Measuring Effective Capacitances and Voltage across Capacitors

for Series and Parallel Combinations

Abara, Ma. Victoria; Aquino, Mary- Ann; Covadez. Yvonny; Marquez, Ma. Rica Paulene
Department of Physics, University of the Philippines- Baguio
Capacitors are devices consisting of two conducting objects placed near each other without
touching, which can store electric charges. [1] In conducting objects, electric charges readily move in
response to the forces that the electric fields exert. [2] With capacitors, parallel connections result in
additive values (eq. 1) while series connections result in diminished values (eq. 2).
Eq. 1
Eq. 2
When a voltage is applied across a capacitor, the two conducting plates immediately become
charged, one acquires a positive charge and the other an equal amount of positive charge. [1] The amount of
charge, Q, acquired by each plate is directly proportional to the magnitude of the potential difference, V,
between them.[1] In equation form:
Q = CV
Eq. 3
This activity aims to understand how parallel plate capacitors work, to measure effective
capacitances for series and parallel combinations, and to determine voltage across capacitors for series and
parallel combinations.
Individual capacitances of the capacitors were measured using a multimeter. Also, using the
multimeter, and breadboard, the effective capacitance of a series and parallel combination circuit, with
cylindrical capacitors with different capacitance, were measured. The voltage across capacitors for series
and parallel combination circuit were determined using the multimeter, breadboard, a battery, and the
same capacitors.
Table 1 Individual Capacitances of Capacitors
Capacitor
Experimental Capacitance
Theoretical Capacitance
% Error
1
01.22 F
1 F
22.0 %
2
11.75 F
10 F
17.5 %
3
23.11 F
22 F
5.05 %
4
33.52 F
33 F
1.56 %
5
48.18 F
47 F
2.51 %
Table 1 shows the experimental individual capacitances of five different capacitors. The differences
between the experimental and theoretical capacitances of the different capacitors were minimal but can
still affect the effective capacitance of the system as shown in Table 2.
Table 2 Capacitors in Series and Parallel Combination
Series
Series
Parallel
Parallel
Combinations
% Error
% Error
Experimental Theoretical
Experimental Theoretical
1, 2
1.093 F
0.909 F
20.24 %
4.9 F
11 F
55.45 %
1, 2, 3
1.048 F
0.873 F
20.05 %
4.20 F
33 F
87.28 %
1, 2, 3, 4
1.025 F
0.851 F
20.45 %
4.75 F
66 F
92.80 %
1, 2, 3, 4, 5
1.008 F
0.835 F
20.72 %
4.67 F
113 F
95. 87 %
Table 2 shows the total capacitance of different combinations of capacitors in series and parallel
circuit. Theoretically, the reciprocal of the equivalent capacitance of two capacitors connected in series is
the sum of the reciprocals of the individual capacitances [3], thus, the total capacitance is less than any one
of the series capacitors' individual capacitances. [4] In the experiment, the least capacitance was 1.22 F,
thus, the total capacitance of each of the combinations should not exceed 1.22 F as shown in the results.

Theoretically, the equivalent capacitance of two capacitors connected in parallel is the sum of the individual
capacitances [3], thus, the total capacitance is more than any one of the individual capacitors' capacitances.
[4]
The experimental data, however, does not exhibit this principle.
In parallel circuits, the voltage across all capacitors in the circuit is always equal [5]. As seen in table
3, the charges of the capacitors are almost or completely equal with that of the charge of the DC power
source. The total charge in the five capacitors must be equally distributed so that the voltage across all is
similar. In series circuits, voltage across each capacitor varies from each other but when the individual
charges were added, the resulting sum is equal to the charge of the DC power source [6]. When the
individual charges were added, the sum equivalent to 5.05 is almost similar to the charge of the DC power
supply which is 5.30.
Table 3 Comparison of the voltage values measured in the two connections
Combinations
Series (20V)
Parallel (20)
1
1.13
2.54
2
1.02
2.55
3
1.26
2.54
4
0.83
2.54
5
0.81
2.55
1 and 2
1.16
2.56
1, 2, 3
2.90
2.56
1, 2, 3, 4
3.90
2.56
1, 2, 3, 4, 5
5.30
2.56
Battery
5.30
2.56
Ideally, the voltage in each capacitor in the parallel circuit must all be equal, however in this
experiment, the values measured were only almost similar. Also for the series connection, the sum of all
capacitor charges must be equal to that of the DC power source, but the calculated voltage was just almost
similar.
Capacitors are devices capable of storing charges. In this experiment, the capacitances and the
voltages across the capacitors in series and parallel combinations were measured. Due to the presence of a
single capacitor within the connection where the entire charge passes through, the values of the voltage
were measured to be equal in parallel plate capacitors. Moreover, in both parallel and series circuits, the
sum of their individual charges measured was found to be similar to the charge of the DC power supply. In
measuring the total capacitance of different capacitor combinations in series and parallel circuits, the sum
of the individual capacitances should be equal to the total capacitance in the parallel circuit. However, due
to errors committed, the experimental values were different with the theoretical values.
References
[1] Giancoli, D. 2005. Physics Principles with Applications 6th ed. Pearson Education, Inc. USA
[2] Cutnell, J., Johnson, K. 2009. Physics 8th ed. John Wiley & Sons, Inc. USA
[3] Fitzpatrick, Richard. (2007). Capacitors in Series and in Parallel. Data Retrieved from
http://farside.ph.utexas.edu/teaching/302l/lectures/node46.html on March 10, 2015
[4] Series and parallel capacitors. Data Retrieved from http://www.allaboutcircuits.com/vol1/ on
March 10, 2015
[5]The
Physics
Classroom.
(2015,
March
10).
Parallel
Circuits.
Retrieved
from
http://www.physicsclassroom.com/class/circuits/Lesson-4/Parallel-Circuits on March 10, 2015
[6]The
Physics
Classroom.
(2015,
March
10).
Series
Circuits.
Retrieved
from
http://www.physicsclassroom.com/class/circuits/Lesson-4/Series-Circuits on
March 10, 2015