1- An Atomic Description of Dielectrics Page 587 College

The explanation of why a dielectric increases the capacitance of a

capacitor is based on an atomic description of the material, which in
turn involves a property of some molecules called polarization. A
molecule is said to be polarized when there is a separation between
the average positions of its negative charge and its positive charge.
In some molecules, such as water, this condition is always present.
To see why, consider the geometry of a water molecule (Fig. 16.31).
The molecule is arranged so that the negative oxygen atom is
bonded to the positively charged hydrogen atoms with a 1058 angle
between the two bonds. The center of negative charge is at the
oxygen atom, and the center of positive charge lies at a point
midway along the line joining the hydrogen atoms (point x in the
diagram). Materials composed of molecules that are permanently
polarized in this way have large dielectric constants, and indeed,
Table 16.1 shows that the dielectric constant of water is large (k 5
80) compared with other common substances. A symmetric
molecule (Fig. 16.32a) can have no permanent polarization, but a
polarization can be induced in it by an external electric field. A field
directed to the left, as in Figure 16.32b, would cause the center of
positive charge to shift to the left from its initial position and the
center of negative charge to shift to the right. This induced
polarization is the effect that predominates in most materials
used as dielectrics in capacitors. To understand why the polarization
of a dielectric can affect capacitance, consider the slab of dielectric
shown in Figure 16.33. Before placing the slab between the plates of
the capacitor, the polar molecules are randomly oriented (Fig.
16.33a). The polar molecules are dipoles, and each creates a dipole
electric field, but because of their random orientation, this field
averages to zero. After insertion of the dielectric slab into the electric
field E S 0 between the plates (Fig. 16.33b), the positive plate
 attracts the negative ends of the dipoles and the negative plate
attracts the positive ends of the dipoles. These forces exert a torque

on the molecules making up the dielectric, reorienting them so that

on average the negative pole is more inclined toward the positive
plate and the positive pole is more aligned toward the negative plate.
The positive and negative charges in the middle still cancel each
other, but there is a net accumulation of negative charge in the
dielectric next to the positive plate and a net accumulation of positive
charge next to the negative plate. This configuration can be modeled
as an additional pair of charged plates, as in Figure 16.33c, creating
an induced electric field E S ind that partly cancels the original
electric field E S 0. If the battery is not connected when the dielectric
is inserted, the potential difference across the plates is
reduced to . If the capacitor is still connected to the battery,
however, the negative poles push more electrons off the positive
plate, making it more positive. Meanwhile, the positive poles attract
more electrons onto the negative plate. This situation continues
until the potential difference across the battery reaches its original
magnitude,
equal to the potential gain across the battery. The net effect is an
increase in the amount of charge stored on the capacitor. Because
the plates can store more charge for a given voltage, it follows from
C =Q that the capacitance must increase.

2-Defibrillators Page 572 College

Large capacitors can store enough electrical energy to cause severe
burns or even death if they are discharged so that the flow of charge
can pass through the heart. Under the proper conditions, however,
they can be used to sustain life by stopping cardiac fibrillation in
heart attack victims. When fibrillation occurs, the heart produces a
rapid, irregular pattern of beats. A fast discharge of electrical
energy through the heart can return the organ to its normal beat
pattern. Emergency medical teams use portable defibrillators that
contain batteries capable of charging a capacitor to a high voltage.
(The circuitry actually permits the capacitor to be charged to a much
higher voltage than the battery.) In this case and others (camera
flash units and lasers used for fusion experiments), capacitors serve
as energy reservoirs that can be slowly charged and then quickly
discharged to

((Photo: Two different ways of applying the charge: 1) Conventional paddles on a

manual defibrillator.2) Self-adhesive electrodes (with printed graphics showing you
where to stick them to the patient's body) on an automated defibrillator ))

provide large amounts of energy in a short pulse. The stored

electrical energy is released through the heart by conducting
electrodes, called paddles, placed on both sides of the victim’s
chest. The paramedics must wait between applications
of electrical energy because of the time it takes the capacitors to
become fully charged. The high voltage on the capacitor can be
obtained from a low-voltage battery in a portable machine through
the phenomenon of electromagnetic induction, to be studied

