F7 A2 Capacitors and Capacitance

Capacitance
An isolated conducting sphere is connected to a high voltage supply.
As the voltage of the sphere increases, the charge stored on the sphere also increases.
The graph shows the variation of charge Q on the conductor with potential V.
It can be seen that the stored charge is directly proportional to the applied voltage.

Conducting sphere
Charge/C

+ -
High voltage
supply
Insulator

0 Voltage/V

So: =
Where:
C is a constant which depends on the size and shape of the conductor.
C is known as the capacitance of the conductor. Where:
Q = charge stored (C)
= V = applied voltage (V)

Capacitance is the ratio of charge to potential for a conductor. C = capacitance (farad, F)
The unit of capacitance is the farad (F)
1 farad = 1 coulomb per volt
The farad is a large unit and more frequently the picofarad (pF = 10 -12 F) or nanofarad (nF = 10-9 F)
are used.

Y13 A2 Capacitors Notes April 2014 Page 1 of 8

The capacitance of the capacitor is a measure of its ability to store charge and hence energy.
Capacitance is the ability of a body to store an electrical charge. A material with a large capacitance
holds more electric charge at a given voltage, than one with low capacitance.

The Capacitor and its Capacitance

A simple capacitor is a pair of parallel plates each of area, A, separated by an
air-gap of thickness, d, across which a potential difference, V, is applied.

A capacitor stores electrical potential energy by separating charge.

When the switch in the circuit shown is closed, electrons from the upper plate
are given electrical potential energy by the voltage supply and move to the lower
plate. This results in the upper plate having a deficit of electrons (+Q) while the
lower plate has a surplus (-Q). An electric field is set up between the oppositely
charged plates (E = V/d).

Stored charge, Q/C

The graph of Stored Charge (Q) versus Applied Voltage
(V) is linear.
Note:
The gradient gives the capacitance of the capacitor
The area under the graph gives the electrical
potential energy stored. EP = QV
Applied voltage,
Since C = Q/ V, this expression can be written in different forms: V/V

2
= = 2 =
2
The capacitance depends on:
a) the plate area, A. An increase in area means that more charge
can be stored.
b) the distance between the plates, d. If the plates are further
apart, less charge is stored.
c) the material between the plate. If the air is replaced by
some material called a dielectric the ability to store charge
is increased.

For an air-filled capacitor:

0 = 0
Where 0, is a constant of proportionality called the absolute
permittivity of free space. 0 = 8.84 x 10-12 Fm-1 Relative permittivity of common substances
Substance Relative Permativity
A dielectric between the plates increases the capacitance to Air at 20C 1.0005
some value, C, such that: Polyethylene 2.3
Silicon dioxide 3.9
Porcelain (ceramic) 4.5 to 6.7
= Glass 5 to 10
0
Marble 8.3
Where r is called the relative permittivity (and has no units). Silicon 11.7
Strontium titanate 200

= 0 =

Where is the permittivity of the substance.
Y13 A2 Capacitors Notes April 2014 Page 2 of 8
Questions
1. The parallel plates of an air-filled capacitor are 1.0 mm apart.
Show that the plate area must be 10 km x 10 km if the capacitor is to have a capacitance of 1 farad.

2. An air-filled capacitor, with two parallel plates has a capacitance of 12 pF. Show that if:
a) the plate area is doubled the capacitance is now 24 pF.

b) the distance between the plates is reduced to a third of the distance, the new capacitance is 36 pF.

c) the plate area is halved, the distance is doubled and a dielectric of r = 2.4 is placed between
the plates, the new capacitance is now 7.2 pF.

3. A parallel plate capacitor has a capacitance of 50 pF. The plates have an area 3.4 x 10 -5 m2, show
that they are separated by a distance of 6.0 m.

4. A parallel plate capacitor has plates of area 0.01 m2 which are 0.10mm apart and is connected to a
30 V battery. The dielectric material between the plates has permittivity 5 x 10 -10 Fm -1. Show that:
a) the capacitance of this capacitor is 50 nF.

b) the charge stored on each plate is 1.5 C

c) the energy stored is 22.5 J.

Y13 A2 Capacitors Notes April 2014 Page 3 of 8

Capacitors Connected in Parallel
The equivalent capacitance of capacitors connected in parallel (or in series) is the capacitance of a
single capacitor which could be substituted for the actual arrangement.
increased increased
In any circuit, the fundamental principles of plate area results in capacitance
conservation of charge and conservation of
energy must apply.
Connecting capacitors in parallel is like
increasing the plate area and so the
is equivalent to
capacitance increases.
a. Conservation of charge:
Total charge = Q = q1 + q2
b. Conservation of energy:
V = V1 = V2
c. Hence:
q1 q2
V C1 C2

Questions
Calculate the equivalent capacitance of the following networks:
a) b) c)

8F 12F 52nF 44nF 6pF 4pF 10pF

Capacitors Connected in Series

Connecting capacitors in series is like increased results in decreased

increasing the plate separation and so the plate separation capacitance
capacitance decreases.
a. Conservation of charge:
Total charge = Q = q1 = q2 is equivalent to
b. Conservation of energy:
V = V1 + V2
Hence: -q +q -q +q

V
Questions
1). Calculate the equivalent capacitance of these networks.
a) b)
12pF 6pF
8nF 24nF

18nF

Y13 A2 Capacitors Notes April 2014 Page 4 of 8

2). Three 25F capacitors are connected as shown.
A p.d. of 4200 V is applied across the parallel network. Show that:
a) the equivalent capacitance of the network is 75 F . 4200V 25F 25F 25F

b) the charge stored in the arrangement is 0.32 C.

c) the electrical energy stored is 660 J.

