Chapter 23 Lecture In this lecture you’ll learn

• About the concept of

capacitance and capacitors
– How to find the energy
stored in a capacitor
– How to find the equivalent
Electrostatic Energy capacitance of parallel
and series capacitor
and Capacitors combinations
• How all electric fields contain
stored energy

Slide 23-1 Slide 23-2

Capacitors Parallel-Plate Capacitors

• A capacitor
p is a p
pair of conductors, insulated from each other, • If the p
plates are veryy close together,
g the
and used to store charge and energy. electric field is nearly uniform between the
– The two conductors are given equal but opposite charges. plates and zero elsewhere
– The
Th workk used d iin separating
i charge
h iis stored
d as • The magnitude of the field between the
electrostatic energy in the capacitor. plates is:  Q
E 
• Capacitance is defined as the ratio of the 0 0 A
magnitude of the charge on either • The potential difference between plates is:
conductor to the potential difference Q
b t
between the
th conductors:
d t V  Ed  d
0 A
C = Q/V • The capacitance is then
– SI unit: 1 F (Farad) = 1 C/V Q 0 A
C 
– More commonly used units are F = V d
10-6 F, nF = 10-9 F, and pF = 10-12 F • The capacitance increases as the plates become larger and the
C
Circuit symbol:
– Capacitance depends on the geometric separation decreases – this is a property that is common to all
arrangement of the conductors only capacitors
Slide 23-3 Slide 23-4
 Example Clicker Question
Calculate the capacitance of a parallel-plate
parallel plate capacitor whose
plates are 20 cm x 20 cm and are separated by a 1.0 mm air An isolated parallel-plate capacitor has charge Q and potential
gap. difference V. The pplates are p
pulled apart
p slightly.
g y Which of the
following is correct?
0 A
C
d A. Charge Q increases


8.85 10   0.2  0.2 F
12
B. Capacitance C increases
0.001 d = 0.001 m C. Electric field E increases
10 area = 0.2 x 0.2 m2 D. Potential difference V between plates increases
 3.5  10 F
 350 pF E
E. None of these

Slide 23-5 Slide 23-6

Charging Capacitors Clicker Question

• Batteryy has fixed electric p
potential
difference across its terminals
• Conducting plates are connected A parallel-plate capacitor is connected a battery. If we double the
plate separation,
separation
to battery terminals by conducting
wires.
• Electrons
El t move A. Th
A The capacitance
it iis d
doubled
bl d
– from negative battery terminal B. The electric field is doubled
to -Q plate C. The p
potential difference is
halved
– from +Q plate to positive D. The charge on each plate is
y terminal
battery halved
• Capacitor is fully charged when E. None of these
Vplates = Vbatteryy across plates
• Charging capacitor requires work,
which is supplied by the battery Slide 23-7 Slide 23-8
 Energy Stored in a Capacitor Clicker Question
• Charging a capacitor involves transferring charge between the
initially neutral plates.
Which one of the following will produce greater energy stored in
– The work dW involved in moving charge dq across the a capacitor?
p
potential difference between the plates, V, is
dW  Vdq  qdq C
A. A capacitor with twice the capacitance and the same
– The total work involved in building up working voltage.
charge Q on the capacitor is then: B. A capacitor with twice the working voltage and the same
Q q Q2 capacitance.
capacitance
W  0 dq 
C 2C C. A capacitor with half the capacitance and twice the working
– The work done becomes the voltage.
electrostatic energy stored in the
capacitor:
Q2 1 1 dq
 QV  C  V 
2
U
2C 2 2
Slide 23-9 Slide 23-10

Clicker Question Capacitor with Dielectric

• A dielectric is an insulator that, when placed
between the plates of a capacitor, increases
the capacitance.
An isolated parallel-plate capacitor has charge Q and potential
difference V. The plates are pulled apart slightly. What • The electric dipoles in the dielectric tend to
happens to the energy stored in the capacitor? align themselves parallel to the electric field
created by the charges on the conductors.
• The induced charge on the surface of the
dielectric creates an electric field opposite to
A. Increases
the electric field due to the free charges on
B. Decreases the conductors, thereby reducing the field
C. Stays the same between them.
• The reduction in the electric field and
potential difference from the initial value E0
and V0 is characterized by the dielectric E  E0  Eind 
E0
constant  of the dielectricE = E0/, V = 
V0/.
Slide 23-11 Slide 23-12
 The Effect of Dielectrics Clicker Question
• The dielectric increases the capacitance:
p C = C0 , where C0 is
the capacitance without dielectric
 A An air-filled parallel plate-capacitor is connected to a battery
• For a parallel plate capacitor with dielectric: C   0
d until charged,
g , then disconnected from the battery. y Now a slab
• A dielectric also provides the following:
f of dielectric material is placed between the plates of the
– An increase in maximum operating voltage capacitor. Which of the following is correct?
– Mechanical support between the plates,
plates which allows the
plates to be close together without touching, thereby
decreasing d and increasing C
A.
A The charge on the capacitor increases
B. The voltage across the capacitor increases
C. gy stored in the capacitor
The energy p decreases
D. None of the above

