PHYS 122:

Electricity and Magnetism,

Vibrations and waves

LECTURE 5: CAPACITOR AND DIELECTRICS

1
Capacitance and
Dielectrics
Lecture Outline
❖ Definition of Capacitance
❖ Calculating Capacitance
❖ Combinations of Capacitors
❖ Energy Stored in a Charged capacitor
❖ Capacitors with Dielectrics
❖ Molecular model of induced charges

2
 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 magnitude of the potential difference
between the conductors:

Because the potential difference increases linearly with the stored charge,
the ratio Q / Δ V is constant for a given capacitor.

The SI unit of capacitance is the farad

(F),

1 farad is a very large unit. It is much more common to use the

following:
mF = 10-3 F
μF = 10-6 F
nF = 10-9 F
pF = 10-12 F 3
 Calculating Capacitance

The capacitance of an isolated charged sphere

This expression shows that the capacitance of an isolated charged sphere is

proportional to its radius and is independent of both the charge on the
sphere and the potential difference.

4
 Parallel-Plate Capacitors
Two parallel metallic plates of equal area A are separated by a distance d,
One plate carries a charge Q , and the other carries a charge -Q .

That is, the capacitance of a parallel-plate

capacitor is proportional to the area of its plates
and inversely proportional to the plate
separation

5
Example 1: Parallel-Plate Capacitor

6
Capacitance for Other Geometrical Shapes
• From the first equation of capacitance Q = CV, we can find the capacitance for capacitors
with different geometrical shapes. The table below shows the capacitance of various
geometrically shaped capacitors.

PHYSICS - MUST - 2017 7

 Combinations of Capacitors
Parallel Combination

• The individual potential differences across capacitors connected in parallel are the
same and are equal to the potential difference applied across the combination.

• The total charge on capacitors connected in parallel is the sum of the charges on the
individual capacitors

for the equivalent capacitor

8
 If we extend this treatment to three or more capacitors connected in
parallel, we find the equivalent capacitance to be

Thus, the equivalent

capacitance of a parallel
combination of capacitors is
the algebraic sum of the
individual capacitances and is
greater than any of the
individual capacitances.

9
 Series Combination
• The charges on capacitors connected in series are the
same.

• The total potential difference across any number of capacitors connected

in series is the sum of the potential differences across the individual
capacitors.

10
 When this analysis is applied to three or more capacitors connected in
series, the relationship for the equivalent capacitance is

the inverse of the

equivalent capacitance
is the algebraic sum of
the inverses of the
individual capacitances
and the equivalent
capacitance of a series
combination is always
less than any individual
capacitance in the
combination. 11
 Example 2: Equivalent Capacitance
Find the equivalent capacitance between a and b for
the combination of capacitors shown in Figure below.
All capacitances are in microfarads.

12
Example 3: Equivalent Capacitance and Charge on
Capacitor
Question: A and a capacitor are connected in parallel, and this pair of capacitors is
then connected in series with a capacitor, as shown in the diagram. What is the equivalent
capacitance of the whole combination? What is the charge on the capacitor if the whole
combination is connected across the terminals of a V battery? Likewise, what are the charges
on the and capacitors?

Solution:
The equivalent capacitance of the and
capacitors connected in parallel is

When a capacitor is combined in series with a capacitor, the

equivalent capacitance of the whole combination is given by

13
 and so

The charge delivered by the V battery is

This is the charge on the capacitor, since one of the terminals of the battery is connected
directly to one of the plates of this capacitor.

The voltage drop across the capacitor is

14
15
 Energy Stored in a Charged Capacitor
The potential energy of a charged capacitor may be viewed
as being stored in the electric field between its plates.
Suppose that, at a given instant, a charge q′ has been
transferred from one plate of a capacitor to the
other. The potential difference V′ between the plates
at that instant will be q′/C. If an extra increment of
charge dq′ is then transferred, the increment of work
required will be,

The work required to bring the total capacitor charge up to a final value q
is

This work is stored as potential energy U in the capacitor, so

that
or
16
Energy Stored in a Charged Capacitor
(Cont..)
• Energy stored in a charged capacitor can be calculated from the graph of Voltage against charge in
capacitor. Remember the work done to charge a capacitor will be equal to the energy stored in
capacitor.
• This is equal to the area under the graph i.e W = U = ½ Q

17
 Energy Density
The potential energy per unit volume between
parallel-plate capacitor is

V/d equals the electric field magnitude E due to

18
Example 4: Energy Stored in a Capacitor
A 10 000μF capacitor is described as having a maximum working
voltage of 25 V. Calculate the energy stored by the capacitor.

