Phys222FundamentalsofPhysicsIIS

Dr.Yu
02/06/2015

CapacitorsinSeries
Whenabatteryisconnectedtothecircuit,electrons
aretransferredfromtheleft plateofC1 totheright
plateofC2 throughthebattery.
Themagnitudeofthe
chargemustbethesame
ontheleft plateofC1 and
theright plateofC2.

Section16.8

CapacitorsinSeries(Cont.)
Howaboutthechargeontheright plate ofC1 and
theleft plateofC2?

Chargebyinduction

Theirchargeareinduced by
theleft plateofC1 andthe
right plateofC2.
Alloftherightplatesgain
chargesofQandalltheleft
plateshavechargesof+Q.
Q1=Q2=Q
Section16.8

e
??

??

CapacitorsinSeries(Cont.)
Anequivalent capacitorcanbe
foundthatperformsthesame
functionastheseries
combination.
Thepotentialdifferencesadd
uptothebatteryvoltage.
V1 =

Q
Q
; V2 =
C1
C2

V = V1 + V2 =

Q Q
Q
+
=
C1 C2 Ceq

1
1
1
= +
Ceq C1 C2
Section16.8

CapacitorsinSeries(Cont.)
Q=Q1=Q2=

V = V1 + V2
1
1
1
= +
Ceq C1 C2

Theequivalentcapacitanceofaseriescombinationis
always lessthananyindividualcapacitorinthe
combination.

Section16.8

ProblemSolvingStrategy
Parallel

Series

V1

V2

Q1=Q2

V1 = V2

V = V1 + V2

Q=Q1 +Q2

1
1
1
= +
Ceq C1 C2

Ceq =C1 +C2+

Section16.8

EquivalentCapacitanceCircuitReduction
Example
C23=C2+C3

C1

1/C123=1/C1+1/C23

C2

C1

C23

C3

C4

C123
C6

C45

C6

C5

C45=C4+C5

Ceq=C123+C456

1/C456=1/C6+1/C45

Section16.8

C456

Ceq

Ifweknowthepotentialdifferencebetweena
and
EquivalentCapacitanceCircuitReduction
b,Vab,canweobtain(a)Q=?,(b)Q
123=?and
Example
Q456=?,(c)V1=?,V23=?,V2=?,V45=?,
C23=C2+C3

C1

Ci=Qi/Vi
C2

1/C123=1/C1+1/C23

C1

C23

C3
inparallel:V
1=V2=
C4
C6=Q =
inseries:Q=Q
1
2

C123

C45

C6

C5

C45=C4+C5

Ceq=C123+C456

1/C456=1/C6+1/C45

Section16.8

C456

Ceq

EnergyStoredinaCapacitor
Acharged capacitorcanstoreenergy
Thebattery transferscharges
fromoneplatetoanotherwhen
theyareconnectedtoabattery.
Thestored energyisthesame
astheworkrequiredtomove
chargeontotheplatesdoneby
thebattery.

Wbattery = E store

Howtocalculatethestored energy?
Section16.9

e
e

EnergyStoredinaCapacitor(Cont.)
TheworkWi requiredtotransfer
chargeQi fromoneplatetothe
othermustbedoneagainst the
potentialViofthecapacitor:

Qi Vi Qi

Wi battery = Wi electric = PE i = Vi Qi ;

Thetotalworkdoneby
thebattery :
W battery = Wi battery =
i

V
Vi

1
Q V
2

Section16.9
i

EnergyStoredinaCapacitor(Cont.)
Q

Energystored=QV
Fromthedefinitionof
capacitance,thiscanbe
rewrittenindifferentforms.

Q=CV
V=Q/C
Section16.9

C=

Q
V

Exercise
(a)TheareaofthecapacitorisA andthedistance
betweenthetwoplatesisd.Howmuchitscapacitance is?
Answer:

C = 0

A
d

(b)Whenthecapacitorisconnectedtoa
batterywithpotentialdifferenceV,how
muchtheenergyisstoredinthecapacitor
whenitisfullycharged?
Answer:

1
E = C V
2

Section16.9

Exercise(Cont.)
(c)Ifthebatteryisdisconnectedafter
chargingiscomplete,howmuchthe
energyisstoredinthecapacitor?

Answer:thesameasbeforebecauseC
andQ doesnotchange: E = Q 2
2C

(d)Iftheseparationisdoubled after(c),howmuch
thecapacitanceis?
Answer:

C ' = 0

A C
=
2d 2

Section16.9

Exercise(Cont.)
(e)Ifthebatteryisreconnected tothe
capacitorafter(d)howmuchtheenergy
isstoredinthecapacitor(hereVdose
notchange)?
Answer:
1
11
1
E ' = C ' V 2 = C V 2 = E
2
22
2

(f)Howmuchthecapacitance isandhowmuchthe
energy isstoredinthecapacitor,ifthebatteryis
disconnectedagainandthetwoplatesareconnected
byametalwire?
Answer:C=C butE=0becauseQ=0
Section16.9

Questionaskourselves:

A
C = 0
d

CapacitorswithDielectrics

C = 0

C0 = 0

A
d

A
= C0
d

1
E = CV02
2

1
E0 = C0 V0 2
2

Section16.10

CapacitorswithDielectrics(Cont.)
Dielectricsincluderubber,plastic,or
waxedpaper.
Thecapacitanceismultipliedbythe
factor whenthedielectric
completelyfillstheregionbetween
theplates.
C=o(A/d)=Co =C0 where 1
iscalledthedielectricconstant.

Section16.10

1 => C=CoCo

=3.7 => C=Co=3.7Co

=1 => C=Co=Co
Section16.10

CapacitorswithDielectrics(Examples)
Twocapacitorsinseries:
Q1=Q2;V1V2

1
1
1
=
+
C eq
C1 C 2

C0 = 0

C1 = 1C01 = 21C0
C2 = 2C02 = 2 2C0
C01 = 0

d/2 d/2

C1 C2

A
A
= 2 0 = 2C0
d /2
d

C02 = 0

A
d

A
A
= 2 0 = 2C0
d /2
d
Section16.10

CapacitorswithDielectrics(Examples)
Twocapacitorsinparallel:
Ceq = C1 + C2

C1 = 1C =
1
0

C2 = 2C02 =

1
2

2
2

V1=V2=V;Q1Q2
A
C0 = 0
d

C0

C0

A / 2 1 A C0
C = 0
= 0 =
d
2 d 2
1
0

C02 = 0

A / 2 1 A C0
= 0 =
d
2 d 2
Section16.10

A/2

C1

A/2

C2