VELAMMAL

VIDHYASHRAM
MAMBAKKAM

ALL INDIA SENIOR SCHOOL

CERTIFICATE
EXAMINATION

PHYSICS
INVESTIGATORY PROJECT REPORT
2022 – 2023
To Know about what Capacitor and its Applications

Name: SP. Sanjith

Roll No: 12A27
Section – A
Group - CS
 BONAFIDE CERTIFICATE

This is to certify that this PHYSICS Investigatory Project on the topic

To know about Capacitors and its applications has been successfully
completed by SP. Sanjith of class XII(CS), Roll.no 12A27 at
Velammal Vidhyashram, Mambakkam for the partial fulfilment of this
project as a part of All India Senior School Certificate Examination-
CBSE, New Delhi for the academic Year 2022– 2023.

Date: 23.07.2022

Signature of Principal Signature of the Guide Name:

Ms.Jalpa Shreyas Shah Dr. V. MATHIVANAN

Submitted for AISSCE 2022-2023, PHYSICS Practical examination on

………………….

Signature of the Signature of the

Internal Examiner External Examiner

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 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

The success of any project depends largely on people associated with it. I would
like to take this opportunity to acknowledge the enthusiasm of all these
personalities.

I hereby express my heartfelt thanks to our Senior Principal Ms. Jalpa Shreyas
Shah for having given this opportunity to do the project in the Physics laboratory
and for her constant encouragement.

I extend my sincere gratitude to acknowledge my sense of gratitude to my Physics

teacher Dr.V.Mathivanan for the valuable guidance offered to me. His whole-
hearted encouragement and constant stimulant inspiration and advice
enabled me to complete the project successfully.

I am also thankful to all our teachers and Non-Teachers for their help during my
course of study.

I take this opportunity to express my sincere thanks to my parents for their

encouragement and support.

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 INDEX
S.No Contents Page
1 Bonafide certificate 2
2 Acknowledgement 3
3 Introduction 5
4 Uses of capacitors 6
5 Construction of capacitors 7
6 Dimensional formula and unit of capacitance 7
7 Types of capacitors 8-9
8 Capacitor rating and types of capacitors 10-11
9 Factors affecting capacitors and its applications 11-12
10 Mind map of Capacitor and Capacitance 13
11 Some Solved Questions 14-16
12 Bibliography 16

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 INTRODUCTION

ca
Capacitor:

A capacitor is a two-terminal electrical

device that possesses the ability to
store energy in the form of an electric
charge. It consists of two electrical
conductors that are separated by a
distance. The space between the
conductors may be filled by vacuum or
with an insulating material known as a
dielectric

Capacitance:

Capacitance is nothing but the ability of a

capacitor to store the energy in form of
electric charge. In other words, the
capacitance is the storing ability of a
capacitor. It is measured in farads.

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WHAT ARE CAPACTIORS USED FOR:

They are used for:

1. Storing electric potential energy such as batteries.
2. Filtering out unwanted frequency signals
3. Delaying voltage changes when coupled with resistors.
4. Used as a sensing device.
5. Used in the audio system of the vehicle.

One of the conductors has a positive charge +Q and it is at potential +V.

whereas the other has an equal negative charge, -Q and is at potential –V

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Construction of Capacitor:
Most capacitors usually contain two electrical conductors. These conductors are
separated by metallic plates. Conductors may be in form of electrolyte, thin film, a
sintered bead of metal etc.

Dimensional Formula and Unit of Capacitance:

Unit of Capacitance: Farad (F)
The capacitor value can vary from a fraction of pico-farad to more than a micro-
Farad. Voltage level can range from a couple to a substantial couple of hundred
thousand volts.

Dimensional Formula:

M-1L-2I2T4

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Types of Capacitors:
1. Parallel Plate Capacitor
2. Spherical capacitor
3. Cylindrical capacitor

Parallel Plate Capacitor:

The parallel plate capacitor consists of two metal plates of Area, A and is
separated by a distance d. The plate on the top is given a charge +Q and that at
the bottom is given the charge –Q. A potential difference of V is developed
between the plates.
The separation is very small compared to the dimensions of the plate so that the
effect of bending outward of electric field lines at the edges and the non-
uniformity of surface charge density at the edges can be ignored.