3). For the arrangement shown show that: 12F 6F

a) the equivalent capacitance is 12F. 12V

36 F
b) the charge stored on the 36F capacitor is 144C.

c) the p.d. across the 12F is 8.0 V.

4).100 pF capacitor is charged to a potential of 50V when the switch X Y

is on X. The switch is than moved to position Y (and the battery
becomes disconnected from the arrangement). The p.d. drops to 35 50V
V. Show that the capacitance C is 43pF. (Hint: charge is conserved.) C
100 pF

5.a) A voltage of 300 V is applied to 2.0F and 8.0F capacitors connected

in series. Show that the charge stored and p.d. across each capacitor is:
Q2F = 480C, Q8F = 480C, V2F = 240V, V8F = 60V 2.0F
300V

8.0F
b) The charged capacitors are disconnected from each other and from the
battery and immediately reconnected with their positive plates together,
no external voltage being applied. 2.0F
Show that for this arrangement:
Q2F = 192C Q8F = 768C, V2F = 96V, V8F = 96V 8.0F

b) The capacitors are recharged again as described in (a) and this time reconnected so that their
plates of opposite sign are together. Explain why the voltage across the plates falls to zero.

Y13 A2 Capacitors Notes April 2014 Page 5 of 8

 Charging a Capacitor
When the switch is closed the voltage across the capacitor (V C)
increases quickly and then this increase in voltage slows down as the
voltage across the capacitor rises and opposes the voltage of the
battery. VR is the voltage across the resistor. VC
VR R

A
VC I Q VR

t t t t

Discharging a Capacitor

The capacitor is the only source of voltage so the

current flow is directly related to the size of V C. VC
VR R

VC I Q VR

t t t t

The current is seen to change rapidly at first, and then more slowly. More detailed analysis shows
that the curve is exponential.
All exponential decay curves have an equation:
= 0
Where:
x is the quantity that is decaying
x0 is the value of x at t = 0),
e to three decimal places is the number 2.718 (the root of natural logarithms) and
k is a constant characteristic of the decay. A large value of k means that the decay is rapid,

The equation for the discharge of a capacitor of capacitance C through a resistor of resistance R

= 0

Y13 A2 Capacitors Notes April 2014 Page 6 of 8

Where:
Q0 is the charge on the plates at time t = 0, and
Q is the charge at time t.

Current is proportional to charge ( = ) and so the equation for the discharge of a capacitor may

also be written:

= 0

For a capacitor Q is proportional to V, so the discharge of a capacitor can also be written as

= 0
Time constant
As time progresses, the exponential curve gets closer
to the time axis, but never actually meets it. So it
isnt possible to give a time for a capacitor to
discharge completely.
The quantity CR in the decay equation may be used
to indicate whether the decay is fast or slow.

CR is called the time constant of the capacitor-

resistor circuit.

Units of CR
CR has units of time (seconds:
From = / and R =V/I, then

= = =

But = therefore =

To find the charge Q on the capacitor plates after a time t = CR, we substitute in the exponential
decay equation:
0 0
= 0 = 0 1 = =
2.718

The time constant is defined as the time for the charge to decrease to 1/e (or 1/2.718) of its initial
charge.
In one time constant the charge stored by the capacitor drops to roughly one-third of its initial value.
During the next time constant it will drop by the same ratio, to about one-ninth of the value at the
beginning of the discharge.
Questions
1) A 220 F capacitor is charged to 18.0 V.
It is then discharged through a 39.0 k resistor.
a) What is the time constant of this circuit?

b) What is the p.d. across the capacitor after twice this time?

Y13 A2 Capacitors Notes April 2014 Page 7 of 8

2) A 250 F capacitor is connected to a 20 V supply, and is then discharged through a 40 k
resistor. Calculate:
a) the initial charge stored by the capacitor,
[0.05 C]
b) the initial discharge current,

[0.0005 A]
c) the value of the time constant,
[10 s]
d) the charge on the plates after 10 s,
[0.018 C ]

e) the charge on the plates after 20 s

[0.0068 C]

f) the time at which the remaining charge is 2.0 x 10-3 C

[32.2 s]
Uses of capacitors
1. Capacitors are used to store electrical energy. Discharging the capacitor means that the
energy can be released in a short time as in, for example, a camera
flash light
2. Capacitors may be used to prevent arcing. Rather than the charge
creating a spark, the charge is stored in a capacitor. The capacitor is
discharged gradually at a later time.

3. When used in conjunction with a coil, the capacitor can form part of a
circuit that produces electrical oscillations or, under different
circumstances, can be used to tune a circuit to particular radio
frequencies.
4. Capacitors may be used in a smoothing circuit to reduce the ripple on rectified current or voltage.

Y13 A2 Capacitors Notes April 2014 Page 8 of 8