a-APPLICATION
Camera Flash Attachments One practical device that uses a
capacitor is the flash attachment on a camera. A battery is used to
charge the capacitor, and the stored charge is then released
when the shutter-release button is pressed to take a picture. The
stored charge is delivered to a flash tube very quickly, illuminating
the subject at the instant more light is needed.
b-APPLICATION
Computer Keyboards
Computers make use of capacitors in many ways. For example, one
type of computer keyboard has capacitors at the bases of its keys,
as in Figure 16.16. Each key
is connected to a movable plate, which represents one side of the
capacitor; the fixed plate on the bottom of the keyboard represents
the other side of the capacitor. When a key is pressed, the capacitor
spacing decreases, causing an increase in capacitance. External
electronic circuits recognize each key by the change in its
capacitance when it is pressed.
c-APPLICATION
Electrostatic Confinement
Capacitors are useful for storing a large amount of charge that
needs to be delivered quickly. A good example on the forefront of
fusion research is electrostatic confinement. In this role capacitors
discharge their electrons through a grid. The negatively charged
electrons in the grid draw positively charged particles to them
and therefore to each other, causing some particles to fuse and
release energy in the process

3-Practical examples:-
1) Microwave ovens take advantage of the polar nature of the water
molecule. When in operation, microwave ovens generate a rapidly
changing electric field that causes the polar molecules to swing
back and forth, absorbing energy from the field in the process.
Because the jostling molecules collide with each other, the energy
they absorb from the field is converted to internal energy, which
corresponds to an increase in temperature of the food.

2) Another household scenario in which the dipole structure of

water is exploited is washing with soap and water. Grease and oil
are made up of non-polar molecules, which are generally not
attracted to water. Plain water is not very useful for removing
this type of grime. Soap contains long molecules called
 surfactants. In a long molecule, the polarity characteristics of one
end of the molecule can be different from those at the other end.
In a surfactant molecule, one end acts like a non-polar molecule
and the other acts like a polar molecule. The non-polar end can
attach to a grease or oil molecule, and the polar end can attach to
a water molecule. Thus, the soap serves as a chain, linking the dirt
and water molecules together. When the water is rinsed away, the
grease and oil go with it

Questions:
A) Explain how do people cook or reheat foods using microwave oven?
B) What is the physical phenomenon used in microwave oven?
C) Explain how does surfactant remove grease and oil from cloth?

4-RC Circuits Page 626 College

So far, we have been concerned with circuits with constant currents.
We now consider direct-current circuits containing capacitors, in
which the currents vary with time. Consider the series circuit in
Active Figure 18.16. We assume the capacitor is initially uncharged
with the switch opened. After the switch is closed, the battery
begins to charge the plates of the capacitor and the charge passes
through the resistor. As the capacitor is being charged, the circuit
carries a changing current. The charging process continues until the
capacitor is charged to its maximum equilibrium value, , where
 is the maximum voltage across the capacitor. Once the
capacitor is fully charged, the current in the circuit is zero. If we
assume the capacitor is uncharged before the switch is closed, and
if the switch is closed at t = 0, we find that the charge on the
capacitor varies with time according to the equation

where is Euler’s constant, the base of the natural

logarithms. Active Figure 18.16b is a graph of this equation. The
charge is zero at t = 0 and approaches its maximum value, Q, as t
approaches infinity. The voltage across the capacitor at any time
is obtained by dividing the charge by the capacitance:
=

((Active Figure 18.16

(a) A capacitor in series with a resistor, a battery, and a switch. (b) A plot of the charge
on the capacitor versus time after the switch on the circuit is closed.))

As you can see from Equation 18.7, it would take an infinite amount
of time, in this model, for the capacitor to become fully charged. The
reason is mathematical: in obtaining that equation, charges are
assumed to be infinitely small, whereas in reality the smallest charge
is that of an electron, with a magnitude equal to . For
all practical purposes, the capacitor is fully charged after a finite
amount of time. The term RC that appears in Equation 18.7 is called
the time constant t (Greek letter tau), so

The time constant represents the time required for the charge to
increase from zero to 63.2% of its maximum equilibrium value. This
means that in a period of time equal to one time constant, the
charge on the capacitor increases from zero to 0.632Q. This can be
seen by substituting into Equation 18.7 and
solving for q. It’s important to note that a
capacitor charges very slowly in a circuit with a long time constant,
whereas it charges very rapidly in a circuit with a short time constant.
After a time equal to ten time constants, the capacitor is more than
99.99% charged. Now consider the circuit in Active Figure 18.17a,
consisting of a capacitor with an initial charge Q, a resistor, and a
switch. Before the switch is closed, the potential difference across
the charged capacitor is Q /C. Once the switch is closed, the charge
begins to flow through the resistor from one capacitor plate to the
other until the capacitor is fully discharged. If the switch is closed
at t = 0, it can be shown that the charge q on the capacitor varies
with time according to the equation

