1 Wednesday, February 12, 2014

1
Wednesday, February 12, 2014

iClicker
q
 A metal ball of radius R has a charge q.
 Charge is changed q -> - 2q. How does it’s
capacitance changed?
A: C->2 C0
B: C-> C0
C: C-> C0/2
D: C->- C0
E: C->-2 C0

iClicker
q
 A metal ball of radius R has a charge q.
 Charge is changed q -> - 2q. How does it’s
capacitance changed?
A: C->2 C0
B: C-> C0
A: C-> C0/2
D: C->4 C0
A: C->8 C0

Physics of a spark
+q -q
∆V
d
E ∼ ∆V /d

Physics of a spark
∆V E ∼ ∆V /d1 � E0
d1
+q -q
∆V
d
E ∼ ∆V /d

Physics of a spark
∆V E ∼ ∆V /d1 � E0 λ
d1
e E
+q -q
∆V
Ek ∼ Eλ ∼ 1eV
d
E ∼ ∆V /d

Physics of a spark
∆V E ∼ ∆V /d1 � E0 λ
d1
e E
+q -q
∆V
Ek ∼ Eλ ∼ 1eV
d
λ ∼ 1µm
E ∼ ∆V /d
Espark ∼ M eV /m
4

Energy Stored in Capacitors
 Capacitors store electric energy
1 (V created by “q”s, self-
U = qV interaction)
2
q = CV
1 2
U = CV
2 or
1 q2
U=
2C
37

Energy Density in Capacitors (1)
 We define the energy density, u, as the electric potential energy
per unit volume
 Taking the ideal case of a parallel plate capacitor that has no

fringe field, the volume between the plates is the area of each
plate times the distance between the plates, Ad
 Inserting our formula for the capacitance of a parallel plate

capacitor we find
38

Energy Density in Capacitors (2)
 Recognizing that V/d is the magnitude of the electric
field, E, we obtain an expression for the electric potential
energy density for parallel plate capacitor
 This result, which we derived for the parallel plate

capacitor, is in fact completely general.
 This equation holds for all electric fields produced in any
way
• The formula gives the quantity of electric field energy per unit
volume.
39

Example: Isolated Conducting Sphere (1)
 An isolated conducting sphere whose radius R is 6.85 cm has a
charge of q=1.25 nC.
Question 1:
How much potential energy is stored in the electric field of the charged
conductor?
Answer:
Key Idea: An isolated sphere has a capacitance of C=4πε0R (see previous
lecture). The energy U stored in a capacitor depends on the charge and the
capacitance according to
… and substituting C=4πε0R gives
40

Example: Isolated Conducting Sphere (2)
 An isolated conducting sphere whose radius R
q
is 6.85 cm has a charge of q = 1.25 nC.
Question 2:
What is the field energy density at the surface of the sphere?
Answer:
Key Idea: The energy density u depends on the magnitude of the
electric field E according to
so we must first find the E field at the surface of the sphere.

Recall:
41

What is the total energy in E-field?
� ∞
Utot = udV =
� ∞ R
1
4π �0 E 2 r2 dr =
R 2
� ∞� �2 2
1 q 2
2π�0 4
r dr =
R 4π�0 r
1 q2
=
2 4π�0 R
1
qV
2
10

� ∞ dV = dφ sin θdθr2 dr
Utot = udV = = 4πr2 dr
� ∞ R
1
4π �0 E 2 r2 dr =
R 2
� ∞� �2 2
1 q 2
2π�0 4
r dr =
R 4π�0 r
1 q2
=
2 4π�0 R
1
qV
2
10

� ∞
Utot = udV =
� ∞ R
1
4π �0 E 2 r2 dr =
R 2
� ∞� �2 2
1 q 2
2π�0 4
r dr =
R 4π�0 r
1 q2
=
2 4π�0 R
1
qV
2
10

� ∞
Utot = udV =
� ∞ R
1
4π �0 E 2 r2 dr =
R 2
� ∞� �2 2
1 q 2
2π�0 4
r dr =
R 4π�0 r
1 q2
=
2 4π�0 R
1
qV Yes!
2
10

Example: Thundercloud (1)
 Suppose a thundercloud with horizontal dimensions of
2.0 km by 3.0 km hovers over a flat area, at an altitude of 500 m
and carries a charge of 160 C.
Question 1:
• What is the potential difference
between the cloud and the ground?
Question 2:
• Knowing that lightning strikes require
electric field strengths of approximately
2.5 MV/m, are these conditions sufficient
for a lightning strike?
Question 3:
• What is the total electrical energy contained in this cloud?
42

