CAPACITANCE

CAPACITOR
It is the energy of a charged particle can be stored in
a device
It serves as a storehouse of energy.
It is simple passive device that can store an electrical
charge on their plates when connected to a voltage
source.
It works whenever there is a sudden change in
voltage of an electric component.
TYPES OF CAPACITOR
 CAPACITOR
it serve no purpose when used alone in a circuit.
They are connected to other elements in a
circuit in one of two ways:
 CAPACITOR
The amount of energy stored by a capacitor is
dependent on the capacitance and the voltage of
the capacitor and is expressed as:

1. the voltage between the plates, measured in volts (V)

2. the capacitance of the capacitor, measured in farads (F)
3. the energy stored in the capacitor, measured in joules (J)
 Parallel Plate Capacitor
the capacitance is directly proportional to the area A of
each conducting plate and inversely proportional to the
distance d separating the two plates.

WHERE:
C – capacitance (F)
E0 – permittivity of the free space that
has a value of 8.85 x 10^-12 F/m
A - area of the plates (m^2)
d- distance between the plates (m)
 EXAMPLE
1. What is the capacitance of a parallel plate capacitor
with metal plates, each of area 1.00 m^2, separated by
1.00 mm?
 Capacitance
It is the capacitor’s ability to store electric charge
The stored electric charge Q is proportional to the
voltage V applied to the capacitor of known
capacitance C.
 Parallel Plate Capacitor
2. What charge is stored in this capacitor if a
voltage of 3.00 × 10^3 V is applied to it?
 Solve!

1. What is the capacitance of a parallel plate capacitor with

metal plates, each of area 1.00 m^2, separated by 2.00
mm? What charge is stored in this capacitor if a voltage of
3.00 × 10^3 V is applied to it?
 Capacitance
SI unit for capacitance is farad F.
One farad =1 coulomb per volt (C/V).
One farad is very large and so prefixes are used to
express the smaller units.
1 microfarad µF = 10^-6 F
1 nanofarad nF = 10^-9 F
1 picofarad pc = 10^-12 F
When the capacitance is large, the amount of charged
stored is greater in a given potential difference.
Capacitors in Series connection
Capacitors are connected together in series when
they are daisy chained together in a single line
and arranged side by side each
Capacitors in Series connection
The reciprocal of the total capacitance is equal to the sum
of the reciprocals of the individual capacitance.
adding a capacitor in series decreases the total capacitance
of the combination
This means that the equivalent capacitance is always less
than the individual capacitance.
Capacitors in Series connection
The total potential difference or total voltage is
the sum of the potential differences across each
capacitor.
Capacitors in Series connection
The total charge is equal to the individual
charge stored in each capacitor
Capacitors in Series connection
Since the charge in the equivalent capacitor is the
same for both capacitors, then the potential
differences across each capacitor can be calculated
using:
 Example
The capacitors have values C1 = 7.0 µF and C2 = 3.0 µF, and the
potential difference across the battery is 9.0 V. Assume that the
capacitors are connected in series.
a) Find the equivalent capacitance of the circuit.
b) Solve for the potential difference across each capacitors.
Example
The equivalent capacitance found in
part a is less than the value of the
capacitance in the capacitor.
In part b, the largest value of
potential difference was
obtained for the smallest value
of capacitance.
Notice also that the sum of the
potential differences across the 7.0
microfarad and the 3.0 microfarad
capacitors would be 9.0 V, which is
the potential difference across the
battery.
 Solve!

2. The capacitors have values C1 = 2.0 µF and C2 = 4.0

µF, C3 = 5.0 µF C4 = 7.0 µF and the potential difference
across the battery is 9.0 V.
Assume that the capacitors are connected in series.
a) Find the equivalent capacitance of the circuit.
b) Solve for the potential difference across each
capacitors.
 Capacitor in parallel
Capacitors are connected together in parallel when
both of its terminals are connected to each terminal
of another capacitor
 Capacitor in parallel
The total capacitance is the sum of the
individual capacitance.
This means that the total capacitance is greater
than the individual capacitance.
 Capacitor in parallel
The voltage across all capacitors is equal to
the voltage across each capacitor.
 Capacitor in parallel
The total charge is equal to the sum of
the individual charges.

QT=Q1+Q2+Q3+...
 Capacitor in parallel
the potential difference across each capacitor is the
same as the potential difference across the
battery.
The charge on each capacitor can be calculate using:
 Capacitor in parallel
the potential difference across each capacitor is the
same as the potential difference across the
battery.
The charge on each capacitor can be calculate using:
 Capacitor in parallel
The capacitors have values C1 = 7.0 µF and C2 = 3.0 µF,
and the potential difference across the battery is 9.0 V.
Assume that the capacitors are connected in parallel.
a) Find the equivalent capacitance of the circuit.
b) Solve for the charge across each capacitors.

The equivalent capacitance is larger than

the value of the individual capacitor
Capacitor in parallel
the capacitor with the
largest value has the
largest amount of
charge.
Getting the sum of the
charges for both
capacitors gives the
total charge for the
equivalent
capacitance
 Capacitor in parallel
The capacitors have values C1 = 2.0 µF and C2 = 4.0 µF, C3 =
5.0 µF, C4 = 7.0 µF and the potential difference across the
battery is 9.0 V. Assume that the capacitors are connected in
parallel.
a) Find the equivalent capacitance of the circuit.
b) Solve for the charge across each capacitors.
 Cylindrical Capacitor
A special type of parallel plate capacitor in which the
insulating dielectric layer is rolled up between the
plates.
It is made up of a conducting cylinder or wire of radius a
surrounded by another concentric cylindrical shell of
radius b where b > a.
a cylindrical conductor having linear charge density
+λ is surrounded by a coaxial cylindrical conducting
shell having charge density –λ.
The capacitance of a cylindrical capacitor, depends only
on the geometrical factors like length of the cylinder
and the radius of the two coaxial cylindrical
conductors.
 Spherical Capacitor
A spherical capacitor is formed by
two concentric conducting
spheres.
Let's assume that the inner sphere
has an outer radius r1, charge +q
and the outer sphere has an inner
radius r2 and charge –q.
The electric field is perpendicular to
the surface of both spheres and
points radially outward.
Spherical Capacitor
Capacitor in parallel