Capacitance and Capacitors

Capacitance
A capacitor is basically two
parallel conducting plates with air
or insulating material in between. E

V0 L V1
When a capacitor is connected to an external
potential, charges flow onto the plates and create a
potential difference between the plates.
Capacitor
plates build up
+- charge.

V
 +-
If the external potential is
disconnected, charges remain on conducting

the plates, so capacitors are good wires

for storing charge (and energy). +-

V
Capacitors are also very good at
releasing their stored charge all at once.
The capacitors in your tube-type TV are
so good at storing energy that touching
the two terminals at the same time can
be fatal, even though the TV may not
have been used for months.
High-voltage TV capacitors are supposed to have
bleeder resistors that drain the charge away
after the circuit is turned off.
 +Q -Q

+ -
V
The magnitude of charge acquired by each plate of a
capacitor is Q=CV where C is the capacitance of the
capacitor.
Q
C C is always
V positive.

The unit of C is the farad but most capacitors have

values of C ranging from picofarads to microfarads
(pF to F).
micro 10-6, nano 10-9, pico 10-12 (Know for exam!)
Todays agenda:

Capacitance.
You must be able to apply the equation C=Q/V.

Capacitors: parallel plate, cylindrical,

spherical.
You must be able to calculate the capacitance of capacitors having these
geometries, and you must be able to use the equation C=Q/V to calculate
parameters of capacitors.

Circuits containing capacitors in series and parallel.

You must be understand the differences between, and be able to calculate the
equivalent capacitance of, capacitors connected in series and parallel.
Parallel Plate Capacitance

the electric field between two - +Q

parallel charged plates: Q
s Q E
E .
0 0 A
This is valid when the separation is V0 d V1
small compared with the plate A
dimensions.
We also showed that E and V are related:
dr r d
V E d l E dx Ed .
0 0

Q Q Q 0 A
This lets us calculate C C
for a parallel plate V Ed Q d
d
capacitor. 0 A
 Q
Reminders: C
V
Q is the magnitude of the charge on either plate.
V is actually the magnitude of the potential
difference between the plates. V is really |V|.
C is always positive.

Parallel plate capacitance depends

only on geometry. - +Q
Q
0 A
C E
d

V0 d V1
A
Coaxial Cylinder Capacitance

calculate the capacitance of a

cylindrical capacitor (made of coaxial
cylinders)?
L
 l
r r
b b
Gaussian E=
V = Vb - Va = - E d l = - E r dr surface 2 0 r
a a

l b dr l b
b r
2 0 a r
V = - = - ln
2 0 a a
Q
Q l L l L E
C= = =
V V l b
ln
2 0 a d
-Q

2 0L
C=
b
ln
a
C 2 0
Lowercase c is capacitance per unit length:
c= =
L b
ln
a
Isolated Sphere Capacitance

An isolated sphere can be thought of as concentric

spheres with the outer sphere at an infinite distance
and zero potential.
We already know the potential outside a conducting
sphere: Q
V .
40 r

The potential at the surface of a charged sphere of

radius R is Q
V
40 R
so the capacitance at the surface of an isolated sphere
is Q
C 4 0 R.
V
Capacitance of Concentric Spheres

Lets calculate the capacitance of a concentric

spherical capacitor of charge Q

In between the spheres

Q b
E
4 0 r 2 a

+Q
Q b dr Q 1 1
V
40
a r 2

40 a b
-Q

Q 40
C
V 1 1
a b
alternative calculation of capacitance of isolated sphere

b
Q 4 0
C a
V 1 1
a b +Q

-Q

Let aR and b to get the capacitance of an isolated

sphere.
 Example: calculate the capacitance of a capacitor
whose plates are 20 cm x 3 cm and are separated by a
1.0 mm air gap.
0 A
C
d

C
8.85 10 12
0.2 0.03
0.001
d = 0.001
12 area = 0.2 x 0.03
C 53 10 F

C 53 pF

If you keep everything in SI (mks) units, the result is automatically in SI units.

 Example: what is the charge on each plate if the
capacitor is connected to a 12 volt* battery?

0V
Q CV

Q 53 10 12 12 V= 12V

Q 6.4 10 10 C
+12 V

*Remember, its the potential difference that matters.

If you keep everything in SI (mks) units, the result is automatically in SI units.