The charge density on each plate of parallel plate capacitor has a

magnitude of σ
σ = Q/A

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Spherical Capacitor:
Let’s consider a spherical capacitor that consists of two concentric spherical
shells. Suppose the radius of the inner sphere, Rin = a and radius of the outer
sphere, Rout = b. The inner shell is given a positive charge +Q and the outer
shell is given –Q.

Cylindrical Capacitor:
Consider a solid cylinder of radius, a surrounded by a cylindrical shell, b. The
length of the cylinder is l and is much larger than a-b to avoid edge effects. The
capacitor is charged so that the charge on the inner cylinder is +Q and the outer
cylinder is –Q.

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Capacitor Rating:
The capacitance value of two different capacitors may exactly be the same and the
voltage rating of the two capacitors are different. Let us take two capacitors, one
which has a small voltage rating and other with high voltage rating. If we
substitute a smaller rated voltage capacitor in place of a higher rated voltage
capacitor, the smaller capacitor.
This can happen because of the unexpected increases in voltage. The common
working DC voltage of capacitors are usually 10V, 16V, 25V, 35V, 50V, 63V,
100V, 160V, 250V, 400V and 1000V.

Characteristics of Capacitors:
The properties or characteristics of capacitors may differ from one another. Few
characteristics of capacitors are:

Capacitance (C):
Capacitance is the basic and important characteristic of a capacitor. We measure
it in pico-Farads (pF), nano-Farads (nF) or micro-Farads (µF). Usually, we can
find this value printed on the capacitor body in form of a number or text. Hence,
you can get this value easily. You can see capacitance in the Solved example
below.

Working Voltage:
The total amount of direct current (DC) or alternating current (AC) is applied to a
capacitor without any failure in the capacitor’s whole lifetime. Working Voltage
defines this statement.

Tolerance:
Just like the voltage rating, capacitors also have a tolerance rating. They vary from
plus to minus value.

Leakage Current:
The capacitors Leakage Current is the small DC current flow in the region of
Nano-Amps (nA). Leakage current is a result of electrons physically making their
way through the dielectric medium. It could also be the movement around its
edges or across its leads. Therefore, these electrons can fully discharge the
capacitor over time if you remove the supply voltage.

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Factors affecting Capacitance:
• Surface Area: The surface area of the two plates affects the capacitance
value. Higher the value of the surface area, the higher the capacitance.
• Distance: The distance between the plates affects the value of the
capacitance. Lower the value of distance, the higher the capacitance.
• Dielectric Medium: The type of material separating the two plates called
"the dielectric." The higher the dielectric's permittivity, the higher the
capacitance value.

Uses of a Capacitor:
The capacitors have both electrical and electronic applications. They are used
for several things such as filters, energy storage systems, engine starters, signal
processing devices, etc.

Application of Capacitors:
1.Energy storage:
The primary application of a capacitor is to store electric energy when it is
connected to an electric circuit. And even if it gets disconnected from the
electric circuit, it can consume that stored energy, and it can work as a
temporary battery.

2. Pulsed power and weapon:

Capacitors are specially constructed with low-inductance and high-voltage
functionalities to fulfill massive electric current levels for many pulsed power
devices. These devices may hold electromagnetic gadgets, generators
(especially Marx generators), pulsed lasers, and particle accelerators.

3.Power factor correction Capacitors:

Capacitors are used for power factor correction in various electrical power
supply distribution. Usually, the units of these capacitors are calculated as
reactive power in VAr unit (volt-amperes reactive) instead of farads. The
objective is to prevent inductive loading from appliances like motors (Induction
or electric) and transmission lines to get the load to appear to be essentially
resistive.

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4.Capacitor Safety:
Capacitors are designed and developed to store massive amounts of energy that
could be dangerous if not controlled or handled correctly with precautious
measures. This tremendous energy level can induce disastrous electrical shocks
and even destroy the equipment if the capacitor gets disengaged from the power
source for a significant amount of time.

