Capacitors in Series and in

Parallel
Since the capacitors are in parallel, they have the
same voltage V across their plates. However, the
capacitors contain different amounts of charge. The
charge stored by a capacitor is

q=CV, so q
1
=C
1
V and q
2
=C
2
V.

It is always possible to replace a parallel combination
of capacitors with an equivalent capacitor that stores
the same charge and energy for a given voltage as
the combination does.

20.12 Capacitors in Series and Parallel
Parallel capacitors
+ + + =
3 2 1
C C C C
P
( )V C C V C V C q q q
2 1 2 1 2 1
+ = + = + =
To determine the equivalent capacitance C
P,
note that
the total charge q stored by the two capacitors is

q=q
1
+ q
2
= C
1
V + C
2
V = (C
1
+ C
2
) V = C
P
V

For any number of capacitors in parallel, the
equivalent capacitance is

C
P
= C
1
+ C
2
+ C
3
+

The equivalent capacitor not only stores the same
amount of charge as the parallel combination of
capacitors, but also stores the same amount of
energy.
For instance, the energy stored in a single capacitor is
CV
2
, so the total energy stored by two capacitors in
parallel is

Total energy = C
1
V
2
+ C
2
V
2
= (C
1
+ C
2
) V
2
=
C
P
V
2


which is equal to the energy stored in the equivalent
capacitor C
P
.
All capacitors in series, regardless of their
capacitances, contain charges of the same
magnitude, +q and q, on their plates.

The equivalent capacitance C
S
for the series
connection can be determined by observing that the
battery voltage V is shared by the two capacitors.

The drawing indicates that the voltages across C
1
and
C
2
are V
1
and V
2
, so that V = V
1
+ V
2
.
20.12 Capacitors in Series and Parallel
|
|
.
|

\
|
+ = + = + =
2 1 2 1
2 1
1 1
C C
q
C
q
C
q
V V V
Series capacitors
+ + + =
3 2 1
1 1 1 1
C C C C
S
Since the voltages across the capacitors are V
1
= q/C
1

and V
2
= q/C
2
, we find that

V = V
1
+ V
2
= q/C
1
+ q/C
2
= q (1/C
1
+ 1/C
2
) = q(1/C
s
)

For any number of capacitors connected in series the
equivalent capacitance is given by

1/C
s
= 1/C
1
+ 1/C
2
+ 1/C
3
+

Capacitance
A capacitor is a system of conductors that stores energy in the form
of an electric field between the charges.
The average potential difference V
ave
during the charge transfer is:
V
ave
= (V
f
+ V
i
)/2 but V
i
= 0
V
ave
= 1/2V
Since the total charge transferred is Q, the work done W is the
product of Q and the ave p.d. V

namely, W = Q V
ave
= Q V
(energy of charged capacitor)
Capacitors in Series
- charge Q is constant; 1/C
T
= 1/C
1
+ 1/C
2
+ . . .
- work W = Q
2
/2C
Capacitors in Parallel
-voltage is constant: C
T
= C
1
+ C
2
+ . . .
- Work W = CV
2


Sample Problem
Three capacitors (4.0, 6.0, and 12.0 F)
are connected in series across a 50.0-
V battery. Find the voltage across the
4.0-F capacitor.
Answer:
1/C
s
= 1/C
1
+ 1/C
2
+ 1/C
3
1/C
s
= 1/4.0F + 1/6.0F+ 1/12.0F

= 2F
q = V
T
C
s

= 50.0V (2F)
= 1 x 10
-4
C
V
1
= q/C
1

= 1 x 10
-4
C/4.0F
= 25.0 V

Capacitors in Series and in Parallel
1. Three parallel plate capacitors, each having a
capacitance of 1.0 F are connected in parallel.
The potential difference across the combination is
100 V. What is the equivalent capacitance of this
combination?
Soln:
C
T
= C
1
+ C
2
+ C
3
= 3 (1.0 F) = 3.0 F
2. If the three capacitors in # 1 are connected in
series, find the equivalent capacitance
Soln:
C
T
= C/3 = 1.0 F/3 = 0.33 F
Seatwork
1. If a 4-F capacitor and an 8-F capacitor are connected
in parallel, which has the a) larger p.d. across it? b) larger
charge?
2. If a 4-F capacitor and an 8-F capacitor are connected
a) in series, which has the greater amount of stored energy?
b) What if the capacitors are connected in parallel?
3. A 3.0-F capacitor is connected in series with a 4.0-F
capacitor and a 48-V battery. What quantity of charge is
supplied by the battery to charge the capacitors?
4. When two capacitors are connected in series, the
equivalent capacitance of the combination is 100 F.
When the two are connected in parallel, however, the
equivalent capacitance is 450 F. What are the
capacitances of the individual capacitors?
Seatwork
4. When two capacitors are connected in series, the
equivalent capacitance of the combination is 100 F.
When the two are connected in parallel, however, the
equivalent capacitance is 450 F. What are the
capacitances of the individual capacitors?

5. Three parallel plate capacitors, each having a
capacitance of 1.0 F are connected in parallel.
The potential difference across the combination is 100 V.
What is the charge on any one of the capacitors.
Answers
1. V is the same; Q is more on the 8-F
capacitor. V is constant and Q C.

2. W is greater for the 4-F capacitor. In
series, Q is constant and W 1/C.
W is greater for the 8-F capacitor. In
parallel, V is constant, and W C.

RC Circuit
It can be shown that the magnitude q of the charge
on the plates at time t is


The voltage V across the capacitor at any time can
be obtained by dividing the charges q and q
0
by the
capacitance C, since V = q/C and V
0
= q
0
/C.

The term RC in the exponent is called the time
constant of the circuit:

= RC

Assuming that the capacitor has a charge q
0
at
time t = 0 s when the switch is closed, it can be
shown that


where q is the amount of charge remaining on
either plate at time t.
20.13 RC Circuits
Capacitor charging
| |
RC t
o
e q q

= 1
RC = t
time constant
20.13 RC Circuits
Capacitor discharging
RC t
o
e q q

=
RC = t
time constant
20.13 RC Circuits
RC Circuit
Circuits in which a capacitor is charged up
through a resistor are called resistance
capacitance (RC) circuits. The time constant
is a measure of how long the capacitor takes
to charge up to 0.63 of its maximum value.
Time constant t = RC
The units of the equation are:
Seconds = ohms x farads
RC circuits are used to make a time delay in
electronic circuits. The larger the value of
RC, the longer the time delay.
Q-1 Determine the time constant for a 10 uF
capacitor and a 500 k resistor connected in
series.

Answer
Soln: + -
10 F R = 500 k


G: C = 10 F; R = 500 k; t = ?
t = RC = (500 k)(10 F)
= (5 x 10
5
)(1 x 10
-5
F)
= 5 seconds