 Example: what is the electric field between the plates?

V 0V
E
d

12V V= 12V
E E
0.001 m
d = 0.001
r V
E 12000 ,"up." +12 V
m

If you keep everything in SI (mks) units, the result is automatically in SI units.

Todays agenda:

Capacitance.
You must be able to apply the equation C=Q/V.

Capacitors: parallel plate, cylindrical, spherical.

You must be able to calculate the capacitance of capacitors having these
geometries, and you must be able to use the equation C=Q/V to calculate
parameters of capacitors.

Circuits containing capacitors in series and

parallel.
You must be understand the differences between, and be able to calculate the
equivalent capacitance of, capacitors connected in series and parallel.
Circuits Containing Capacitors in Parallel
Vab

Capacitors connected in parallel:

C1

C2
a b
C3

+ -

V
The potential difference (voltage drop) from a to b must
equal V.
Vab = V = voltage drop across each individual capacitor.
 C1
Q=CV Q1
+ C2 -
Q1 = C 1 V a
Q2
& Q2 = C2 V C3
Q3
& Q3 = C3 V + -

Now imagine replacing the parallel Ceq

a
combination of capacitors by a single Q
equivalent capacitor.

equivalent stores the same + -

total charge if the voltage is the same. V

Q1 + Q2 + Q3 = Ceq V = Q Important!
Summarizing the equations on the last slide: C1

Q1 = C1 V Q2 = C2 V Q3 = C3 V C2
a b
Q1 + Q2 + Q3 = Ceq V C3

+ -
Using Q1 = C1V, etc., gives
V
C1V + C2V + C3V = Ceq V
C1 + C2 + C3 = Ceq (after dividing both sides by V)

Generalizing:
Ceq = Ci (capacitors in parallel)
Circuits Containing Capacitors in Series
Capacitors connected in series:

C1 C2 C3

+ -
+Q V -Q

An amount of charge +Q flows from the battery to the

left plate of C1.
An amount of charge -Q flows from the battery to the
right plate of C3. Note that +Q and Q must be the
same in magnitude but of opposite sign.
The charges +Q and Q attract equal and opposite
charges to the other plates of their respective
capacitors: C1 C2 C3
A B
+Q -Q +Q -Q +Q -Q

+ -

V
These equal and opposite charges came from the
originally neutral circuit regions A and B.

Because region A must be neutral, there must be a

charge +Q on the left plate of C2.

Because region B must be neutral, there must be a

charge -Q on the right plate of C2.
 Vab

C1 C2 C3
a A B b
+Q -Q +Q -Q +Q -Q
V1 V2 V3
+ -

The charges on C1, C2, and C3 are the same, and are
Q = C 1 V1 Q = C 2 V2 Q = C 3 V3

V1, V2, and V3 ???

Vab = V and also Vab = V1 + V2 + V3.

Lets replace the three capacitors by a single equivalent
capacitor.
Ceq

+Q -Q
V
+ -

By equivalent, it is meant that V is the same as the

total voltage drop across the three capacitors, and the
amount of charge Q that flowed out of the battery is the
same as when there were three capacitors.
Q = Ceq V
Collecting equations:

Q = C 1 V1 Q = C 2 V2 Q = C 3 V3 Important!

Vab = V = V1 + V2 + V3.

Q = Ceq V
Q Q Q
V= + +
Substituting for V1, V2, and V3: C1 C2 C3
Substituting for V: Q Q Q Q
= + +
Ceq C1 C2 C3
Dividing both sides by Q:
1 1 1 1
1 1 = + +
= Ceq C1 C2 C3
Ceq i Ci
Example: determine the
capacitance of a single
C2
capacitor that will have the
same effect as the C1
combination shown. Use C3
C1 = C2 = C3 = C.

C23 = C2 + C3 = C + C = 2C
Now I see a series combination.
C23 = 2C C1= C
1 1 1
= +
Ceq C1 C23

1 1 1 2 1 3
= + = + =
Ceq C 2C 2C 2C 2C

2
Ceq = C
3
Example: for the capacitor circuit shown, C1 = 3F, C2 =
6F, C3 = 2F, and C4 =4F. (a) Find the equivalent
capacitance. (b) if V=12 V, find the potential
difference across C4.

C1 C2
C4

C3