The charge decreases exponentially with time, as shown in Active

Figure 18.17b. In the interval the charge decreases from
its initial value Q to 0.368Q. In other words, in a time equal to one
time constant, the capacitor loses 63.2% of its initial charge.
Because = the voltage across the capacitor also decreases
exponentially with time according to the equation
where (which
equals Q /C) is the initial voltage across the fully charged capacitor

APPLYING PHYSICS 18.6 Roadway Flashers

Many roadway construction sites have flashing yellow lights to warn motorists
of possibledangers. What causes the lights to flash?
EXPLANATION
A typical circuit for such a flasher is shown in Figure 18.18. The
lamp L is a gas-filled lamp that acts as an open circuit until a large potential
difference causes a discharge, which gives off a bright light. During this
discharge, charge flows through the gas between the electrodes of the lamp.
When the switch is closed, the battery charges the capacitor. At the beginning,
the current is high and the charge on the capacitor is low, so most of the
potential difference appears across the resistance R. As the capacitor
charges, more potential difference appears across it, reflecting the lower
current and lower potential difference across the resistor. Eventually, the
potential difference across the capacitor reaches a value at which the lamp will
conduct, causing a flash. This flash discharges the capacitor through the lamp,
and the process of charging begins again. The period between flashes can be
adjusted by changing the time constant of the RC circuit.
18.9 The switch is closed in Figure 18.19. After a long time compared with the time
constant of the circuit, what will the current be in the 2 Ω resistor? (a) 4 A (b) 3 A
(b) 2 A (d) 1 A (e) More information is needed.

GOAL Calculate elementary properties of a simple RC circuit.

PROBLEM An uncharged capacitor and a resistor are connected in series to a
battery, as in Active Figure 18.16a. If , and ,
find (a) the time constant of the circuit, (b) the maximum charge on
the capacitor, (c) the charge on the capacitor after 6.00 s, (d) the potential
difference across the resistor after 6.00 s, and (e) the current in the resistor at
that time.
STRATEGY Finding the time constant in part (a) requires substitution into
Equation 18.8. For part (b), the maximum charge occurs after a long time,
when the current has dropped to zero. By Ohm’s law V= IR the potential
difference across the resistor is also zero at that time, and Kirchhoff’s loop rule
then gives the maximum charge. Finding the charge at some particular time,
as in part (c), is a matter of substituting into Equation 18.7. Kirchhoff’s
loop rule and the capacitance equation can be used to indirectly find the
potential drop across the resistor in part (d), and then Ohm’s law yields the
current.
GOAL Calculate some elementary properties of a discharging capacitor in an
RC circuit.

PROBLEM
Consider a capacitor C being discharged through a resistor R as in Active
Figure 18.17a (page 630). (a) How long does it take the charge on the
capacitor to drop to one-fourth its initial value? Answer as a multiple
of t. (b) Compute the initial charge and time constant. (c) How long does it
take to discharge all but the last quantum of charge, 1.60 3 10219 C, if the
initial potential difference across the capacitor is 12.0 V, the capacitance is
equalto 3.50 3 1026 F, and the resistance is 2.00 V? (Assume an
exponential decrease during the entire discharge process.
STRATEGY This problem requires substituting given values into various
equations, as well as a few algebraic manipulations involving the natural
logarithm. In part (a) set in Equation 18.9 for a discharging capacitor,
where Q is the initial charge, and solve for time t. In part (b) substitute into
Equations 16.8 and 18.8 to find the initial capacitor charge and time constant,
respectively. In part (c) substitute the results of part (b) and the final charg
into the discharging-capacitor
equation, again solving for time
,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

16.6 Capacitance
16.7 The Parallel-Plate Capacitor
26. (a) When a 9.00-V battery is connected to the plates of a capacitor, it
stores a charge of 27.0 µC. What is the value of the capacitance? (b) If the
same capacitor is connected to a 12.0-V battery, what charge is stored?
27. An air-filled parallel-plate capacitor has plates of area 2.30 cm2 separated
by 1.50 mm. The capacitor is connected to a 12.0-V battery. (a) Find the value
of its capacitance. (b) What is the charge on the capacitor?
(c) What is the magnitude of the uniform electric field between the plates?

