Scribd
Upload
119 views2 pages

Capacitance and Dielectrics

Three parallel plate capacitors are described. A parallel plate capacitor consists of two conducting plates separated by a distance. The capacitance of a parallel plate capacitor depends on the plate area and distance between plates. Dielectric materials can be placed between the plates, increasing the capacitance by their dielectric constant. Sample problems calculate capacitance, charge stored, and voltage for parallel plate capacitors using the relevant formulas.

Uploaded by

Ann Margarette Morales
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
119 views2 pages

Capacitance and Dielectrics

Three parallel plate capacitors are described. A parallel plate capacitor consists of two conducting plates separated by a distance. The capacitance of a parallel plate capacitor depends on the plate area and distance between plates. Dielectric materials can be placed between the plates, increasing the capacitance by their dielectric constant. Sample problems calculate capacitance, charge stored, and voltage for parallel plate capacitors using the relevant formulas.

Uploaded by

Ann Margarette Morales
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
You are on page 1/ 2

Capacitance and Dielectrics Capacitor A= area of one plate in square

with meters
DEFINITION OF TERMS Dielectric d= distance between the plates
in meters
Capacitor C= capacitance of parallel plate
 A device for storing electrical energy that capacitor
consists of two conductors that are isolated
from one another and placed near to one DIELECTRIC CONSTANT
another.
Dielectric
 An insulating material that prevents the flow of
current (K).
 Typically made of materials such as paper,
plastic, ceramic, or glass.
Capacitance
 The capacity of a circuit or component to store
energy as an electrical charge.
 Symbol or SI unit for capacitance is F (Farad)
named after Michael Faraday
Dielectric Strength
 The highest electric field that an insulating
substance may withstand before cracking and
conducting.
Parallel Plate Capacitor
 Two identical conducting plates spaced apart CAPACITOR
from one another.  Both capacitors shown
Polar Molecular here were initially
 A molecule where one end is slightly positive, uncharged before being
and the other is slightly negative. connected to a battery.
Dielectric Breakdown They now have
 Occurs when the electric field in a capacitor separated charges of
exceeds the breakdown voltage of the +Q and –Q on their two
dielectric material. halves. (a) A parallel
Dielectric Constant plate capacitor. (b) A
 A measure of a material's ability to store rolled capacitor with an
electrical energy in an electric field insulating material
 It is the ratio of the capacitance of a capacitor between its two
with the dielectric material to the capacitance conducting sheets.
of the same capacitor without the dielectric
material.
PARALLEL PLATE CAPACITOR
FORMULAS The parallel plate capacitor shown has two
Capacitance C = Capacitance identical conducting plates, each having a
Q = Charge stored in a capacitor surface area A, separated by a distance d
V = Voltage (with no material between the plates). When a
Capacitance Eo= the permittivity of the free voltage V is applied to the capacitor, it stores
of Parallel space a charge.  
Plate A= area of one plate in square Q, as shown. We can see how its capacitance
Capacitor meters depends on A and d by considering the
d= distance between the plates characteristics of the Coulomb force. We
in meters know that like charges repel, unlike charges
C= capacitance of parallel plate attract, and the force between charges
capacitor decreases with distance. So it seems quite
Parallel Plate KEo= dielectric constant reasonable that the bigger the plates are, the
more charge they can store—because the SAMPLE PROBLEMS
charges can spread out more.  1.1. What is the capacitance of a parallel plate
capacitor with metal plates each of area
1.00m2, separated by 1.00mm?
1.2. What charge is stored in this capacitor if a
voltage of 3.00 x 103 V is applied to it?
Given: Find: C and Q

Solution:

COMMON CAPACITORS
Capacitors are primarily made of ceramic, glass, or
plastic, depending upon purpose and size. 2. A parallel plate capacitor is filled with an
insulating material with a dielectric constant of
2.6. the distance between the plates of the
capacitor is 0.0002 m. find the plate area if the
new capacitance (after the insertion of a
dielectric) is
Given: Find: A

Solution:

3. Calculate the voltage of a battery connected to


a parallel plate capacitor with a plate
area of and a plate separation of 2mm if the
change stored on the plates is .
Given: Find: V

Solution:

You might also like