Chapter 26

Capacitance
and
Dielectrics
Capacitors
 Capacitors are devices that store
electric charge
 Examples of where capacitors are used
include:
 radio receivers
 filters in power supplies
 energy-storing devices in electronic flashes
 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)
 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
More About Capacitance
 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 farad is a large unit, typically you will see
microfarads (mF) and picofarads (pF)
Parallel Plate Capacitor
 Each plate is
connected to a
terminal of the
battery
 If the capacitor is
initially uncharged,
the battery
establishes an
electric field in the
connecting wires
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
Parallel Plate Capacitor, final
 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
Capacitance – Isolated
Sphere
 Assume a spherical charged conductor
 Assume V = 0 at infinity
Q Q R
C    4πεoR
V keQ / R ke
 Note, this is independent of the charge
and the potential difference
Capacitance – Parallel Plates
 The charge density on the plates is
σ = Q/A
 A is the area of each plate, which are equal
 Q is the charge on each plate, equal with
opposite signs
 The electric field is uniform between the
plates and zero elsewhere
Capacitance – Parallel Plates,
cont.
 The capacitance is proportional to the
area of its plates and inversely
proportional to the distance between the
plates
Q Q Q εo A
C   
V Ed Qd / εo A d
Parallel Plate Assumptions

 The assumption that the electric field is uniform is

valid in the central region, but not at the ends of the
plates
 If the separation between the plates is small
compared with the length of the plates, the effect of
the non-uniform field can be ignored
 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 to electric
potential energy
Energy in a Capacitor –
Overview, cont
 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
Capacitance of a Cylindrical
Capacitor
 From Gauss’s Law,
the field between
the cylinders is
E = 2ke / r
 V = -2ke ln (b/a)
 The capacitance
becomes
Q
C 
V 2ke ln  b / a 
Capacitance of a Spherical
Capacitor
 The potential
difference will be
 1 1
V  keQ   
b a
 The capacitance will
be
Q ab
C 
V ke  b  a 
 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
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
Capacitors in Parallel, 2
 The flow of charges ceases when the voltage
across the capacitors equals that of the
battery
 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
 Qtotal = Q1 + Q2
 The potential difference across the capacitors
is the same
 And each is equal to the voltage of the battery
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
Capacitors in Parallel, final
 Ceq = C1 + C2 + …
 The equivalent capacitance of a parallel
combination of capacitors is greater
than any of the individual capacitors
 Essentially, the areas are combined
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
 Capacitors in Series, 2
 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
 Capacitors in
Series, 3
 An equivalent capacitor
can be found that performs
the same function as the
series combination
 The potential differences
add up to the battery
voltage
Capacitors in Series, final
Q = Q1 + Q2 + …
ΔV = V1 + V2 + …
1 1 1
  
Ceq C1 C2
 The equivalent capacitance of a series
combination is always less than any
individual capacitor in the combination
 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
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 total work required is
Q q Q2
W  dq 
0 C 2C
Energy, cont
 The work done in charging the capacitor
appears as electric potential energy U:
Q2 1 1
U  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
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
 Capacitors with Dielectrics
 A dielectric is a nonconducting material
that, when placed between the plates of
a capacitor, increases the capacitance
 Dielectrics include rubber, plastic, and
waxed paper
 For a parallel-plate capacitor, C = κCo =
κεo(A/d)
 The capacitance is multiplied by the factor
κ when the dielectric completely fills the
region between the plates
Geometry of Some Capacitors