Capacitance Unit for Capacitance

 A capacitor is a device that stores  One farad (1 F)

electric potential energy and  Coulomb per volt
electric charge.
 Capacitors Calculating Capacitance: Capacitors in
have a Vacuum
tremendous
number of  The simplest form of capacitor
practical consists of two parallel conducting
applications plates. each with area separated by
in devices a distance that is small in
such as comparison with their dimensions
electronic flash units for
photography, pulsed lasers, air bag
sensors for cars, and radio and
television receivers.
 Any two conductors separated by
an insulator capacitor (or a
vacuum) form a Capacitor
 For a particular capacitor, the ratio
of the charge on each conductor to
the potential difference between the
conductors is a constant, called the
capacitance.
 The capacitance depends on the
sizes and shapes of the conductors
and on the insulating material (if
any) between them.
 Compared to the case in which Capacitance of a Parallel-Plate
there is only vacuum between the
conductors, the capacitance
increases when an insulating
material (a dielectric) is present. Capacitor in Vacuum

1F = 1 C²/Nm = 1C2/J
Eo= 8.85 x 10-12 F/m

Example 1
The parallel plates of a 1.0-F capacitor are
1.0 mm apart. What is their area?

Example 2
Definition of Capacitance The plates of a parallel-plate capacitor in
vacuum are 5.00 mm apart and 2.00 m² in
area. A10.0-kV potential difference is
applied across the capacitor. Compute (a)  The equivalent capacitance of a
the capacitance; (b) the charge on parallel combination equals the sum
each plate; and (c) the magnitude of the
electric field between the plates.

Capacitors in a Series and of the individual capacitances. In a

parallel connection the equivalent
Parallel capacitance is always greater than
any individual capacitance.
Capacitors in a Series
Example: Capacitors in series and in
parallel
Let and C₁-6.0uF C2-3.0µF and Vab= 18
V. Find the equivalent capacitance and the
charge and potential difference for each
capacitor when the capacitors are connected
(a) in series and
(b) in parallel

Equivalent Capacitance
 is defined as the capacitance of a
single capacitor for which the
charge is the same as for the
combination, when the potential
difference is the same.
 In other words, the combination can
be replaced by an equivalent
capacitor of capacitance.
 The reciprocal of the equivalent

capacitance of a series combination

equals the sum of the reciprocals of
the individual capacitances.
Capacitors
Find Example: Capacitor Network the
equivalent capacitance of the five-capacitor
network shown.

in a Series