Question 1: What is the potential difference between the cloud and
the ground?
Answer:
 We can approximate the cloud-ground system as a parallel plate
capacitor whose capacitance is
 The charge carried by the cloud is 160 C

1q …++++++++++++ …
V = = 7.2 108 ++++++++++++
2C
 720 million volts
43

Question 2: Knowing that lightning strikes require electric field
strengths of approximately 2.5 MV/m, are these conditions
sufficient for a lightning strike?
Answer:
 We know the potential difference between the cloud and ground
so we can calculate the electric field
 E is lower than 2.5 MV/m, so no lightning cloud to ground

• May have lightning to radio tower or tree….
44

Question 3: What is the total electrical energy contained in this

cloud?
Answer:
 The total energy stored in a parallel place capacitor is
45

Electric circuits
15

Circuit diagram
Lines represent conductors

The battery or power supply is represented by
The capacitor is represented by the symbol
Battery provides (a DC) potential difference V
16

Charging/Discharging a Capacitor (2)
Illustrate the charging processing using a circuit diagram.
c
This circuit has a switch
• (pos c) When the switch is in position c, the circuit is
open (not connected).
• (pos a) When the switch is in position a, the battery is
connected across the capacitor. Fully charged, q = CV.
• (pos b) When the switch is in position b, the two plates
of the capacitor are connected. Electrons will move c
around the circuit--a current will flow--and the capacitor
will discharge.

demo
18

-
V
+
19

-
V
+
19

I
-
V
+
19

I
-
V
+
19

I
-
-
V
+
+
19

-
-
V
+
+
19

-
-
V V
+
+
19

-
-
V V
+
+
19

-
-
V V
+
+
19

-
-
V V
+
+ I
19

-
-
V V
+
+ I
19

-
-
V V
+
+
19

Capacitors in Circuits
 A circuit is a set of electrical devices
connected with conducting wires
 Capacitors can be wired together in circuits in parallel or
series
• Capacitors in circuits connected + + +
by wires such that the positively
charged plates are connected - - -
together and the negatively
charged plates are connected together,
+
are connected in parallel
• Capacitors wired together such that
-
+
the positively charged plate of one -
capacitor is connected to the negatively +
charged plate of the next capacitor are -
connected in series
25

Capacitors in Parallel (1)
 Consider an electrical circuit with three capacitors
wired in parallel
 Each of three capacitors has one plate connected to the

positive terminal of a battery with voltage V and one plate
connected to the negative terminal.
 The potential difference V across each capacitor is the
same. .. key point for capacitors in
parallel
 We can write the charge on each capacitor as …
26

Capacitors in Parallel (2)
 We can consider the three capacitors as one equivalent
capacitor Ceq that holds a total charge q given by
 We can now define Ceq by
 A general result for n capacitors in parallel is
 If we can identify capacitors in a circuit that are wired in

parallel, we can replace them with an equivalent capacitance
27

Capacitors in Series (1)
 Consider a circuit with three capacitors wired in series
 The positively charged plate of C1 is connected to the positive terminal of the
battery
 The negatively charge plate of C1 is connected to the positively
charged plate of C2
 The negatively charged plate of C2 is connected to the positively

charge plate of C3
 The negatively charge plate of C3 is connected to the

negative terminal of the battery
 The battery produces an equal charge q on each capacitor because the
battery induces a positive charge on the positive place of C1, which induces a
negative charge on the opposite plate of C1, which induces a positive charge
on C2, etc.
.. key point for capacitors in series
28

Capacitors in Series (2)
 Knowing that the charge is the same on all three capacitors
we can write
 We can express an equivalent capacitance Ceq as
 We can generalize to n capacitors in series
 If we can identify capacitors in a circuit that are wired in

series, we can replace them with an equivalent capacitance
29

Review
 The equivalent capacitance for n capacitors in
parallel is
=
 The equivalent capacitance for n capacitors in
series is
31

iClicker
Three capacitors, each with capacitance C, are
connected as shown in the figure. What is the
equivalent capacitance for this arrangement of
capacitors?
a) C/3
b) 3C
c) C/9
d) 9C
e) none of the above

iClicker
Three capacitors, each with capacitance C, are
connected as shown in the figure. What is the
equivalent capacitance for this arrangement of
capacitors?
a) C/3
b) 3C
c) C/9
d) 9C
e) none of the above

Example: System of Capacitors (1)
Question: What is the capacitance of this system of

capacitors?
Method:
Find the equivalent capacitance
Analyze each piece of the circuit individually, replacing pairs
in series or in parallel by one capacitor with equivalent
capacitance
32

