Topic 4.

- CAPACITANCE AND
CAPACITORS
 Capacitance of a Conductor

Q
C
V
For a spherical conductor
+ + ++++
++ + Q Q
+ ++
+ +
C   4 o R
V Q
++ ++ K
++ ++ R
+++++
A general CAPACITOR

Q
C
V1  V2

The potential difference (p.d.) can

be referred to as ΔV or simply V
The Units of (electrical) Capacity:

The “Farad”
Q
C
V 1 Farad  1 Coulomb/Volt

1 F  1 C/V
 Common types of capacitors

Parallel plate capacitor

Wire Wire

Using Gauss’s law, it can be shown

that:
S
C  εo
l
 Cylindrical Capacitor

2πε ol
C
b
Ln  
a

Spherical Capacitor

ab
C  4πε o
(b  a)
(Both results are also shown by
applying Gauss’s law)
What happens if we insert a “slab” of
dielectric material between the plates of
an isolated* parallel plate capacitor?

*There is no battery
connected to the
capacitor... The
capacitor is “isolated”.
 Eo
E Only if the capacitor is
ε isolated: there is NO battery
(etc) connected to it.

 p
E  Eo  Ep  
o o
As a result:

 1
 p  1   
  
Eo Vo
Potential difference V  l
 

Capacitance
Three practical reasons for having a
dielectric between the plates:
1. To avoid the plates moving together (under the
influence of their electrical attaction)
2. To increase the capacitance

3. To increase the maximum potential difference

permitted before electrical “breakdown”
Capacitors store:
• Charge
• Energy (electric potential)

RAM
 S
C  εo
le
l1 l2 l
le    ...  n Equivalent thickness
ε1 ε2 εn

Se
C  εo
l

Se  ε1S1  ε2S2  ...  εnSn Equivalent surface

4.9.
Combinations of capacitors

CONNECTED IN PARALLEL

i n
Ceq  C1  C2  ...  Cn   Ci
i 1

CONNECTED IN SERIES

1 1 1 1 i n 1
   ...  
Ceq C1 C2 Cn i 1 Ci
4.3.
4.5.
Solución detallada del Ejercicio 4.5
(Solución Ejercicio 4.5)
 Electrostatic energy
Q


q q 1 Q2
dW  dq W= dq 
C 0 C 2 C

Energy stored in a conductor And in various

1Q 2
1 1 in
Ee   QV E e   Qi Vi
2 C 2 2 i 1

Energy stored in a capacitor

1 1 Q2 1
E e  QVa  Vb    CVa  Vb 
2

2 2 C 2

1 S 1 1
E e  CVa  Vb    o  El    o Sl  E 2  Sl  E 2
2 2

2 l 2 2

Energy density 1 2
u e  εE
2
4.15.
 Solution of Exercise 4.15
(a) The charge of the capacitor C1
Q1= C1 V0 = (4  106 F)(35 V)
= 1.4  104
Q1 = 140 C

(b) The capacitor C1 shares charge with C2 and C3

Since C2 y C3 are in series, they store the same charge: Q2 = Q3
This charge is the same as that of the equivalent “C23”
Let us use to denote the final
charge of C1. Conservation of
charge gives:
Equation (1)

The equivalent capacitance:

Since C1 and C23 are in parallel, there exists the same
difference in potential between their plates:

Substituting in equation (1): Q2 = Q3 = 38.2 C

Therefore:
Now we can calculate the final values of difference in potential:
(c) The total potential energy is:

= 1.78 mJ

How does this compare with

the initial potential energy?
4.17.- The figure shows a combination of four identical
metallic plates, each of surface area S, which are situated in
a vacuum. The separation between each pair of plates is d.
What is the equivalent capacitance between A and B?

SOLUTION: