PHYS 221

Electromagnetism (1)
2nd semester 1446

Prof. Omar Abd-Elkader

Lecture 5
Capacitance and Dielectrics
1,2,3,4.5
 Circuits and Circuit Elements
Introduction
Electric circuits are the basis for the vast majority of the
devices used in society.
Circuit elements can be connected with wires to form
electric circuits.
Capacitors are one circuit element.
 Capacitors
•Capacitors are devices that
Store electric charge
Examples
where capacitors are used :
• Radio receivers
• Filters in power supplies
• Eliminate sparking in automobile
ignition systems
• Energy-storing devices in
electronic flashes

Introduction
 Makeup of a Capacitor
•A capacitor consists of two
conductors.
• These conductors are called plates.
• When the conductor is charged, the
plates carry charges of equal
magnitude and opposite directions.
•A potential difference exists between
the plates due to the charge.

1 q
V
4 0 R
q  (4 0 R ) V
q  CV
C  4 0 R
Section 26.1
 Definition of Capacitance
•The capacitance, C, of a capacitor is defined as the ratio of the
magnitude of the charge on either conductor to the potential difference
between the conductors.
Q
C
V
•The SI unit of capacitance is the farad (F).
•The farad is a large unit, typically you will see microfarads (mF) and
pico farads (pF).
•Capacitance will always be a positive quantity
•The capacitance of a given capacitor is constant.
•The capacitance is a measure of the capacitor’s ability to store charge .
• The capacitance of a capacitor is the amount of charge the capacitor can
store per unit of potential difference.

Section 26.1
 Parallel Plate Capacitor
•Each plate is connected to a terminal of
the battery.
• The battery is a source
of potential difference.
•If the capacitor is initially uncharged,
the battery establishes an electric field
in the connecting wires.
Q
V  Ed  d
A 0

C
Q A 0
C 
V d
Q

Q
d
A 0
Section 26.1
‫مثال ‪ :1-26‬احسب سعة مكثف متوازي اللوحين مساحة لوحه ‪ 2‬سم‪ 2‬والمسافة بينهما ‪ 1‬مم؟ الوحدات!!!!‬

‫‪A‬‬
‫‪C 0‬‬
‫‪d‬‬
‫‪C = 8.85 x 10-12 (C2/N.m2) . 2x 10-4(m2)/ 1x 10-3 (m) = 1.77 x 10-12 F = 1.77 pF‬‬

‫‪Fig 26-3b, p.799‬‬

Fig 26-4, p.800
 Parallel Plate Capacitor, cont
•This field applies a force on electrons in the wire just outside of the plates.
•The force causes the electrons to move onto the negative plate.
•This continues until equilibrium is achieved.
• The plate, the wire and the terminal are all at the same potential.
•At this point, there is no field present in the wire and the movement of the
electrons ceases.
•The plate is now negatively charged.
•A similar process occurs at the other plate, electrons moving away from the
plate and leaving it positively charged.
•In its final configuration, the potential difference across the capacitor plates
is the same as that between the terminals of the battery.

Section 26.1
 Capacitance – Isolated Sphere
•Assume a spherical charged conductor with radius a.
•The sphere will have the same capacitance as it would if there were a conducting sphere of infinite radius, concentric
with the original sphere.
•Assume V = 0 for the infinitely large shell
Q Q R
C    4πε o a
V k eQ / a ke
•Note, this is independent of the charge on the sphere and its potential.

Section 26.2
 Capacitance – Parallel Plates
•The charge density on the plates is σ = Q/A.
• A is the area of each plate, the area of each plate is equal
• Q is the charge on each plate, equal with opposite signs
•The electric field is uniform between the plates and
zero elsewhere.
•The capacitance is proportional to the area of its
plates and inversely proportional to the distance
between the plates.
Q Q Q ε A
C    o
 V Ed Qd / εo A d

Section 26.2
 Capacitance of a Cylindrical
Capacitor
•DV = -2ke ln (b/a)
• = Q/l
•The capacitance is

Q
C 
V 2k e ln  b / a 

Section 26.2
 Capacitance of a Spherical
Capacitor
•The potential difference will be
 1 1
 V  k eQ   
b a

•The capacitance will be

Q ab
C 
V k e  b  a 

Section 26.2
 Circuit Symbols
•A circuit diagram is a simplified
representation of an actual circuit.
•Circuit symbols are used to represent
the various elements.
•Lines are used to represent wires.
•The battery’s positive terminal is
indicated by the longer line.

Section 26.3
 Capacitors in Parallel
•When capacitors are first connected in
the circuit, electrons are transferred from
the left plates through the battery to the
right plate, leaving the left plate
positively charged and the right plate
negatively charged.

Section 26.3
 Capacitors in Parallel, 2
•The flow of charges ceases when the voltage across the
capacitors equals that of the battery.
•The potential difference across the capacitors is the
same.
• And each is equal to the voltage of the battery
• DV1 = DV2 = DV
• DV is the battery terminal voltage
•The capacitors reach their maximum charge when the
flow of charge ceases.
•The total charge is equal to the sum of the charges on
the capacitors.
• Qtot = Q1 + Q2

Section 26.3
 Capacitors in Parallel, 3
•The capacitors can be replaced with one
capacitor with a capacitance of Ceq.
• The equivalent capacitor must have
exactly the same external effect on
the circuit as the original capacitors.

Section 26.3
 Capacitors in Parallel, final
•Ceq = C1 + C2 + C3 + …
•The equivalent capacitance of a parallel combination of capacitors is greater than
any of the individual capacitors.
• Essentially, the areas are combined

Section 26.3
 Capacitors in Series
•When a battery is connected to the
circuit, electrons are transferred from
the left plate of C1 to the right plate of
C2 through the battery.
•As this negative charge accumulates
on the right plate of C2, an equivalent
amount of negative charge is removed
from the left plate of C2, leaving it with
an excess positive charge.
•All of the right plates gain charges of
–Q and all the left plates have charges
of +Q.

Section 26.3
 Capacitors in Series, cont.
•An equivalent capacitor can be found that
performs the same function as the series
combination.
•The charges are all the same.
Q1 = Q2 = Q

Section 26.3
 Capacitors in Series, final

•The potential differences add up to the battery voltage.

ΔVtot = DV1 + DV2 + …
•The equivalent capacitance is
1 1 1 1
   
Ceq C1 C2 C3

•The equivalent capacitance of a series combination is always

less than any individual capacitor in the combination.

Section 26.3
Equivalent Capacitance, Example

•The 1.0-mF and 3.0-mF capacitors are in parallel as are the

6.0-mF and 2.0-mF capacitors.
•These parallel combinations are in series with the capacitors
next to them.
•The series combinations are in parallel and the final
equivalent capacitance can be found.
Section 26.3
 Energy in a Capacitor – Overview
•Consider the circuit to be a system.
•Before the switch is closed, the
energy is stored as chemical energy in
the battery.
•When the switch is closed, the energy
is transformed from chemical potential
energy to electric potential energy.
•The electric potential energy is related
to the separation of the positive and
negative charges on the plates.
•A capacitor can be described as a
device that stores energy as well as
charge.

Section 26.4
 Energy Stored in a Capacitor
•Assume the capacitor is being charged and, at some
point, has a charge q on it.
•The work needed to transfer a charge from one plate
to the other is

q
dW  Vdq  dq
C
•The work required is the area of the tan rectangle.
•The total work required is

Q q Q2
W  0 C
dq 
2C

Section 26.4
 Energy, cont
•The work done in charging the capacitor appears as electric potential
energy U: U
Q 2
1 1
 Q V  C ( V ) 2

2C 2 2

•This applies to a capacitor of any geometry.

•The energy stored increases as the charge increases and as the potential
difference increases.
•In practice, there is a maximum voltage before discharge occurs
between the plates.
Section 26.4
Energy, final
•The energy can be considered to be stored in the electric field .
•For a parallel-plate capacitor, the energy can be expressed in terms of
the field as U = ½ (εoAd)E2.
•It can also be expressed in terms of the energy density (energy per unit
volume)
uE = ½ eoE2.

Section 26.4
 Some Uses of Capacitors
•Defibrillators
• When cardiac fibrillation occurs, the heart produces a rapid, irregular pattern
of beats
• A fast discharge of electrical energy through the heart can return the organ to
its normal beat pattern.
•In general, capacitors act as energy reservoirs that can be slowly
charged and then discharged quickly to provide large amounts of energy
in a short pulse.

Section 26.4
 Capacitors with Dielectrics
•A dielectric is a nonconducting material that, when placed between the plates of a
capacitor, increases the capacitance.
• Dielectrics include rubber, glass, and waxed paper
•With a dielectric, the capacitance becomes C = κCo.
• The capacitance increases by the factor κ when the dielectric completely fills
the region between the plates.
• κ is the dielectric constant of the material.
•If the capacitor remains connected to a battery, the voltage across the capacitor
necessarily remains the same.
•If the capacitor is disconnected from the battery, the capacitor is an isolated system
and the charge remains the same.

Section 26.5
 Dielectrics, cont
•For a parallel-plate capacitor, C = κ (εoA) / d
•In theory, d could be made very small to create a very large
capacitance.
•In practice, there is a limit to d.
• d is limited by the electric discharge that could occur though the dielectric
medium separating the plates.
•For a given d, the maximum voltage that can be applied to a capacitor
without causing a discharge depends on the dielectric strength of the
material.

Section 26.5
 Dielectrics, final
•Dielectrics provide the following advantages:
• Increase in capacitance
• Increase the maximum operating voltage
• Possible mechanical support between the plates
• This allows the plates to be close together without touching.
• This decreases d and increases C.

Section 26.5
Some Dielectric Constants and Dielectric Strengths

Section 26.5
 Types of Capacitors – Tubular
•Metallic foil may be interlaced
with thin sheets of paraffin-
impregnated paper or Mylar.
•The layers are rolled into a cylinder
to form a small package for the
capacitor.

Section 26.5
 Types of Capacitors – Oil Filled
•Common for high-voltage
capacitors
•A number of interwoven metallic
plates are immersed in silicon oil.

Section 26.5
 Types of Capacitors – Electrolytic
•Used to store large amounts of charge at
relatively low voltages
•The electrolyte is a solution that conducts
electricity by virtue of motion of ions
contained in the solution.
•When a voltage is applied between the
foil and the electrolyte, a thin layer of
metal oxide is formed on the foil.
•This layer serves as a dielectric.
•Large values of capacitance can be
obtained because the dielectric layer is
very thin and the plate separation is very
small.
Section 26.5
 Types of Capacitors – Variable
•Variable capacitors consist of two
interwoven sets of metallic plates.
•One plate is fixed and the other is
movable.
•Contain air as the dielectric
•These capacitors generally vary
between 10 and 500 pF.
•Used in radio tuning circuits

Section 26.5
Electric Dipole
•An electric dipole consists of two charges of equal
magnitude and opposite signs.
•The charges are separated by 2a.
•The electric dipole moment ( )
p
•is directed along the line joining the charges from –q
to +q.

Section 26.6
Electric Dipole, 2
•The electric dipole moment has a magnitude of p ≡
2aq. E
E
•Assume the dipole is placed in a uniform external
field,
•
• is external to the dipole; it is not the field produced by
the dipole
•Assume the dipole makes an angle θ with the field

Section 26.6
Electric Dipole, 3
•Each charge has a force of F = Eq acting on it.
•The net force on the dipole is zero.
•The forces produce a net torque on the dipole.
•The dipole is a rigid object under a net torque.

Section 26.6
Electric Dipole, final
•The magnitude of the torque is:
t = 2Fa sin θ = pE sin θ
•The torque can also be expressed as the cross product of the moment and the
field: t  pE

•The system of the dipole and the external electric field can be modeled as an
isolated system for energy.
•The potential energy can be expressed as a function of the orientation of the
dipole with the field:
Uf – Ui = pE(cos θi – cos θf) ® U = - pE cos θ
This expression can be written as a dot product. U  p  E

Section 26.6
Polar vs. Nonpolar Molecules
•Molecules are said to be polarized when a separation exists between
the average position of the negative charges and the average position
of the positive charges.
•Polar molecules are those in which this condition is always present.
•Molecules without a permanent polarization are called nonpolar
molecules.

Section 26.6
Water Molecules
•A water molecule is an example of a polar molecule.
•The center of the negative charge is near the center
of the oxygen atom.
•The x is the center of the positive charge
distribution.

Section 26.6
 Polar Molecules and Dipoles
•The average positions of the positive and negative charges act as point
charges.
•Therefore, polar molecules can be modeled as electric dipoles.

Section 26.6
 Induced Polarization
•A linear symmetric molecule has
no permanent polarization (a).
•Polarization can be induced by
placing the molecule in an electric
field (b).
•Induced polarization is the effect
that predominates in most
materials used as dielectrics in
capacitors.

Section 26.6
Dielectrics – An Atomic View
•The molecules that make up the dielectric are
modeled as dipoles.
•The molecules are randomly oriented in the absence
of an electric field.

Section 26.7
Dielectrics – An Atomic View, 2
•An external electric field is applied.
•This produces a torque on the molecules.

•The molecules partially align with the electric field.

• The degree of alignment depends
on temperature and the
magnitude of the field.
• In general, the alignment increases with decreasing
temperature and with increasing electric field.

Section 26.7
Dielectrics – An Atomic View, 4
•If the molecules of the dielectric are nonpolar molecules, the electric
field produces some charge separation.
•This produces an induced dipole moment.
•The effect is then the same as if the molecules were polar.

Section 26.7
Dielectrics – An Atomic View, final
•An external field can polarize the dielectric whether
the molecules are polar or nonpolar.
•The charged edges of the dielectric act as a second
pair of plates producing an induced electric field in
the direction opposite the original electric field.

Section 26.7
 Induced Charge and Field
•The electric field due to the plates
is directed to the right and it
polarizes the dielectric.
•The net effect on the dielectric is
an induced surface charge that
results in an induced electric field.
•If the dielectric were replaced with
a conductor, the net field between
the plates would be zero.

Section 26.7