E = ½ CV2 = ½ x 10,000 x 10-6 x 252 = 3.125 J

19
Capacitor and Dielectrics
• Dielectric: A non conducting material placed between the plates of a capacitor. It increases the
maximum potential difference between the plates of a capacitor and allows more charge to be
stored.

THE DIELECTRIC CONSTANT

The surface charges on the dielectric reduce the electric field inside the dielectric. This reduction in the
electric field is described by the dielectric constant k, which is the ratio of the field magnitude E0 without the
dielectric to the field magnitude E inside the dielectric:

Dielectric strength: The maximum value of the electric field that a dielectric can tolerate
without breakdown
20
 Some Properties of Dielectrics
Material Dielectric Constant Dielectric Strength (kV/mm)
Air (1 atm) 1.00054 3
Polystyrene 2.6 24
Paper 3.5 16
Transformer
oil 4.5
Pyrex 4.7 14
Ruby mica 5.4
Porcelain 6.5
Silicon 12
Germanium 16
Ethanol 25
Water (20°C) 80.4
Water (25°C) 78.5
Titania
ceramic 130
Strontium
titanate 310 8
For a vacuum, .
21
Capacitance with a Dielectric

q q
Cair = =
V E0 d

q q
Cair = =  = E0 / E
V E0 d

Cair =
q
=
q 1 q
= ( )=
C
C =  Cair
E0 d  Ed  Ed 
The capacitance with the dielectric present is increased
by a factor of k over the capacitance without the
dielectric. 22
Example: Capacitance and Dielectric

An air-filled parallel plate capacitor has a capacitance of 50pF.

• (a) If each of the plates has an area of A=0.35 m2, what is the
separation?
• (b) If the region between the plates is now filled with material having
a dielectric constant of =2, what is the capacitance?

Solution:
(a) Use to solve for d

(b)

23
Energy Stored Before the dielectric is inserted:

Energy Stored After the dielectric is inserted:

24
25
THE END
• The next slides present solved problems from the content covered in
this lecture.

26
 Capacitor with Dielectric
• Question 1:
• Consider a parallel plate capacitor with capacitance C = 2.00 F
connected to a battery with voltage V = 12.0 V as shown. What
is the charge stored in the capacitor?

( )
q = CV = 2.00 10 −6 F (12.0 V) = 2.40 10 −5 C

▪ Question 2:
▪ Now insert a dielectric with dielectric constant  = 2.5
between the plates of the capacitor. What is the charge
on the capacitor?
C =  Cair The capacitance of the capacitor is increased

q = CV = 2.50  2.0  10−6 F  12.0 V = 6.0  10−5 C

The additional charge is provided by the battery.

27
 Capacitor with Dielectric (2)
Question 3:
Consider we isolate the charged capacitor with a dielectric by
disconnecting it from the battery as in the previous problem. We
remove the dielectric, keeping the capacitor isolated. What
happens to the charge and voltage on the capacitor?

Solution:
▪ The charge on the isolated capacitor cannot change because there is
nowhere for the charge to flow. Q remains constant.
▪ The voltage on the
q capacitor
6.00 10will
−5 be
C
V= = −6
= 30.0 V V increases
C 2.00 10 F

▪ The voltage went up because removing the dielectric increased the electric
field and the resulting potential difference between the plates.

28
 Capacitor with Dielectric (3)
• Question 4:
• Does removing the dielectric from the isolated capacitor
change the energy stored in the capacitor?

▪ The energy stored in the capacitor before the dielectric was

removed was
1 1 1
U=
2 2 2
( )
CV 2 =  CairV 2 = (2.50 ) 2.00 10 −6 F (12 V) = 3.60 10 −4 J
2

▪ After the dielectric is removed, the energy is

1 1
U=
2 2
( )
CairV 2 = 2.00 10 −6 F (30 V) = 9.00 10 −4 J
2

▪ The energy increases --- we must add energy to pull out the
dielectric. [Or, the polarized dielectric is sucked into the E.]

29
 Paper-Filled Capacitor

QUESTION 5:
A parallel-plate capacitor has plates of dimensions 2.0 cm by
3.0 cm separated by a 1.0-mm thickness of paper.
Find its capacitance.

30
Calculating Dielectric Constant
QUESTION 6
Given a 7.4 pF air-filled capacitor. You are asked to convert it to a
capacitor that can store up to 7.4 J with a maximum voltage of 652 V.
What dielectric constant should the material have that you insert to
achieve these requirements?

• Key Idea: The capacitance with the dielectric in place is given by

C=Cair

and the energy stored is given by

So,

31