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
26.1 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
26.2 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 ε A
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 k e  b  a 

Section 26.2
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 = Q 2 = 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
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 is
Q q Q2
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
26.5 Capacitors with Dielectrics
A dielectric is a nonconducting material that, when placed between the
plates of a capacitor, increases the capacitance.
 Dielectrics include rubber, glass, and waxed paper
With a dielectric, the capacitance becomes C = κCo.
 The capacitance increases by the factor κ when the dielectric
completely fills the region between the plates.
 κ is the dielectric constant of the material.
If the capacitor remains connected to a battery, the voltage across the
capacitor necessarily remains the same.
If the capacitor is disconnected from the battery, the capacitor is an
isolated system and the charge remains the same.

Section 26.5
Dielectrics, cont
For a parallel-plate capacitor, C = κ (εoA) / d
In theory, d could be made very small to create a very large capacitance.
In practice, there is a limit to d.
 d is limited by the electric discharge that could occur though the
dielectric medium separating the plates.
For a given d, the maximum voltage that can be applied to a capacitor
without causing a discharge depends on the dielectric strength of the
material.

Section 26.5
Dielectrics, final
Dielectrics provide the following advantages:
 Increase in capacitance
 Increase the maximum operating voltage
 Possible mechanical support between the plates
 This allows the plates to be close together without touching.
 This decreases d and increases C.

Section 26.5
Some Dielectric Constants and Dielectric Strengths

Section 26.5
26.6 Electric Dipole
An electric dipole consists of two
charges of equal magnitude and
opposite signs.
The charges are separated by 2a.

The electric dipole moment (p) is
directed along the line joining the
charges from –q to +q.

Section 26.6
Electric Dipole, 2
The electric dipole moment has a magnitude of p ≡ 2aq.

Assume the dipole is placed in a uniform external field, E

 E is external to the dipole; it is not the field produced by the
dipole
Assume the dipole makes an angle θ with the field

Section 26.6
Electric Dipole, 3
Each charge has a force of F = Eq
acting on it.
The net force on the dipole is zero.
The forces produce a net torque on the
dipole.
The dipole is a rigid object under a net
torque.

Section 26.6
Electric Dipole, final
The magnitude of the torque is:
= 2Fa sin θpE sin θ
The torque can also be expressed as the cross product of the moment
and the field:
  
   pE
The system of the dipole and the external electric field can be modeled
as an isolated system for energy.
The potential energy can be expressed as a function of the orientation of
the dipole with the field:
Uf – Ui = pE(cos θi – cos θfU = - pE cos θ
This expression
 can be written as a dot product.
U  p E

Section 26.6
Polar vs. Nonpolar Molecules
Molecules are said to be polarized when a separation exists between
the average position of the negative charges and the average position of
the positive charges.
Polar molecules are those in which this condition is always present.
Molecules without a permanent polarization are called nonpolar
molecules.

Section 26.6
Polar Molecules and Dipoles
The average positions of the positive and negative charges act as point
charges.
Therefore, polar molecules can be modeled as electric dipoles.

Section 26.6
Induced Polarization

A linear symmetric molecule has no

permanent polarization (a).
Polarization can be induced by
placing the molecule in an electric
field (b).
Induced polarization is the effect
that predominates in most materials
used as dielectrics in capacitors.

Section 26.6
Dielectrics – An Atomic View
The molecules that make up the
dielectric are modeled as dipoles.
The molecules are randomly oriented in
the absence of an electric field.

Section 26.7
Dielectrics – An Atomic View, 2
An external electric field is applied.
This produces a torque on the
molecules.

The molecules partially align with the

electric field.
 The degree of alignment depends
on temperature and the magnitude
of the field.
 In general, the alignment increases with
decreasing temperature and with
increasing electric field.

Section 26.7
Dielectrics – An Atomic View, 4
If the molecules of the dielectric are nonpolar molecules, the electric field
produces some charge separation.
This produces an induced dipole moment.
The effect is then the same as if the molecules were polar.

Section 26.7
Dielectrics – An Atomic View, final
An external field can polarize the
dielectric whether the molecules are
polar or nonpolar.
The charged edges of the dielectric act
as a second pair of plates producing an
induced electric field in the direction
opposite the original electric field.

Section 26.7
Induced Charge and Field

The electric field due to the plates

is directed to the right and it
polarizes the dielectric.
The net effect on the dielectric is an
induced surface charge that results
in an induced electric field.
If the dielectric were replaced with
a conductor, the net field between
the plates would be zero.

Section 26.7