PPC 0065

Electricity and Basic Logic

Foundation in Information Technology


ONLINE NOTES



Chapter 2

DC Circuits: Capacitance






Applied Science Department
(ASD)
Centre for Foundation Studies and Extension Education
(FOSEE)
PPC0065 Electricity and Basic Logic
ASD 1 /7 Chapter 2
2.1 Capacitor

1. A device that can store electric charge.
2. Consists of two conducting surfaces separated by a layer of an insulating medium
called dielectric.
3. Capacitor also known as condenser.
4. Typical capacitor consists of a pair of parallel plates of area A separated by a small
distance.
5. The symbol of a capacitor is



6. Figure 2.1 shows a parallel capacitors plate.














Figure 2.1

a.) If a voltage V is applied to a capacitor, it quickly becomes charged.
b.) One plate acquires a negative (-ve) charges, the other acquires similar amount of
positive (+ve) charges.

7. The amount of charge Q acquired by each plate Q is proportional to the potential
difference ,V:
Q CV =


Where C is constant, is called capacitance of the capacitor.
8. The unit of a capacitance of a capacitor is coulombs per volt(CV
-1
) or farads(F)






PPC0065 Electricity and Basic Logic
ASD 2 /7 Chapter 2
2.2 Calculation of Capacitance
Parallel-plate Capacitors

1. Two parallel plates of equal area A are separated by a distance d as in Figure 2.2












2. One of a plate has a charge +Q, the other Q.
3. The charge per unit area on either plate is

Q
A
o =


4. The electric field between the plates is

0
0
E
Q
A
o
c
c
=
=



Where
0
c (
0
c = 8.85 x 10
-12
C
2
N
-1
m
-2
) is the permittivity of free space.

5. The potential difference between the plates equals Ed, therefore

0
V Ed
Qd
A c
=
=






d
-Q
+Q
Figure 2.2
Area = A
PPC0065 Electricity and Basic Logic
ASD 3 /7 Chapter 2
6. We find the capacitance is

0
0
/
Q
C
V
Q
Qd A
A
d
c
c
=
=
=


2.3 Combination of Capacitors
1. Two or more capacitors are often combined in circuits in several ways.
2. The equivalent capacitance of certain combinations can be calculated using methods
described below:

Capacitors in Parallel

1. Figure 2.3 shows a circuit diagram for a parallel combination of capacitors.

















2. The potential difference across each capacitor in the parallel circuit is the same and
equal to the voltage of the battery, V.
V C Q
1 1
= ; V C Q
2 2
=

3. Total charge, Q stored by the two capacitors is
2 1
Q Q Q + =



Figure 2.3
Q
1

C
1

C
eq
= C
1
+ C
2

Q
2

C
2

V
V
PPC0065 Electricity and Basic Logic
ASD 4 /7 Chapter 2
4. Suppose we replace these two capacitors by one equivalent capacitor having a
capacitance
eq
C . So,

V C V C V C
eq 2 1
+ =
C
eq
= C
1
+ C
2
+ C
3
+ .

Capacitors in Series














1. For the series combination of capacitors, the magnitude of the charge must be the
same on all the plates.
2. Since Q = CV can be applied to each capacitor, the potential difference across each
is
V
1
=
1
C
Q

2
2
C
Q
V =

V = V
1
+ V
2
=
1
C
Q
+
2
C
Q


eq
C
Q
=
1
C
Q
+
2
C
Q

Cancelling Q,

eq
C
1
=
1
C
+
1
C
+
1
C
+ .






C
1

V
2

V
1

C
eq

V
V
C
2

-Q +Q
+Q -Q
Figure 2.4
PPC0065 Electricity and Basic Logic
ASD 5 /7 Chapter 2
2.4 Energy Stored In Charged Capacitors

1. Consider a parallel-plate capacitor that is initially uncharged, so that the initial
potential difference across the plate is zero.
2. Now the capacitor is connected to a battery which supplies it with charge Q, and
slowly it is charged.
3. The final potential difference across the capacitor is

Q
V
C
=


4. Because the initial potential difference is zero, the average potential difference
during the charging process is

2 2
V Q
C
=


5. Then the work needed to charge the capacitor is

2
2
2
QV
W
Q
C
=
=


6. But work done in charging the capacitor can be considered as potential energy, U
stored in the capacitor.

7. Using Q = CV, so

2
2
2
1
2
1
2
Q
U
C
QV
CV
=
=
=


Unit: Joule (J)



PPC0065 Electricity and Basic Logic
ASD 6 /7 Chapter 2
Example 1:
A 12 V battery is connected to a 20 F capacitor which uses a paper dielectric. How
much electric energy can be stored in the capacitor

Solution:
( )( )
2
2
6
3
1
2
1
20 10 12
2
1.4 10
U CV
J

=
=
=


Parallel Plate Capacitor

1. Energy stored in a capacitor can be thought as being stored in the electric field
between the plates.
2. From V = E d and C =c
o
A / d

3. Thus U = C V
2
= ( c
o
A / d )( E d )
2

U = c
o
E
2
A d

Since Ad is volume, the volume occupied by the electric field

4. We obtain an expression for the energy per unit volume or energy density
u
E
= U/Ad,
u
E
= c
o
E
2

2.5 Dielectrics

1. A dielectric is non-conducting material

such as rubber, glass, or waxed paper.

2. When a dielectric material is inserted between the plates, the capacitance increases
by a factork , called the dielectric constant.

3. Consider a parallel-plate capacitor of charge Q
0
and capacitance C
0
in the absence of
a dielectric as in Figure 2.5 (a)












PPC0065 Electricity and Basic Logic
ASD 7 /7 Chapter 2
















4. The potential difference across the capacitor across the capacitor is

0 0 0
/ C Q V = .

5. Notice that the capacitor circuit is open that is, the plates of the capacitor are not
connected to a battery and charged cannot flow through an ideal voltmeter.

6. If a dielectric is now inserted between the plates as in 2.5 (b) it is found that the
voltmeter reading decreases by a factor k to a value V, where

k
0
V
V =


7. Since the charge V < V
0
, we see that k > 1.
8. Since the charge Q
0
on the capacitor does not change, we conclude that the
capacitance must change to the value

0
0
0
0 0
/ V
Q
V
Q
V
Q
C k
k
= = =


0
C C k =

Where C
0
is the capacitance in the absent of the dielectric.

(a)
Q
0

C
0

(b)
V
+
-
Dielectric
Q
0

C
Q

+
Figure 2.5
V
0

-
PPC0065 Electricity and Basic Logic
ASD 8 /7 Chapter 2
Parallel-plate Capacitor

1. Since d A C /
0 0
c =
2. Capacitance for a parallel plate capacitor with dielectric in between is

d
A
C
0
c
k =
3. Table 2.1 shows the dielectric for difference material





















Table 2.1
Dielectric Constant (20C)



Material

Dielectric Constant, k

Vacuum

1.0000

Air (1 atm)

1.0006

Paraffin

2.2

Rubber, hard

2.8

Vinyl (plastic)

2.8 4.5

Paper

3 7

Quartz

4.3

Glass

4 7

Porcelain

6 8

Mica

7

Ethyl alcohol

24

Water

80