBINATION
CAPACITANCE
The capacitance does not depend on the
voltage; it is a function of the geometry
and materials of the capacitor.
For a parallel-plate capacitor:

Exampl
e

a) Calculate the capacitance of a parallel plate

capacitor whose plates are 20 cm x 3.0 cm and
are separated by 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 plates?
d) Estimate the area of the plates needed to
achieve a capacitance of 1F with air gap, d=
1.0 mm.
Capacitance, C = 0 (A / d)
Charge, Q = C V
Electric field, E = V / d

a) Area , A = (20 x 10-2m)(3.0x10-2m)

= 6.0 x 10-3 m
C = 0 (A / d)
= (9 x10-12) (6.0x10-3 / 1.0 x 10-3) = 53pF
b) Q = CV
= (53x10-12)(12)
= 6.4x10-10 C
c) E = V/d
= (12 V ) / ( 1.0x10-3) = 1.2 x 104 V/m
d) C = 1.0 F , d = 1.0 mm
A = Cd / 0
= (1 F ) ( 1.0 x 10-3) / (9x10-12)
= 108 m2

Energy stored in charged

capacitor
A

capacitor can store energy

Charges stored can be discharged.
If equipment uses high voltage, such as TV
set, charges stored is big, hence high voltage
present
Unplugging the TV set after usage does not
make it safe to open the casing and touch the
components inside !!

 Starting

with uncharged plates.

When a charge is transferred form one
plate to the other, pot. diff. exists between
plates.
Work must be done to move further
charges thro this pot. diff.
As more and more charges transferred, the
pot. diff. increases, and more work
required.

Storage of Electric
Energy

A charged capacitor stores electric

energy; the energy stored is equal to the
work done to charge the capacitor.

Example
A camera flash unit stores energy in a 150F
capacitor at 200 V. how much electric energy
can be stored.
PE = CV2
=
(150 x 10-6) (200)2

Storage of Electric
Energy
The energy density, defined as the energy
per unit volume, is the same no matter the
origin of the electric field:

The sudden discharge of electric energy can

be harmful or fatal. Capacitors can retain
their
charge
indefinitely
even
when
disconnected from a voltage source be

Combinations of
capacitors

Two or more capacitors are often combined in electric

circuits
We can calculate the equivalent of certain combinations

Circuit
symbols
for
capacitors,
batteries,
and switches. Note that
capacitors are in blue
and
batteries
and
switches are in red.

Parallel
Combinations

(a) A parallel combination

of two capacitors in an
electric circuit in which
the potential difference
across
the
battery
terminals is V.

The
individual
potential
differences
across
capacitors
connected in parallel are the
same and are equal to the
potential
difference
applied
across the combination
V = V1 = V2
The total charge on capacitors
connected in parallel is the sum of
the charges on the individual
capacitors
Q = Q1 + Q 2
Where

If we wish to replace the two

capacitors
with
one
equivalent capacitor having
a capacitance Ceq
The equivalent
capacitor
must store Q charge and has
voltage V
Hence, Q = CeqV
Substituting into Q = Q1 + Q2
gives
CeqV = C1V + C2V, thus
Ceq = C1 + C2
If more than two capacitors
in parallel,

Series
Combination
When batteries connected,
electrons transferred out of
left plate C1 into right plate
of C2
Negative
charge
accumulate on the right
plate of C2, equal amount of
negative charge forced off
the left plate of C2, hence
left plate of C2 has excess
of positive charge
Negative charge leaving
left plate of C2 causes

Charges on capacitors in
series are the same.
Q = Q 1 = Q2
and the total potential
difference across any
number of capacitors
connected in series is
the sum of the potential
differences across the
individual capacitors.
V = V1 + V2

The equivalent capacitance

can be calculated as follows:
V

Q
Ceq

but

Q
Q
and
V2
C1
C2
for each capacitor.
V1

Using the fact that V = V1 +

V2 ,

Q
Q
hence Q

Ceq

C1

C2

1
1
1

Q Q1 Q 2
Hence for two or more
capacitors joined in series

1
1
1
1

.......
Ceq C1 C 2 C3

All of these devices are capacitors, which store

electric charge and energy. A capacitor is one type
of circuit element that we can combine with others
to make electric circuits. (Paul

Energy stored in a capacitor

A camera flash

Electric Energy Storage

Heart defibrillators use electric
discharge to jump-start the
heart, and can save lives.

Capacitors in Series and

Parallel
Capacitors
in
parallel have the
same voltage across
each
one.
The
equivalent
capacitor
is
one
that
stores
the
same charge when
connected to the
same battery:

Capacitors in Series and

Parallel
Capacitors in series have the

same
charge. In this case, the equivalent
capacitor has the same charge across
the total voltage drop. Note that the
formula is for the inverse of the
capacitance and not the capacitance
itself!

Problem : Question
Find the equivalent capacitance between a and b
for the combination of capacitors shown in figure
(a) below

Summ
ary

Capacitor: nontouching conductors

carrying equal and opposite charge.
Capacitance:

Capacitance of a parallel-plate
capacitor:

Summ
ary
Capacitors in parallel:

Capacitors in series:

Summ
ary
Energy density in electric field:

A dielectric is an insulator.
Dielectric constant gives ratio of total
field to external field.
For a parallel-plate capacitor: