Chapter 24: Capacitance

Exam-style questions
1 a Define capacitance. [1]
A 200 μF capacitor is connected in series with a 4 kΩ resistor and a 240 V power supply.

b Determine the initial current in the circuit. [2]

c Calculate the charge on each plate of the capacitor when the current in the circuit has
fallen to 0 A. [2]
d Calculate the work done in charging the capacitor. [2]
e Explain the energy transfers involved as a capacitor charges. How does this follow
the principle of the conservation of energy? [3]

2 This diagram shows a metal sphere mounted on an insulating stand:

The sphere has a diameter of 40 cm. A positive charge is gradually added to the sphere.

a Sketch a graph to show how the potential changes as the charge on the sphere
increases. [2]
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b Determine the potential at the surface of the sphere when it carries a positive
charge of 200 × 10 −6 C. (ε0 = 8.85 × 10 −12 F m−1) [3]
c Calculate the work done in charging the sphere. [2]

3 This circuit diagram shows two capacitors, C1 and C2, connected to a power supply:
C1 = 500 μF C2 = 800 μF

+ −
200 V

Calculate:

a the total capacitance of C1 and C2 when connected in this way [3]

b the charge on each plate of each capacitor. [3]