Assignment 3

Exercise 1:
Consider a solid cylindrical conductor of radius a surrounded by a coaxial cylindrical shell
of inner radius b, as shown in Figure 1. The length of both cylinders is L and we take this
length to be much larger than b−a, the separation of the cylinders, so that edge effects can
be neglected. The capacitor is charged so that the inner cylinder has charge +Q while the
outer shell has a charge –Q. What is the capacitance?

Figure 1: A cylindrical capacitor

Exercise 2:
let’s consider a spherical capacitor which consists of two concentric spherical shells of radii
a and b, as shown in Figure 2. The inner shell has a charge +Q uniformly distributed over
its surface, and the outer shell an equal but opposite charge –Q. What is the capacitance of
this configuration?

Figure 2: spherical capacitor with two concentric spherical shells of radii a and b
Exercise 3:

Find the energy stored in a metallic spherical shell of radius a and charge Q.

Exercise 4:

Six capacitors are connected in parallel.

a. What is the equivalent capacitance?

b. What is their equivalent capacitance if connected in series?

Exercise 5:

In Figure 3, suppose C1 = C2 = C3 = C4 = C.

(a) Determine the equivalent capacitance between points a and b.

(b) Determine the charge on each capacitor and the potential difference across each in
terms of V.

Suppose now that C1 = C2 = C3=16.0 µF and C4=12.4 µF. If the charge on is determine the
charge on each of the other capacitors, the voltage across each capacitor, and the voltage
across the entire combination.

Figure 3

Exercise 06:
(a) Determine the equivalent capacitance of the circuit shown in Fig. 4.

(b) If C1 = C2 = 2C3 = 24.0 mF. how much charge is stored on each capacitor when V =
35.0 V?

Figure 4