Electromotive Force

& Capacitance and Dielectrics

Lecture 6
 Electromotive Force (emf)
The energy needed to run a CD player, for
instance, comes from batteries.
Within a battery, a chemical reaction occurs that
transfers electrons from one terminal (leaving it positively
charged) to another terminal (leaving it negatively charged).
Because of the positive and negative charges on the battery
terminals, an electric potential difference exists between them.
The maximum potential difference is called the electromotive
force* (emf) of the battery.
The electric potential difference is also known as the voltage, V.
The SI unit for voltage is the volt, after Alessandro Volta (1745-
1827) who invented the electric battery. 1 volt = 1 J/C.
 Electric Current
The electric current is the amount of charge per unit time
that passes through a surface that is perpendicular to the
motion of the charges.

Q
I .
t

The SI unit of electric current is the ampere (A), after the French
mathematician André Ampére (1775-1836). 1 A = 1 C/s. Ampere is
a large unit for current. In practice milliampere (mA) and
microampere (μA) are used.
 Direction of Current Flow
Electric current is a flow of electrons. In a circuit,
electrons actually flow through the metal wires.
Conventional electric current is defined using the flow
of positive charges.
It is customary to use a conventional current I in the
opposite direction to the electron flow.
 AC and DC
• If the charges move around a circuit in the same
direction at all times, the current is said to be direct
current (dc), which is the kind produced by
batteries.
• In contrast, the current is said to be alternating
current (ac) when the charges move first one way
and then the opposite way, changing direction
from moment to moment. Outlets give us ac
voltage.
 Electrical Resistance
When electric current flows through a metal wire there
exists a hindrance to the flow, known as electrical resistance.
This is because as the electrons move through they will
collide with the atoms of the conductor.
The SI unit of resistance is the ohm (Ω), after Georg Simon
Ohm (1787-1854), a German physicist, who discovered
Ohm’s law, which will be discussed in the next section.
A resistor is a material that provides a specified resistance in
an electric circuit.
Ohm’s Law
 Ohm’s Law

Georg Simon Ohm (1787-1854), a German physicist, discovered

Ohm’s law in 1826.
This is an experimental law, valid for both alternating current
(ac) and direct current (dc) circuits.
When you pass an electric current (I) through a resistance (R)
there will be a potential difference or voltage (V) created across
the resistance.
Ohm’s law gives a relationship between the voltage (V), current
(I), and resistance (R) as follows:
V=IR
 Units

Quantity Symbol Unit Unit

Name Abbreviation
Current I ampere A

Voltage V volt V

Resistance R ohm Ω
Resistance,R and Resistivity,ρ
The resistance of a conductor is directly
proportional to the length since the current
needs to pass through all the atoms in the
length.
The resistance is inversely proportional to
the cross-sectional area since there is more
room for the current to pass through.
The above observations can be combined
and the resistance, R of the conductor is
written as follows,
L
R .
A
 Resistivity of Materials
Resistivity is an inherent property of a material,
inherent in the same sense that density is an inherent
property.
 Capacitors: the basics

What is a capacitor?

• device for storing charge

A
• simplest example: two parallel
E
conducting plates separated by
air
V0 d V1

assortment of
capacitors
 Capacitors in circuits
symbol for capacitor (think parallel plates)

symbol for battery, or external potential

battery voltage V is actually potential difference
+ -
between the terminals
V

• when capacitor is connected to battery, charges flow onto the

plates
- Capacitor plates build
up charges +Q and -Q

conducting wires

+-
- V
• when battery is disconnected, charge remains on plates
 Capacitance

How much charge can a capacitor store?

Better question: How much charge can a capacitor store per

voltage?
Q V is really |V|, the potential
Capacitance: C difference across the capacitor
V

capacitance C is a device property, it is always positive

unit of C: farad (F)

1 F is a large unit, most capacitors have values of C ranging
from picofarads to microfarads (pF to F).

micro 10-6, nano 10-9, pico 10-12 (Know for exam!)

 Capacitance
The capacitance is defined to be the ratio of the
amount of charge that is on the capacitor to the
potential difference between the plates at this point
Q
C
Vab

1Coulomb
Units are 1 farad 
1Volt
 Calculating the Capacitance
We start with the simplest form – two parallel conducting
plates separated by vacuum

Let the conducting plates have area A and be

separated by a distance d

The magnitude of the electric field  Q

E 
between the two plates is given by 0 0A

We treat the field as being uniform Qd

Vab  Ed 
allowing us to write 0A
 Calculating the Capacitance

Putting this all together, we have for the

capacitance

Q A
C  0
Vab d

The capacitance is only dependent

upon the geometry of the capacitor
 1 farad Capacitor
Given a 1 farad parallel plate capacitor having a
plate separation of 1mm. What is the area of the
plates?
A
We start with C   0
d

And rearrange to A 

C d 1.0F  1.0  103 m 
solve for A, giving 0 8.85  1012 F / m
 1.1  108 m 2
Example: calculate the capacitance of a capacitor whose plates
are 20 cm x 3 cm and are separated by a 1.0 mm air gap.

0 A
C
d

C
 8.85  10 12
 0.2  0.03 F
0.001
d = 0.001m
C  53 10 12 F area =
0.2m x 0.03m
C  53 pF

If you keep everything in SI (mks) units, the result is “automatically” in SI units.

Example: what is the charge on each plate if the capacitor is
connected to a 12 volt* battery?

0V
Q  CV

Q  53 1012  12  C V= 12V

Q  6.4 10 10 C

+12 V

*Remember, it’s the potential difference that matters.

Example: what is the electric field between the plates?

