Chapter 13- Capacitors

Example (Parallel Plate capacitor)

A parallel plate capacitor consist

of 2 plates each with area
200cm^2 separated by a 0.4 cm
air gap.
a)Compute its capacitance
b)If the capacitor is connected
across a 500V source, what are
the charge on either plate?

Exercise
A thundercloud of area 1.0 x 10^6 m^2
at height of 800m above earth.
a) Assuming that the clould and the ground
behave as a pair of parallel plates,
calculate the capacitance
b) If an electric field strength greater than
3.0x10^6 causes the air to break down
and conduct charge (lightning), what is
the maximum charge the could can hold?