5.Hold-up capacitor applications

With this capacitor, the charge enclosed by the capacitor usually gives a power
supply to an electric circuit for a short time. Earlier, small rechargeable power
batteries were used to restore the charges. The disadvantage with the batteries
was that they underwent memory consequences and life restrictions so that
capacitors can give a viable alternative. Today, supercapacitors contribute
massive capacitance levels, and therefore it is adequately significant to allow
many circuits to remain powered during times where the mains power is
unavailable. They are comparatively economical and contribute an outstanding
level of performance

6.RF coupling and decoupling applications:

The concepts of RF coupling, and decoupling are designed and developed on
the same fundamental laws as those required for regular coupling and
decoupling capacitors. However, the capacitors used for RF applications should
have their appropriate RF performance. However, the performance may vary for
the capacitors operating at lower frequencies.

Smoothing capacitor applications

Smoothing capacitors are effectively equivalent to decoupling capacitors, but
people often use this term is typically used in conjunction with a power supply.
While receiving the line signal from a transformer and a rectifier, the incoming
waveform is not always smooth. It ranges between zero (starting point) to the
peak voltage (end point). If it is connected to an electric circuit, it can operate as
a DC voltage. A capacitor comes into place to prevent the above scenario and
decouple or smooth the DC voltage.

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Some Solved Example Problems:
1) A parallel plate capacitor has square plates of side 5 cm and separated by a
distance of 1 mm. (a) Calculate the capacitance of this capacitor. (b) If a 10 V
battery is connected to the capacitor, what is the charge stored in any one of the
plates? (The value of εo = 8.85 x 10-12 Nm2 C-2)
Solution
(a) The capacitance of the capacitor is

=221.2 ×10−13 F
C= 22.12×10−12 F = 22 .12 pF
(b) The charge stored in any one of the plates is Q = CV, Then
= 22 . 12 ×10−12 ×10 = 221.2 ×10−12 C = 221.2 pC

2) A parallel plate capacitor has square plates of side 5 cm and separated by a

distance of 1 mm. (a) Calculate the capacitance of this capacitor. (b) If a 10 V
battery is connected to the capacitor, what is the charge stored in any one of the
plates? (The value of εo = 8.85 x 10-12 Nm2 C-2)
Solution
(a) The capacitance of the capacitor is

=221.2 ×10−13 F
C=22.12 ×10−12 F = 22 .12 pF
(b) The charge stored in any one of the plates is Q = CV, Then
= 22.12 ×10−12 ×10 = 221.2 ×10−12 C = 221.2 pC

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3) A parallel plate capacitor filled with mica having εr = 5 is connected to a 10
V battery. The area of the parallel plate is 6 m2 and separation distance is 6
mm.
(a) Find the capacitance and stored charge.
(b) After the capacitor is fully charged, the battery is disconnected, and the
dielectric is removed carefully.
Calculate the new values of capacitance, stored energy, and charge

Solution
(a) The capacitance of the capacitor in the presence of dielectric is

(b) After the removal of the dielectric, since the battery is already disconnected
the total charge will not change. But the potential difference between the plates
increases. As a result, the capacitance is decreased.
New capacitance is

The stored charge remains same and 442.5 nC. Hence newly stored energy is

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The increased energy is
∆U = 11.05µ J −2.21 µ J = 8.84 µ J
When the dielectric is removed, it experiences an inward pulling force due to
the plates. To remove the dielectric, an external agency has to do work on the
dielectric which is stored as additional energy. This is the source for the extra
energy 8.84 µJ.

BIBLIOGRAPHY:-
1)NCERT class XII physics textbook
2)Referred Google for the images and content
3)Referred
https://byjus.com/physics/capacitor-and-capacitance/
To get an idea about Capacitor and its Uses
4)Referred
https://www.javatpoint.com/applications-of-
capacitors#:~:text=The%20primary%20application%20of%20a,work%20
as%2 0a%20temporary%20battery.
To know about applications of capacitance.
5)Referred
https://www.physics-and-radio-electronics.com/electronic-devices-and-
circuits/passive
components/capacitors/capacitorconsutructionandworking.html.
To know about Construction of capacitance.

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