 We can see that C1 and C2 are in parallel,

 and that C3 is also in parallel with C1 and C2
 We find C123 = C1 + C2 + C3
 … and make a new drawing
33

 We can see that C4 and C123 are in series
 We find for the equivalent capacitance:
34

 We can see that C5 and C1234 are in parallel

 We find for the equivalent capacitance
35

 So the equivalent capacitance of our system of
capacitors
36

Capacitors with Dielectrics (1)
 So far, we have discussed capacitors with air or
vacuum between the plates.
 However, most real-life capacitors have an insulating
material, called a dielectric, between the two plates.
 The dielectric serves several purposes:
• Provides a convenient way to maintain mechanical separation between
the plates (plates attract!)
• Provides electrical insulation between the plates
• Allows the capacitor to hold a higher voltage
• Increases the capacitance of the capacitor
• Takes advantage of the molecular structure of the dielectric material
46

Capacitors with Dielectrics (2)
 Placing a dielectric between the plates of a capacitor increases
the capacitance of the capacitor by a numerical factor called
the dielectric constant, κ
 We can express the capacitance of a capacitor with a
dielectric with dielectric constant κ between the plates as
… where Cair is the capacitance of the capacitor without the

dielectric
 Placing the dielectric between the plates of the capacitor has
the effect of lowering the electric field between the plates
and allowing more charge to be stored in the capacitor.
47

Parallel Plate Capacitor with Dielectric
 Placing a dielectric between the plates
of a parallel plate capacitor modifies the
electric field as
 The constant ε0 is the electric

permittivity of free space
 The constant ε is the electric
permittivity of the dielectric material
48

Microscopic Perspective on Dielectrics (1)
 Let’s consider what happens at the atomic and molecular level when a
dielectric is placed in an electric field
 There are two types of dielectric materials
• Polar dielectric
• Non-polar dielectric
 Polar dielectric material is composed of molecules that have a

permanent electric dipole moment due to their molecular structure
• e.g., water molecules
 Normally the directions of the

electric dipoles are randomly
distributed:
53

 When an electric field is applied to these polar molecules,
they tend to align with the electric field
54

 Non-polar dielectric material is composed of atoms or
molecules that have no
electric dipole moment
54

 These atoms or molecules can be induced to have a dipole
moment under the influence of an external electric field
 This induction is caused by the opposite direction of the
electric force on the negative and positive charges of the
atom or molecule, which displaces the center of the relative
charge distributions and produces an induced electric
dipole moment
55

dipole moment
55

dipole moment
- +
55

Induced Electric field
40

40

E
E
40

E
E Against the external field!
40

 In both the case of the polar and non-polar dielectric
materials, the resulting aligned electric dipole moments
tend to partially cancel the original electric field
E0
 The electric field inside the capacitor then is the original

field minus the induced field
E
=
κ
56

 In both the case of the polar and non-polar dielectric
materials, the resulting aligned electric dipole moments
tend to partially cancel the original electric field
E0
Ed
 The electric field inside the capacitor then is the original

field minus the induced field
E
=
κ
56

Dielectric Strength
 The “dielectric strength” of a material measures the ability
of that material to withstand voltage differences
 If the voltage across a dielectric exceeds the breakdown
potential, the dielectric will break down - a spark - and
begin to conduct charge between the plates
 Real-life dielectrics enable a capacitor to provide a given
capacitance and withstand the required voltage without
breaking down
 Capacitors are usually specified in terms of their
capacitance and rated (i.e., maximum) voltage
51

Dielectric Constant
 The dielectric constant of vacuum is defined to be 1
 The dielectric constant of air is close to 1 and we will
use the dielectric constant of air as 1 in our problems
 The dielectric constants of common materials are
52

Capacitor with Dielectric (1)
Question 1:
Consider a parallel plate capacitor with capacitance
C = 2.00 µF connected to a battery with voltage V
= 12.0 V as shown. What is the charge stored in
the capacitor?
Question 2:
Now insert a dielectric with dielectric constant κ =
2.5 between the plates of the capacitor. What is the
charge on the capacitor?
The additional charge is provided by the battery.
57

