Capacitors

A capacitor is a device that can store electric charge. It usually consists of a pair of parallel plates, often
sandwiching a material called a dielectric which affects the charge storage capacity.

The amount of charge stored depends on the capacitance, , of the capacitor: = where is the
amount of charge in coulombs (C), is the capacitance in farads (F), and is the potential difference across
the capacitor in volts (V).
Capacitors in Series
Not the charge distribution across the capacitors: each capacitor
stores the same amount of charge .
All three capacitors can be replaced with one
equivalent capacitor,
S
.
=
1
+
2
+
3

S
=

1
+

2
+

3

1

S
=
1

1
+
1

2
+
1

3

Capacitors in Parallel
Each capacitor has the same potential difference, , across it.
According to the conservation of charge,
=
1
+
2
+
3

P
=
1
+
2
+
3

P
=
1
+
2
+
3



V

+
dielectric

+
V

+ + +

1

2

3

1

2

3

V
+

3

+
1

+
2

+
3

3

V
+

P

Dielectrics and Capacitance
=

0

is the capacity of the capacitor to store charge
is the dielectric constant which depends on the dielectric used (eg. for a vacuum, = 1)
is the area of each plate, in m
2

is the distance of separation between the plates, in m

0
is the permittivity of free space, = 8.85 10
12
C
2
/Nm
2

Energy Stored in a Capacitor
=
= area under graph
=
1
2

or, since = ,
=
1
2

2

Charging and Discharging a Capacitor
= [1
(

)
]
RC is called the time constant, , which affects how quickly the
capacitor gets charged up. Large RC = longer charging (and
discharging) time.

Example 1: A 1 nF capacitor is set up in series with a 200 resistor and a 12 V battery. How long does it
take for the capacitor to be charged up to 6 V?
= [1
(

)
]

= 1
(

)

(

)
= 1

Take the natural logarithm of both sides: ln
(

)
= (

) = ln[1

]
= ln[1

] = (200 )(10
9
F) ln[1
6 V
12 V
] = 1.4 10
7
s

=
(

)

Example 2: If = 220 and = 14 pF, determine
a) the half-life (ie. =
1
2
).
1
2
=
(

1
2
=
(

)
ln(
1
2
) = ln
(

)
= (

)

= ln(
1
2
) = (220 )(14 10
12
F) ln (
1
2
) = 2.1 10
9
s
b) the ratio of / when = ( = ).

=
(

)
=
(

)
=
1
= 0.37