EMILIO AGUINALDO COLLEGE

Gov. D. Mangubat Ave., Brgy. Burol Main, City of Dasmariñas, Cavite 4114, Philippines
Tel. Nos. (046) 416-4339/41 www.eac.edu.ph

SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL

GENERAL PHYSICS 2
PERFORMANCE TASK #1.3: CAPACITORS BASICS

GENERAL DIRECTIONS:
1. Read carefully and follow the procedure provided.
2. Do the activity on a clean sheet of paper or the prepared ASNWER SHEET provided in the
activity. (could be a bond paper, pad paper or better yet, a graphing paper, any paper
available).
NOTE: Answer sheet can be printed out but the answer should be in
handwritten.
3. Write all answers and necessary solutions and box your final answers.
4. Take a clear picture/s of your output and compile them into ONE (1) PDF, then submit thru
Brightspace.
5. Only ONE (1) file submission is allowed, under file name: 3rdQ-PT1.3-Surname1, Surname2
6. Not following instructions (from the general directions) will have corresponding demerit of 2
points for each violation even if it is not included in the rubrics provided for the activity.

OBJECTIVES:

1. Students will investigate the how to charge and discharge a capacitor.

2. Students can define capacitor and capacitance.
3. Student can identify the different factors affecting capacitance.

PROCEDURES:
INSTRUCTION: Use your mobile learning device to accomplish this activity. This task involves the use of
an online simulation for you to gather information that you need to answer the guide
questions. Accomplish all the specific steps that follow and refer to the scoring rubric
below in answering the questions.

Part A: CHARGING A CAPACITOR

1. Open the simulation.

https://phet.colorado.edu/sims/html/capacitor-lab-basics/latest/capacitor-lab-basics_en.
html

2. Click on capacitor.
3. Disconnect the capacitor.
4. Connect the capacitor across the battery.
5. All the parameters (plate charges, bar graph, electric field and current
direction) must be selected as shown below
 EMILIO AGUINALDO COLLEGE
Gov. D. Mangubat Ave., Brgy. Burol Main, City of Dasmariñas, Cavite 4114, Philippines
Tel. Nos. (046) 416-4339/41 www.eac.edu.ph

SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL

6. Connect the voltmeter across the capacitor and record your observations below:

What Charg Charge Directio

Potenti Capacita
happens e on on the n al of nce
to the the lower electric
differen
charge on upper plate field
ce
the plates? plate across
the
capacitor
Increase the They both Positive Negative downward 4.5v 0.30pF
battery have charges charges
voltage to positive and are are
+1.5V. negative present present
charges. on the on the
upper lower
plate. plate.
Decrease the They both Negative Positive Upward -4.5v 0.30pF
battery have charges charges
voltage to positive and are are
-1.5V. negative present present
charges. on the on the
upper lower
plate. plate.
Keep the The charges Positive Negative Downward 4.5v 0.43pF
battery got charges charges
voltage at 1.5 increased are are
V and present present
increase the in the on the
plate area upper lower
plate but plate but
it got it got
increase increased
d.
Keep the The charges Positive Negative Downward 4.5v 0.15pF
battery got charges charges
voltage at 1.5 decreased are are
V and decreas decrease
decrease the ed. d.
plate area
Keep the The charges The The lower Downward 4.5v 0.44pF
battery are near upper plate has
voltage at 1.5 towards plate a
V and each other has a negative
decrease the positive charge,
separation charge, but it has
but it has a lot of
a lot of them and
them got near
and got to each
near to other.
 EMILIO AGUINALDO COLLEGE
Gov. D. Mangubat Ave., Brgy. Burol Main, City of Dasmariñas, Cavite 4114, Philippines
Tel. Nos. (046) 416-4339/41 www.eac.edu.ph

SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL

each
other.
Keep the The charges The The lower downward 4.5v 0.09pF
battery are get upper plate still
voltage at 1.5 away from plate still carries a
V and each other carries a negative
decrease the positive charge,
separation charge, but it is
but it is few and
few and far apart.
far
apart.

Part B: DISCHARGING A CAPACITOR

1. Click on the bulb from the bottom of the screen.

2. Make sure the capacitor is connected to the battery and its voltage is 1.5V.
3. Connect the voltmeter across the capacitor.
4. All the parameters must be selected as shown below:

5. Disconnect the charged capacitor from battery and connect it across the bulb and
record your observations in the table below:

What happens to the following? Increases/Decreases/stays

constant
Charge on the plates DECREASES
Potential difference across STAYS CONSTANT
the capacitor
Capacitance STAYS CONSTANT
Energy stored in capacitor DECREASES
Glow of the bulb DECREASES

Conclusion:

1. How can we charge a capacitor?

-An electric circuit can be made more efficient by incorporating a capacitor. On

the capacitor's plates, there is an electric charge when you turn on the power. In this
scenario, one of the plates receives a positive charge, the other receives an
 EMILIO AGUINALDO COLLEGE
Gov. D. Mangubat Ave., Brgy. Burol Main, City of Dasmariñas, Cavite 4114, Philippines
Tel. Nos. (046) 416-4339/41 www.eac.edu.ph

SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL

negative charge.

2. How can we discharge a capacitor?

-Connect the two terminals of the capacitor to a working incandescent light bulb.
be able to resist the voltage stored in the capacitor When the capacitor is
discharged, the light bulb has gone out.

3. What are the ways to increase the capacitance of a capacitor?

-the methods for increasing a capacitor's capacitance using the ff: raise.

Reduce the plate distance and raise the dielectric constant by increasing the
relative plate area.

4. What would be the potential difference of the capacitor if it is connected to a

battery of 3V?
-A charge is applied to the battery, which results in the acquisition of some potential
energy that increases.

5. On increasing the voltage of the battery what happens to the charge on the plates
of the capacitor?
-Increasing the voltage causes a higher charge accumulation, which causes more
attraction between the plates, which causes the springs to compress even more,
increasing the capacitance.
 EMILIO AGUINALDO COLLEGE
Gov. D. Mangubat Ave., Brgy. Burol Main, City of Dasmariñas, Cavite 4114, Philippines
Tel. Nos. (046) 416-4339/41 www.eac.edu.ph

SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL

POINT
DESCRIPTION SCORING RUBRIC –CONCLUSION
S

1 Explanation shows a clear understanding of the concepts.

0.5 Explanation is unclear. No key concepts are cited.

0 No answer or wrong answer.

POINT
DESCRIPTION SCORING RUBRIC – TABLE 1B
S

1 Correct answer.

0 No answer or wrong answer.

POINTS DESCRIPTION SCORING RUBRIC – DATE OF SUBMISSION

-1 1 min to 1 day late

-2 2 – 3 days late

-3 4 - 5 days late

-4 6 - 7 days late

-5 8 days and before the submission week/ completion late

-10 Submitted during the submission week

QF-PQM-035 (02.27.2021) Rev.03