Chapter 26

Capacitance and Dielectrics

Circuits and Circuit Elements

Electric circuits are the basis for the vast majority of the devices used in society.
Circuit elements can be connected with wires to form electric circuits.
Capacitors are one circuit element.
▪ Others will be introduced in other chapters

Introduction
Capacitors

Capacitors are devices that store electric charge.

Examples of where capacitors are used include:
▪ radio receivers
▪ filters in power supplies
▪ to eliminate sparking in automobile ignition systems
▪ energy-storing devices in electronic flashes

Introduction
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.

Section 26.1
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).
The farad is a large unit, typically you will see microfarads (mF) and picofarads
(pF).
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 capacitance of a capacitor is the amount of charge the capacitor can
store per unit of potential difference.

Section 26.1
Parallel Plate Capacitor
Each plate is connected to a terminal of
the battery.
▪ The battery is a source of potential
difference.
If the capacitor is initially uncharged,
the battery establishes an electric field
in the connecting wires.

Section 26.1
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.
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.

Section 26.1
Capacitance – Isolated Sphere

Assume a spherical charged conductor with radius a.

The sphere will have the same capacitance as it would if there were a conducting
sphere of infinite radius, concentric with the original sphere.
Assume V = 0 for the infinitely large shell

Q Q R
C= = = = 4πεo a
V keQ / a ke
Note, this is independent of the charge on the sphere and its potential.

Section 26.2
Capacitance – Parallel Plates

The charge density on the plates is σ = Q/A.

▪ A is the area of each plate, the area of each plate is equal
▪ Q is the charge on each plate, equal with opposite signs
The electric field is uniform between the plates and zero elsewhere.
The capacitance is proportional to the area of its plates and inversely
proportional to the distance between the plates.
Q Q Q εA
C= = = = o
V Ed Qd / εo A d

Section 26.2
Capacitance of a Cylindrical Capacitor

V = -2keln (b/a)
 = Q/l
The capacitance is
Q
C= =
V 2ke ln ( b / a )

Section 26.2
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 )

Section 26.2
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.

Section 26.3
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.

Section 26.3
Capacitors in Parallel, 2
The flow of charges ceases when the voltage across the capacitors equals that of
the battery.
The potential difference across the capacitors is the same.
▪ And each is equal to the voltage of the battery
▪ V1 = V2 = V
▪ V is the battery terminal voltage
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.
▪ Qtot = Q1 + Q2

Section 26.3
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.

Section 26.3
Capacitors in Parallel, final

Ceq = C1 + C2 + C3 + …
The equivalent capacitance of a parallel combination of capacitors is greater than
any of the individual capacitors.
▪ Essentially, the areas are combined

Section 26.3
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.
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.

Section 26.3
Capacitors in Series, cont.

An equivalent capacitor can be found

that performs the same function as the
series combination.
The charges are all the same.
Q1 = Q2 = Q

Section 26.3
Capacitors in Series, final

The potential differences add up to the battery voltage.

ΔVtot = V1 + V2 + …
The equivalent capacitance is
1 1 1 1
= + + +
Ceq C1 C2 C3
The equivalent capacitance of a series combination is always less than any
individual capacitor in the combination.

Section 26.3
Equivalent Capacitance, Example

The 1.0-F and 3.0-F capacitors are in parallel as are the 6.0-F and 2.0-F
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.

Section 26.3
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 potential
energy to electric potential energy.
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.

Section 26.4
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 work required is the area of the tan

rectangle.
The total work required
2 is
Q q Q
W = dq =
0 C 2C

Section 26.4
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.

Section 26.4
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 oE2.

Section 26.4