Capacitor with Dielectric (2)
 We isolate the charged capacitor with a dielectric by
disconnecting it from the battery. We remove the
dielectric, keeping the capacitor isolated.
Question 3:
What happens to the charge and voltage on the
capacitor?
 The charge on the isolated capacitor cannot change because there is
nowhere for the charge to flow. Q remains constant.
 The voltage on the capacitor will be
V increases
The voltage went up because removing the dielectric increased the

electric field and the resulting potential difference between the
plates.
58

46

Example: Dielectric Constant of Wax
 An air-filled parallel plate capacitor has a capacitance of 1.3 pF.
The separation of the plates is doubled, and wax is inserted
between them. The new capacitance is 2.6pF.
Question:
Find the dielectric constant of the wax.
Answer:
 Key Ideas: The original capacitance is given by
 Then the new capacitance is
Thus
rearrange the equation:
59

Example: Dielectric Material
 Given a 7.4 pF air-filled capacitor. You are asked to convert
it to a capacitor that can store up to 7.4 µJ with a maximum voltage
of 652 V.
Question:
What dielectric constant should the material have that you insert to
achieve these requirements?
Answer:
 Key Idea: The capacitance with the dielectric in place is given by
C=κCair
 and the energy stored is given by
So,
60

49

iClicker
For a circuit with three capacitors in series, the
equivalent capacitance must always be
a) equal to the largest of the three individual
capacitances.
b) equal to the smallest of the three individual
capacitances.
c) larger than the largest of the three individual
capacitances.
d) smaller than the smallest of the three individual
capacitances.

Review - So Far …
 The capacitance of a spherical capacitor is
• r1 is the radius of the inner sphere

• r2 is the radius of the outer sphere
 The capacitance of an isolated spherical conductor is
• R is the radius of the sphere
30

Energy Stored in Capacitors
 A battery must do work to charge a capacitor.
 We can think of this work as changing the electric potential
energy of the capacitor.
 The differential work dW done by a battery with voltage V to put
a differential charge dq on a capacitor with capacitance C is

 The total work required to bring the capacitor to its full charge q
is

 This work is stored as electric potential energy
37

Review - So Far …
 The electric potential energy stored in a capacitor
is given by
 The field energy density stored in a parallel plate capacitor

is given by
 The field energy density in general is
49

Review (2)
 Placing a dielectric between the plates of a capacitor
increases the capacitance by κ (dielectric constant)
 The dielectric has the effect of lowering the electric field

between the plates (for given charge q)
 We also define the electric permitivity of the dielectric

material as
50

1 Wednesday, February 12, 2014

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Wednesday, February 12, 2014

Wednesday, February 12, 2014

Wednesday, February 12, 2014

Wednesday, February 12, 2014

Wednesday, February 12, 2014

Wednesday, February 12, 2014

Wednesday, February 12, 2014

Wednesday, February 12, 2014

 Taking the ideal case of a parallel plate capacitor that has no

 Inserting our formula for the capacitance of a parallel plate

Wednesday, February 12, 2014

 This result, which we derived for the parallel plate

Wednesday, February 12, 2014

… and substituting C=4πε0R gives

Wednesday, February 12, 2014

so we must first find the E field at the surface of the sphere.

Wednesday, February 12, 2014

Wednesday, February 12, 2014

Wednesday, February 12, 2014

Wednesday, February 12, 2014

Wednesday, February 12, 2014

Wednesday, February 12, 2014

 The charge carried by the cloud is 160 C

Wednesday, February 12, 2014

 E is lower than 2.5 MV/m, so no lightning cloud to ground

Wednesday, February 12, 2014

Question 3: What is the total electrical energy contained in this

Wednesday, February 12, 2014

Wednesday, February 12, 2014

Lines represent conductors

Battery provides (a DC) potential difference V

Wednesday, February 12, 2014

Wednesday, February 12, 2014

Wednesday, February 12, 2014

Wednesday, February 12, 2014

Wednesday, February 12, 2014

Wednesday, February 12, 2014

Wednesday, February 12, 2014

Wednesday, February 12, 2014

Wednesday, February 12, 2014

Wednesday, February 12, 2014

Wednesday, February 12, 2014

Wednesday, February 12, 2014

Wednesday, February 12, 2014

Wednesday, February 12, 2014

Wednesday, February 12, 2014

Wednesday, February 12, 2014

 Each of three capacitors has one plate connected to the

 We can write the charge on each capacitor as …

Wednesday, February 12, 2014

 We can now define Ceq by

 A general result for n capacitors in parallel is

 If we can identify capacitors in a circuit that are wired in

Wednesday, February 12, 2014

 The negatively charged plate of C2 is connected to the positively

 The negatively charge plate of C3 is connected to the

Wednesday, February 12, 2014

 We can express an equivalent capacitance Ceq as

 We can generalize to n capacitors in series

 If we can identify capacitors in a circuit that are wired in

Wednesday, February 12, 2014