Examples: 1. A capacitor has two 5mm x 5mm plates, 0.5cms apart, and separated by air.

If connected to a 5V battery, and allowed to stabilise, what would the charge across the plates be?
5V C

To find the charge across the plates, we want to use

C = 0 r A d

Q = CV

The plates are separated by air:

0 = 8.85x10-12 ;

r = 1

We have dimensions for each plate: A = 0.0052 = 25x10-6 m2 ;

d = 5x10-3 m

Hence we can calculate C:

C = 8.85 10 12

25 10 6 5 10
3

= 4.425 10 14

We can then input this into the equation Q = CV: Q = CV = 4.425x10-14 x 5 = 22.125x10-14 C

2. Three capacitors having capacitances of 2, 4 and 8 F respectively are connected in series across a 200 V supply. Calculate (a) the potential difference across each capacitor (b) the charge on each capacitor a) Potential drop across each capacitor can be found as a ratio of its capacitance

V1 = V

Ctotal C1

so

1 1 1 1 = + + Ctot 2 4 8

Ctot = 1.143 F

V1 = 200 x

1.14 2 1.14 4 1.14 8

= 114.3 V = 57.1 V = 28.6 V

V2 = 200 x V3 = 200 x

b) Current same through all capacitors in series, so charge is the same: Q = C1 V1 = C2 V2 = 2 x 10-6 x 114.3 = 229 C

3. The plates of a capacitor are separated by a sheet of mica 0.3 mm thick, with a relative permittivity of 6. Each plate has an area of 500 cm2. a) What is the capacitance? If a potential difference of 400 V is maintained across the capacitor, b) What is the charge? c) The electric field strength? d) The electric flux density?

a)

Capacitance C

= 0 r

A d 0.05 = 8.85 nF 0.0003

= 8.85 x10 12 x 6 x

b)

Charge Q

= CV = 8.85 x 10-9 x 400 = 3.54 C

c)

Electric field strength E

= V/d = 400 / 0.0003 = 1.33 MV / m

d)

Electric flux density D

= Q/A = 3.54 x 10-6 / 0.05 = 0.708 C/m2

4. A capacitor has two plates, 5 mm apart and 200 mm x 200mm in size. The space between the plates is filled with a 3 mm thick glass plate (r = 8) and a 2 mm thick layer of paper (r = 2). a) Calculate the capacitance. A potential difference of 500 V is placed across the plates. b) Calculate the electric field strength
A d 0.04 = 94.4 nF 0.003 0.04 0.002

a)

Capacitance C C glass = 0 r

= 0 r
A d A d

= 8.85 x10 12 x 8 x

C paper = 0 r

= 8.85 x10 12 x 2 x

= 35.4 nF

These two capacitance values are equivalent to two capacitors in series:

1 1 1 = + Ctot 94.4 35.4 b) Electric field strength E = V / d

Ctot = 25.7 nF

Need to find the potential difference across each capacitor:

V1 = V

Ctot C1
V g = 500 25.7 94.4 = 136.1V

Vp = V Vg = 363.9 V Therefore Eg = 136.1 / 3 Ep = 363.9 / 2 = = 45.4 V/mm 181.95 V/mm