28. Two conductors having net charges of +10.0 µC and 210.0 µC have a
potential difference of 10.0 V between them. (a) Determine the capacitance of
the system. (b) What is the potential difference between the two conductors if
the charges on each are increased to 1100 mC and 2100 µC?

29. An air-filled capacitor consists of two parallel plates, each with an area of
7.60 cm2 and separated by a distance of 1.80 mm. If a 20.0-V potential
difference is applied to these plates, calculate (a) the electric field between the
plates, (b) the capacitance, and (c) the charge on each plate.
30 - A 1-megabit computer memory chip contains many
capacitors. Each capacitor has a plate area of . Determine the
plate separation of such a capacitor. (Assume a parallel-plate configuration.)
The diameter of an atom is on the order of Express the plate
separation in angstroms.

31. A parallel-plate capacitor with area 0.200 m2 and plate separation of 3.00
mm is connected to a 6.00-V battery. (a) What is the capacitance? (b) How
much charge is stored on the plates? (c) What is the electric field between the
plates? (d) Find the magnitude of the charge density on each plate. (e)
Without disconnecting the battery, the plates are moved farther apart.
Qualitatively, what happens to each of the previous answers?
35. Find (a) the equivalent capacitance of the capacitors in Figure P16.35, (b)
the charge on each capacitor, and (c) the potential difference across each
capacitor.
37. For the system of capacitors shown in Figure P16.37, find
(a) the equivalent capacitance of the system, (b) the charge on each capacitor,
and (c) the potential difference across each capacitor.
38. Consider the combination of capacitors in Figure P16.38. (a) Find the
equivalent single capacitance of the two capacitors in series and redraw the
diagram (called diagram 1) with this equivalent capacitance. (b) In diagram 1
find the equivalent capacitance of the three capacitors in parallel and redraw
the diagram as a single battery and single capacitor in a loop. (c) Compute
the charge on the single equivalent capacitor. (d) Returning to diagram 1,
compute the charge on each individual capacitor. Does the sum agree with the
value found in part (c)? (e) What is the charge on the 24.0-mF capacitor and
on the 8.00-µF capacitor? Compute the voltage drop across (f) the 24.0-µF
capacitor and (g) the 8.00-µF capacitor.
40. Three capacitors are connected to a battery as shown in Figure P16.40.
Their capacitances are C1 = 3C, C2 = C, and C3 = 5C. (a) What is the
equivalent capacitance of this set of capacitors? (b) State the ranking of the
capacitors according to the charge they store from largest to smallest. (c)
Rank the capacitors according to the potential differences across them from
largest to smallest. (d) Assume C3 is increased. Explain what happens to the
charge stored by each capacitor.
41. A 25.0-µF capacitor and a 40.0-µF capacitor are charged by being
connected across separate 50.0-V batteries. (a) Determine the resulting
charge on each capacitor. (b) The capacitors are then disconnected from their
batteries and connected to each other, with each negative plate connected to
the other positive plate. What is the final charge of each capacitor?
(c) What is the final potential difference across the 40.0-mF capacitor?
42. (a) Find the equivalent capacitance between points a and b for the group
of capacitors connected as shown in Figure P16.42 if C1 = 5.00 µF, C2 =
10.00 µF, and C3 = 2.00 µF. (b) If the potential between points a and
b is 60.0 V, what charge is stored on C3?
43. A 1.00-µF capacitor is charged by being connected across a 10.0-V
battery. It is then disconnected from the battery and connected across an
uncharged 2.00-µF capacitor. Determine the resulting charge on each
capacitor.
44. Four capacitors are connected as shown in Figure P16.44. (a) Find the
equivalent capacitance between points a and b. (b) Calculate the charge on
each capacitor, taking .
46. Two capacitors, C1 = 18.0 µF and C2 = 36.0 µF, are connected in series,
and a 12.0-V battery is connected across them. (a) Find the equivalent
capacitance, and the energy contained in this equivalent capacitor. (b) Find
the energy stored in each individual capacitor. Show that the sum of these two
energies is the same as the energy found in part (a). Will this equality always
be true, or does it depend on the number of capacitors and their
capacitances? (c) If the same capacitors were connected in parallel, what
potential difference would be required across them so that the combination
stores the same energy as in part (a)? Which capacitor stores more energy in
this situation, C1 or C2?