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Activity 1: Potential Surface

Objective: Determine the electric potentials at different positions.
Materials: clear plastic tray or glass tray, voltmeter, connecting wires
with alligator clips, two aluminum or copper plates, power
supply with variable voltage, salt, graphing paper.
Procedure:
1) Place a graphing paper on a table and put the clear plastic or
glass tray on top of it.
2) Attach one connecting wire to the positive terminal and another
wire to the negative terminal of the power supply. On the free
end of each connecting wire, attach the aluminum or copper
plate. This will serve as the electrode. The positive electrode is
the one attached to the positive terminal of the power supply
and the negative electrode is the one attached to the negative
terminal.
3) Fill the tray with water about one-fourth full and mix it with salt
to produce a salt solution.
4) Immerse the two plates on the solution separately and switch on
the power supply. Adjust the voltage to 9.0 V.
5) Tap the positive probe of the voltmeter to the positive electrode
and the negative probe to the negative electrode.
6) Immerse the positive probe in the solution near the positive
terminal. Move it in the solution to find a voltage reading of 2.0
V. Use the graphing paper to find the coordinates of the 2.0 V
potential. Plot the coordinates on a separate sheet of graphing
paper. Repeat this step but this time, move to a different
location. Take at least five points at which the potential is 2.0 V.
7) Perform another trial, but this time look for the potential
readings of 3.0 V and 5.0 V. Plot the coordinates of the pints on
the same graphing paper you used earlier. Connect the points
by making a smooth curve.

Question:
Describe the locations of the points as the probe moves
through the solution. What can you infer based on the result of the activity?
 Discover

Capacitance
The energy of a charged particle can be stored in a device known as
the capacitor. Capacitors have various applications. They can also be found
in computers, cell phones, and many other devices. A capacitor serves as a
storehouse of energy. It works whenever there is a sudden change in voltage
of an electric component. Capacitors are simple passive device that can store
an electrical charge on their plates when connected to a voltage source.
Capacitance in a Parallel Plate Capacitor
There are many different kinds of capacitors available from very small
capacitor beads used in resonance circuits to large power factor correction
capacitors, but they all do the same thing, they store charge.
In its basic form, a capacitor consists of two or more parallel
conductive (metal) plates which are not connected or touching each other,
but is electrically separated either by air or by some form of a good
insulating material such as waxed paper, mica, ceramic, plastic or some
form of a liquid gel as used in electrolytic capacitors. The insulating layer
between capacitors plates is commonly called the dielectric.
In figure 1, two parallel
plates of area A is being stored
with charges Q and –Q on
opposite plates using a battery
of given potential difference. The
plates are maintained at a
separation distance d. The
separation distance is small
compared to the area of the
plates. The electric filed is
almost completely restricted on
the area of the plates and the
field is uniform. This
arrangement is known as a
parallel plate capacitor.
Figure 1. Parallel Plate capacitor

Note:

Electric field lines in this parallel plate capacitor, as always, start on positive
charges and end on negative charges. Since the electric field strength is proportional to
the density of field lines, it is also proportional to the amount of charge on the capacitor.
 Capacitance can also be determined using the area A of the plates and
the properties of the dielectric material between the plates. Thus, for a
parallel plate capacitor, where the capacitance is directly proportional to the
area A of each conducting plate and inversely proportional to the distance d
separating the two plates. In mathematical equation it is expressed as:

𝐴
C =E0 𝑑
where:
C – capacitance (F)
E0 – permittivity of the free space that has a value of
8.85 x 10-12 F/m
A - area of the plates (m2)
D - distance between the plates (m)

During the process of charging, charges are stored on the plates.

When voltage is applied to the terminals of the capacitor, electrons move
from one plate and flow to the other plate. The total number of electrons in
the capacitor remains the same. When charging is complete, the battery can
be disconnected. The voltage across the plate is the same as the voltage
across the battery.
The capacitor’s ability to store electric charge is called capacitance.
The stored electric charge Q is proportional to the voltage V applied to the
capacitor of known capacitance C. On symbols, this is written as:

𝑄
C= 𝑉

The SI unit for capacitance is farad F. One farad is equivalent to 1

coulomb per volt (C/V). One farad is very large and so prefixes are used to
express the smaller units. These other units include 1 microfarad µF which
has a value of 10-6 F; 1 nanofarad nF which has a value of 10-9 F; and 1
picofarad pc which has a value of 10-12 F. When the capacitance is large, the
amount of charged stored is greater in a given potential difference.

