CAPACITANCE AND

DIELECTRICS

CAPACITORS
are devices that store electric
charge.
are used in
Radio receivers
Filters in power supplies
To eliminate sparking in automobile
ignition systems
Energy storing devices in electronic
flashes.

 A capacitor consists of two conductors.

These conductors are called plates.
When the conductor is charged, the
plates carry charges equal magnitude
and opposite directions.
A potential difference exists between
the plates due to the charge.

 Parallel conducting plates separated by an

insulator can be used to store electrical
charge. These devices come in a variety of
sizes, and are known as parallel plate
capacitors. The amount of charge a
capacitor can store on a single plate for a
given amount of potential difference across
the plates is known as the devices
capacitance, given in coulombs per volt,
also known as a Farad (F). A Farad is a very
large amount of capacitance, therefore most
capacitors have values in the microFarad,
nanoFarad, and even picoFarad ranges.

 Capacitance will always be a positive

quantity.
The capacitance of a given capacitor
is constant.
The capacitance is a measure of the
capacitors ability to store charge.
The capacitance of a capacitor is the
amount of charge the capacitor can
store per unit of potential difference.

 A capacitor stores 3 microcoulombs

of charge with a potential difference
of 1.5 volts across the plates. What is
the capacitance?
How much charge sits on the top
plate of a 200 nF capacitor when
charged to a potential difference of 6
volts?

CAPACITANCE FOR PARALLELPLATES

The amount of charge a capacitor can hold is
determined by its geometry as well as the
insulating material between the plates. The
capacitance is directly related to the area of
the plates, and inversely related to the
separation between the plates, as shown in
the formula below. The permittivity of an
insulator () describes the insulators
resistance to the creation of an electric field,
and is equal to 8.8510-12Farads per meter
for an air-gap capacitor.

 Find the capacitance of two parallel

plates of length 1 millimeter and
width 2 millimeters if they are
separated by 3 micrometers of air.

COMBINATION OF
CAPACITORS
Parallel of Combination
The flow of charges ceases when the
voltage across the capacitors equals
that of the battery.
The potential difference across the
capacitors is the same.

 The capacitors reach their maximum

charge when the flow of charge
ceased. The total charge is equal to
the sum of the charges on the
capacitors.
The capacitors can be replaced with
one capacitor with a capacitance of

 The equivalent capacitance of a

parallel combination of capacitors is
greater than any of the individual
capacitors.

SERIES COMBINATION
The sum of the potential difference
across each capacitor is equal to the
terminal voltage.
The total charge is equal to each
individual charges gained by each
capacitors.

 The equivalent capacitance of a

series combination is lesser than any
individual capacitor in the
combination.

 Find the equivalent capacitance

between a and b for the combination
of the capacitors shown in the figure.
All capacitance are in microfarads.