V 0V
E
d

12V V= 12V

E E
0.001 m
d = 0.001
 V
E  12000 ,"up." +12 V
m
Circuits Containing Capacitors in Parallel
Vab
Capacitors connected in parallel:
C1

C2
a b
C3

+ -

V
all three capacitors must have the same potential difference
(voltage drop) Vab = V

General concept: When circuit components are connected in parallel, then the
voltage drops across these components are all the same.
 C1
Q1
+ C2 -
 Q1 = C1 V a
Q2
& Q2 = C2 V C3
Q3
& Q3 = C3 V + -

Imagine replacing the parallel combination of Ceq

a
capacitors by a single equivalent capacitor Q

“equivalent” means “stores the same total

charge if the voltage is the same.” + -

Qtotal = Ceq V = Q1 + Q2 + Q3 Important!

Summarizing the equations on the last slide: C1

Q1 = C1 V Q2 = C2 V Q3 = C3 V C2
a b
Q1 + Q2 + Q3 = Ceq V C3

+ -
Using Q1 = C1V, etc., gives
V
C1V + C2V + C3V = Ceq V

C1 + C2 + C3 = Ceq (after dividing both sides by V)

Generalizing: Ceq = i Ci (capacitances in parallel add up)

Circuits Containing Capacitors in Series
Capacitors connected in series:

C1 C2 C3

+ -
+Q V -Q

charge +Q flows from the battery to the left plate of C1

charge -Q flows from the battery to the right plate of C3

(+Q and –Q: the same in magnitude but of opposite sign)
Charges +Q and –Q attract equal and opposite charges to the
other plates of their respective capacitors:
C1 C2 C3
A B
+Q -Q +Q -Q +Q -Q

+ -

V
These equal and opposite charges came from the originally
neutral circuit regions A and B.

Because region A must be neutral, there must be a charge +Q on

the left plate of C2.

Because region B must be neutral, there must be a charge -Q on

the right plate of C2.
 Vab

C1 C2 C3
a A B b
+Q -Q +Q -Q +Q -Q
V1 V2 V3
+ -

The charges on C1, C2, and C3 are the same, and are
Q = C1 V1 Q = C2 V2 Q = C3 V3

The voltage drops across C1, C2, and C3 add up

Vab = V1 + V2 + V3.

General concept: When circuit components are connected in series, then the
voltage drops across these components add up to the total voltage drop.
replace the three capacitors by a single equivalent capacitor

Ceq

+Q -Q
V
+ -

“equivalent” means it has the same charge Q and the same voltage
drop V as the three capacitors

Q = Ceq V
Collecting equations:

Q = C1 V1 Q = C2 V2 Q = C3 V3 Important!

Vab = V = V1 + V2 + V3.

Q = Ceq V
Q Q Q
Substituting for V1, V2, and V3: V= + +
C1 C2 C 3

Q Q Q Q
Substituting for V: = + +
C eq C1 C 2 C 3

1 1 1 1
Dividing both sides by Q: = + +
C eq C1 C 2 C 3
Generalizing:
1 1
OSE: = (capacitors in series)
C eq i Ci
Summary (know for exam!):
Parallel Series
C1
C1 C2 C3
C2

C3

equivalent 1 1
capacitance Ceq   Ci 
i Ceq i Ci

charge Q’s add V’s add

voltage same V same Q

Example: determine the
capacitance of a single capacitor
C2
that will have the same effect as the
combination shown. Use C1
C1 = C2 = C3 = C. C3

Start by combining parallel combination of C2 and C3

C23 = C2 + C3 = C + C = 2C
Now I see a series combination.
C23 = 2C C 1= C
1 1 1
= +
C eq C1 C 23

1 1 1 2 1 3
= + = + =
C eq C 2C 2C 2C 2C

2
C eq = C
3
 Example 1
C3
a
C
C1 C2 º a b

Where do we start?
Recognize that C1 and C2 are parallel with each other and
combine these to get C12
This C12 is then in series with with C3
The resultant capacitance is then given by
1 1 1 C3 (C1  C 2 )
 
C C3 C1  C 2 Þ C
C1  C 2  C3
 Example 2
C
C C C
C
Configuration A
Configuration B Configuration C
Three configurations are constructed using identical capacitors
Which of these configurations has the lowest overall
capacitance? The net capacitance for A is just C
a) Configuration A
b) Configuration B In B, the caps 1 1 1 2 C
are in series and C     C net 
C C C 2
c) Configuration C the resultant is
net

given by
In C, the caps are in parallel and C net  C  C  2 C
the resultant is given by
 Example 3
A circuit consists of three unequal capacitors C1, C2, and C3
which are connected to a battery of emf E. The capacitors
obtain charges Q1 Q2, Q3, and have voltages across their
plates V1, V2, and V3. Ceq is the equivalent capacitance of the
circuit.
Check all of the following that
apply:

a) Q1= Q2 b) Q2= Q3 c) V2= V3 d) E =

V1 e) V1 < V2 f) Ceq > C1

 Example 4
o
What is the equivalent
C
capacitance, Ceq, of the Ceq C C
combination shown? o

(a) Ceq = (3/2)C (b) Ceq = (2/3)C (c) Ceq = 3C

C
C
C  C C1

1 1 1 C C 3
  C1  C eq C   C
C1 C C 2 2 2
A “toy” to play with…

http://phet.colorado.edu/en/simulation/capacitor-lab
(You might even learn something.)

For now,
select
“multiple
capacitors.”

Pick a circuit.
 Reference
University Physics (14th edition) by H.D.
Young & R.A. Freedman, Vol. 2