Cylindrical Capacitor
A special type of parallel plate capacitor in which the insulating
dielectric layer is rolled up between the plates. A cylindrical capacitor is
made up of a conducting cylinder or wire of radius a surrounded by another
concentric cylindrical shell of radius b where b > a. In this type of capacitor
a cylindrical conductor having linear charge density +λ is surrounded by a
coaxial cylindrical conducting shell having charge density –λ. Due to
attraction between unlike charges, the charges will be spread out uniformly
on the outer surface of the inner conductor and the inner wall of the outer
conductor.
The capacitance of a cylindrical capacitor, depends only on the
geometrical factors like length of the cylinder and the radius of the two
coaxial cylindrical conductors.
Spherical Capacitor
A spherical capacitor is formed by two concentric conducting spheres.
Let's assume that the inner sphere has an outer radius r1, charge +q and
the outer sphere has an inner radius r2 and charge –q. The electric field is
perpendicular to the surface of both spheres and points radially outward. All
the capacitors, like batteries, store energy to be used at a later time. But
unlike a standard battery, they deliver quick, intense bursts of energy. As a
result, capacitors can withstand significantly more charge and discharge
cycles than batteries and can deliver more power at a time. Capacitors can
even be used with batteries.
Example 1:
1. What is the capacitance of a parallel plate capacitor with metal plates,
each of area 1.00 m2, separated by 1.00 mm?
2. What charge is stored in this capacitor if a voltage of 3.00 × 103 V is
applied to it?
Solution:

C= 8.85 x 10-12 F/m

1.00 m2
1.00 x 10−3
C = 8.85×10−9 F or 8.85 nF

Capacitors in Series Connection

When the capacitors are placed in a connection where the circuit
elements are arranged side by side each other as shown in the figure 2
below, the capacitors are in series connection.

Figure 2. Photo credit: electronic-tutorial

 ➢ Capacitors in series all have the same current so each capacitor stores
the same amount of charge regardless of its capacitance.
QT = Q1 = Q2 = Q3…..
➢ The reciprocal of the equivalent capacitance in a capacitor connected
in series is the sum of the reciprocal of the individual capacitance of
the capacitors. This means that the equivalent capacitance is always
less than the individual capacitance.
𝟏 𝟏 𝟏 𝟏
= + + ……
𝑪𝑻 𝑪𝟏 𝑪𝟐 𝑪𝟑

➢ Since the charge in the equivalent capacitor is the same for both
capacitors, then the potential differences across each capacitor can be
calculated using:
𝑸 𝑸
C= or V=
𝑽 𝑪

Example 2:
The capacitors have values C1 = 7.0 µF and C2 = 3.0 µF, and the
potential difference across the battery is 9.0 V. Assume that the capacitors
are connected in series.
a) Find the equivalent capacitance of the circuit.
b) Solve for the potential difference across each capacitors.

Solution for a):

𝟏 𝟏 𝟏
= +
𝑪𝑻 7.0 µF 3.0 µF
Ceq = 2.1 µF
Solution for b):

Q = CV = (2.1 µF) (9.0 V) = 18.9 µ𝐂

𝑸 18.9 µC
V1 = = = 2.7 V
𝑪 7.0 µF
𝑸 18.9 µC
V2 = = = 6.3 V
𝑪 3.0 µF

The equivalent capacitance found in part a is less than the value of the
capacitance in the capacitor. In part b, the largest value of potential difference
was obtained for the smallest value of capacitance. Notice also that the sum of
the potential differences across the 7.0 microfarad and the 3.0 microfarad
capacitors would be 9.0 V, which is the potential difference across the battery.

Capacitors in Parallel Connection

When capacitors are placed in circuit connection as shown in figure 3, the
capacitors are in parallel connection.

Figure 3. Photo credit: electronic-tutorial

 ➢ The equivalent capacitance for capacitors connected in parallel is the
sum of the individual capacitance of the capacitors. This means that
the equivalent capacitance is greater than the individual capacitance.
Ceq = C1 + C2 + C3…..

➢ In a parallel connection, the potential difference across each capacitor

is the same as the potential difference across the battery.
➢ The charge on each capacitor can be calculate using:
𝑸
C= or Q = CV
𝑽

Example 3:
The capacitors have values C1 = 7.0 µF and C2 = 3.0 µF, and the
potential difference across the battery is 9.0 V. Assume that the capacitors
are connected in parallel.
a) Find the equivalent capacitance of the circuit.
b) Solve for the charge across each capacitors.

Solution for a):

Ceq = 7.0 µF + 3.0 µF

= 10.0 µF

Solution for b):

Q1 = CV = (7.0 µF)(9.0 V) Q2 = CV = (3.0 µF)(9.0 V)

Q1 = 63 µC Q1 = 27 µC

The equivalent capacitance is larger than the value of the

individual capacitor as in part a. In part b, the capacitor with the largest value
has the largest amount of charge. Getting the sum of the charges for both
capacitors gives the total charge for the equivalent capacitance.