PHYSICS PROJECT

BY KRATI PANDEY
XII-B
 CAPACITORS and CAPACITANCE
• The capacitor is a passive component and it stores the
electrical energy into an electrical field. The measure
of the extent to which a capacitor can store charge is
called Capacitance .It is made up of two close
conductors and separated by the dielectric material.
• If the plates are connected to the power then the
plates accumulate the electric charge. One plate
accumulates the positive charge and another plate
accumulates the negative charge. .
• Capacitor gets charged when a battery is connected to
it or when there is a potential difference between two
metal plates of the capacitor.
• Capacitor gets discharged on joining two of it’s plates.
• The capacitance is the ratio of electric charge (Q) to the
voltage (V) and the mathematical expansion is following.
 C = Q/V
• Where,
-)Q is the electric charge in coulombs
-) C is the capacitance in farad
-)V is the voltage between the plates in volts
 
• Capacitance is measured in farads, symbol F. However 1F is
very large, so prefixes are used to show the smaller values:
• µ (micro) means 10-6 (millionth), so 1000000µF = 1F
• n (nano) means 10-9 (thousand-millionth), so 1000nF = 1µF
• p (pico) means 10-12 (million-millionth), so 1000pF = 1nF
  FACTORS AFFECTING CAPACITANCE

• The capacitance is only a function of the physical dimensions

(geometry) of the conductors and the permittivity of the dielectric.
• Permittivity, also called electric permittivity, is a constant of proportionality that
exists between electric displacement and electric field intensity. This constant is equal
to approximately 8.85 x 10-12 farad per meter (F/m) in free space (a vacuum). In other
materials it can be much different, often substantially greater than the free-space
value, which is symbolized eo.
PHYSICAL DIMENSIONS:-
• PLATE AREA: All other factors being equal, greater plate area gives greater
capacitance; less plate area gives less capacitance.
• PLATE SPACING: All other factors being equal, further plate spacing gives less
capacitance; closer plate spacing gives greater capacitance.
• DIELECTRIC MATERIAL: All other factors being equal, greater
permittivity of the dielectric gives greater capacitance; less permittivity of the
dielectric gives less capacitance.
• 
 PARALLEL PLATE CAPACITOR
• A parallel plate capacitor is a
capacitor with 2 large plane
parallel conducting plates separated
by a small distance.
• Electric field inside the capacitor
has a direction from positive to
negative plate.
• For very small‘d’, the electric field
is considered as uniform. For
large‘d’, the electric field is non-
uniform and it bends around the
corners of the plate which is
called Fringing of the field.
EFFECT OF DIELECTRIC ON
CAPACITANCE
• A dielectric is an electrical insulator that
can be polarized by an applied electric
field. When a dielectric is placed in an
electric field, electric charges do not flow
through the material as they do in a
conductor, but only slightly shift from
their average equilibrium positions causing
dielectric polarization.
• If the space between the plates of a
capacitor is filled with a Dielectric, the
capacitance of the capacitor will change
compared to the situation in which there is
vacuum between the plates. The change in
the capacitance is caused by a change in
the electric field between the plates. The
electric field between the capacitor plates
will induce dipole moments in the material
between the plates. These induced dipole
moments will reduce the electric field in
the region between the plates
CAPACITORS IN SERIES AND PARALLEL

• Combined capacitance Capacitors

connected in series:  
 1/C= 1/C1 +1/C2+1/C3+……

• Combined capacitance (C) of

capacitors connected in parallel:  
 C = C1 + C2 + C3 + ...

• Two or more capacitors are rarely

deliberately connected in series in
real circuits, but it can be useful to
connect capacitors in parallel to
obtain a very large capacitance, for
example to smooth a power
supply.
 ENERGY STORED IN CAPACITOR
 Energy is stored in the
capacitor when work is done
to move a positive charge from
negative conductor towards
the positive conductor against
the repulsive force.
 When they store charge,
capacitors are also storing
energy:
 Energy,
   E = ½QV = ½CV²  
  where  E = energy in joules
(J).
 USES OF CAPACITOR
I. The main purpose of the capacitor is to store charge . If an
instantaneous strong current is to be flown in a  circuit ,the best
way would be to connect the terminals of the circuit to a charge 
capacitor.
II. A capacitor can store electric energy when disconnected from its
charging circuit, so it can be used like a temporary battery.
Capacitors are commonly used in electronic devices to maintain
power supply while batteries are being changed. (This prevents
loss of information in volatile memory.
III. They are used in the ignition system of automobile engines to
eliminate sparking.
IV. They are used to reduce voltage fluctuations in power supplier and
to increase the efficiency of power transmission.
V. Capacitors are also used in Scientific Study. Using plates of
different size and shape ,different electric field configuration are
established between the plates and the behavior of dielectric
substances placed in these field are studied.
VI. Capacitors are important components used in electronics and
telecommunication devices for example radio , television receivers
,etc.