Slide 23-13 Slide 23-14

Capacitors in Parallel Capacitors in Series

• The p
potential difference across • The charge
g on each capacitor
p
each capacitor is the same: connected in series is the same:
V1  V2  V Q1  Q2  Q
• The total charge is the sum of • The total potential difference across
charges on individual the combination is split between the
capacitors: capacitors:
Qtot  Q1  Q2 Vtot  V1  V2
• Th
The capacitors
it are equivalent
i l t Q Q Q
  
to a single capacitor with Ceq C1 C2
capacitance Ceq: • The equivalent
q capacitance
p is g
given
Qtot  Ceq V  Q1  Q2  C1V  C 2 V by: 1 1 1
 
 C eq  C1  C 2 Ceqq C1 C2
– The equivalent capacitance of a parallel combination is – The equivalent capacitance of a series combination is
always greater than any of the individual capacitances always smaller than any of the individual capacitances
Slide 23-15 Slide 23-16
Clicker Question Clicker Question
Two capacitors are connected to a battery as shown. Given A 12 F
F capacitor and 6 FF a capacitor are connected
C1 = 1 F, C2 = 2 F, and V = 3V, find the ratio of the together as shown. If the charge on the 12 F capacitor is
potential difference across the two capacitors, V1/ V2. 24 
C. What is the charge
g on the 6 
F capacitor?
p
a

A.
A 3
B. 2
C
C. 1
D. 1/2
E. 1/3
V

Slide 23-17 Slide 23-18

Clicker Question Analyzing a Circuit of Capacitors

A capacitor having,
ha ing C1, is connected to a battery
batter until
ntil charged,
charged • To analyze a circuit with several
then disconnected from the battery. A second capacitor, C2, is capacitors, look for series and
connected in parallel to the first capacitor. Which statements parallel combinations.
p
below are true? – Calculate the equivalent
capacitances, and redraw the
1. Charge on C1 decreases.
1 decreases circuit
i it iin simpler
i l fform.
2. Total charge on C1 and C2 is the same as the original Q.
3. The total energy
gy stored in both capacitors
p is the same as
the original energy stored in C1.
4. The potential difference across C1 decreases.
5. All of the above.
6. Only 1, 2, and 3 are true.
7 Only 1
7. 1, 2
2, and 4 are true
true.

Slide 23-19 Slide 23-20

 Clicker Question Clicker Question
Rank in order, from largest to smallest, the equivalent
capacitance (Ceq)a to (Ceq)d of circuits a to d. Determine the equivalent capacitance CAB for the circuit.

1. (Ceq)a > (Ceq)b = (Ceq)c > (Ceq)d

2 (Ceq)b > (Ceq)a = (Ceq)d > (Ceq)c
2. 1. C/4
2. C/2
3. (Ceq)c > (Ceq)a = (Ceq)d > (Ceq)b 3. C
4 (Ceq)d > (Ceq)b = (Ceq)c > (Ceq)a
4. 4
4. 2C
5. 4C
5. (Ceq)d > (Ceq)b > (Ceq)a > (Ceq)c
Slide 23-21 Slide 23-22

Energy in the Electric Field Summary

• Creating
g a distribution of electric charge g requires
q work, which is
• The
Th energy stored
t d ini a parallel-plate
ll l l t capacitor
it iis given
i b
by: stored as electrostatic energy.
1 1 A 2 1  • The energy resides in the electric field E with the electric
U  C  V    0   Ed     0 E 2   Ad 
2
2 2 d  energy density given by u E  12  0 E 2
2 
• A capacitor is a pair of insulated conductors used to store
• The energy
gy p
per unit volume,, called the energy
gy density,
y, is charge
g and energy. gy
energy 1 – A capacitor is characterized by its capacitance, the ratio of
uE   0E2 charge to potential difference: C = Q/V.
volume 2
– The energy stored in a capacitor charged to voltage V is
– This is a universal result that holds true for any electric
Q2 1 1
 QV  C  V 
2
field U
2C 2 2
– The energy density in any electric field is proportional to
the square of the magnitude of the electric field at a given – Capacitors may be connected in parallel or series to achieve
point equivalent
q capacitances
p of any
y desired value:
1 1 1 1
Cparallel  C1  C2  C3     
Slide 23-23
Cseries C1 C2 C3 Slide 23-24