Introductory Physics II

Chapter 24
Capacitors and capacitance

Lecture 8 – February 2
Electric field and potential -spherical symmetry
inside and outside

Conductor Insulator

E ~r

~1/r2

R
r
Outline of chapter 24

• Capacitors and capacitance

• Networks of capacitors: series and parallel
• Energy stored in a capacitor
• Dielectrics – what are they and why do we care about them

New concepts
• Capacitor
• Capacitance
• Dielectrics
 Capacitors - definition

Capacitors store charge and energy

Two conductors, insulated from each other, with

charges +q and –q, constitute a capacitor.
 Capacitors
electric field and potential difference

There will be an electric field between the conductors

and hence a potential difference between them, DV.

DV=E d
Potential energy in uniform field
From chapter 23: DU=qEx

𝑉+
d
E
𝑉−
 Capacitance
• If q is increased, then the electric field and DV also increase.
𝜎
𝐸=
𝜖0
• However, the ratio between q and DV remains the same for a
given capacitor. It is a property of the capacitor – the
capacitance.
• The capacitance is defined as
𝑞
𝐶=
Δ𝑉
The capacitance is the "ability" of a system to store charge. If the capacitance
is large you need less voltage to store a given amount of charge.

The unit of capacitance is 1 F = 1 farad = 1 C/V

(named after Michael Faraday)
Inside Capacitors
Variable Capacitors
(old school)
 Parallel plates capacitors

If the distance between the plates is small compared with the width and length of
the plates the field is uniform (with the exception of the edges).

𝐸 = 𝜖𝜎 Electric field near the surface of a conductor (see Gauss’ law applications)
0

+𝜎

𝐸
 Parallel plates capacitors
formula for the capacitance

𝜎
𝐸= 𝜖0
𝑞
𝜎= Surface charge density
𝐴
𝑞 = 𝜎𝐴 = 𝜖0 𝐸𝐴

ΔV = E ⋅ 𝑑
𝜖0 𝐴
𝑞 𝜖0 𝐸𝐴 𝜖0 𝐴 𝐶=
𝐶= = = 𝑑
Δ𝑉 𝐸𝑑 𝑑
 Capacitors and Capacitance
• The capacitance depends only on the geometry of the capacitor and
is independent of q or DV.
• Capacitors in common electronic circuits range usually from 1 pF to
100 µF.
• In energy storage applications they can have capacitances of the
order of farads or more (supercapacitors).

100 F capacitor
Max voltage: 2.7 V
 Charging a Capacitor

When a battery is connected to a capacitor and switch, and the

switch is closed, charge is driven by the battery to the plates until the
potential difference across the plates is equal to the battery voltage.
 Voltage on a Capacitor

• At t = 0 there is no charge on
the capacitor
• At t > 0 there is some charge
on the capacitor
• At t >> 0 the charge on the
capacitor is such that the
voltage across the capacitor
is the same as the voltage
across the battery

𝑞
Δ𝑉 =
𝐶
 Capacitors in Parallel

1. All capacitors in parallel have the same potential difference across each
of them
2. The total charge is equal to the sum of the charges.
Capacitors in Series

1. All capacitors in series have the same

charge.

2. The total voltage is equal to the sum of

the voltages.
 Capacitors in Parallel
equivalent capacitance

𝑉1 = 𝑉2 = 𝑉3 = 𝑉 𝑞 = 𝐶1 𝑉 + 𝐶2 𝑉 + 𝐶3 𝑉 = 𝑉(𝐶1 + 𝐶2 + 𝐶3 )
𝑞 = 𝑞1 + 𝑞2 + 𝑞3
𝑞 𝐶𝑒𝑞 = 𝐶1 + 𝐶2 + 𝐶3
𝐶𝑒𝑞 =
𝑉
 Capacitors in Series
equivalent capacitance

𝑞1 𝑞2 𝑞3 1 1 1
𝑉= + + =𝑞 + +
𝑞1 = 𝑞2 = 𝑞3 = 𝑞 𝐶1 𝐶2 𝐶3 𝐶1 𝐶2 𝐶3
𝑉 = 𝑉1 + 𝑉2 + 𝑉3 𝑞 1 1 1 1
𝑉= = + +
𝐶𝑒𝑞 𝐶𝑒𝑞 𝐶1 𝐶2 𝐶3
 Capacitance of a metallic sphere

𝑄
𝑉𝑠𝑝ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒 =
4𝜋𝜖0 𝑅

𝑄
𝐶= = 4𝜋𝜖0 𝑅
𝑉

R C [F]
1 cm 1 pF
1m 100 pF
6.4 x 106 m (radius of the Earth) 0.71 mF
 Spherical Capacitor

rb-ra =1mm
rb=1m C100 nF (compare with 100 pF for single sphere)
 Summary so far
𝑞
𝐶= Definition of capacitance
Δ𝑉

𝜖0 𝐴 Parallel plate capacitor

𝐶=
𝑑
𝐶𝑒𝑞 = 𝐶1 + 𝐶2 + 𝐶3 Equivalent capacitance – parallel circuit

1 1 1 1
= + + Equivalent capacitance – series circuit
𝐶𝑒𝑞 𝐶1 𝐶2 𝐶3