TITLE: CAPACITANCE AND CAPACITORS The SI unit of capacitance is called one farad (1 F), in

OBJECTIVE: Calculate the equivalent capacitance honor of the 19th-century English physicist Michael
of a network of capacitors connected Faraday. one farad is equal to one coulomb per volt (1
in series/parallel. C/V):
STEM_GP12EM - IIId -24 1 F = 1 farad = 1 C/V = 1 coulomb/volt
The greater the capacitance C of a capacitor, the
INTRODUCTION greater the magnitude Q of charge on either conductor for a
A capacitor is a device that stores electric potential given potential difference and hence the greater the amount
energy and electric charge. To make a capacitor, just insulate of stored energy. (Remember that potential is potential
two conductors from each other. To store energy in this device, energy per unit charge.) Thus, capacitance is a measure of the
transfer charge from one conductor to the other so that one ability of a capacitor to store energy. We will see that the
has a negative charge and the other has an equal amount of value of the capacitance depends only on the shapes and
positive charge. Work must be done to move the charges sizes of the conductors and on the nature of the insulating
through the resulting potential difference between the material between them. (The above remarks about
conductors, and the work done is stored as electric potential capacitance being independent of Q and V ab do not apply to
energy.
certain special types of insulating materials.
Key Concepts
 Capacitors in Series and Parallel
 Capacitance
Capacitors are manufactured with certain standard
 Capacitor in Series
capacitances and working voltages (Fig. below). However,
 Capacitor in Parallel
these standard values may not be the ones you actually need
DISCUSSION
in a particular application. You can obtain the values you need
 Capacitor and Capacitance
by combining capacitors; many combinations are possible,
Any two conductors separated by an insulator (or a
but the simplest combinations are a series connection and a
vacuum) form a capacitor. In most practical applications,
parallel connection.
each conductor initially has zero net charge and electrons
are transferred from one conductor to the other; this is
called charging the capacitor. Then the two conductors
have charges with equal magnitude and opposite sign, and
the net charge on the capacitor as a whole remains zero.
We will assume throughout this chapter that this is the
case. When we say that a capacitor has charge Q or that a
charge Q is stored on the capacitor, we mean that the
conductor at higher potential has charge +Q and the
conductor at lower potential has charge -Q (assuming that
Q is positive).
In circuit diagrams a capacitor is represented by either An assortment of commercially available capacitors.
of these symbols:  Capacitors in Series
In (Figure 1 below) is a schematic diagram of a series
connection. Two capacitors are connected in series (one after
the other) by conducting wires between points a and b. Both
capacitors are initially uncharged. When a constant positive
In either symbol the vertical lines (straight or curved) potential difference V ab is applied between points a and b the
represent the conductors and the horizontal lines capacitors become charged; the figure shows that the charge
represent wires connected to either conductor. One on all conducting plates has the same magnitude. To see why,
common way to charge a capacitor is to connect these two note first that the top plate of C1 acquires a positive charge Q
wires to opposite terminals of a battery. Once the charges The electric field of this positive charge pulls negative charge
Q and -Q are established on the conductors, the battery is up to the bottom plate of C2 until all of the field lines that
disconnected. This gives a fixed potential difference V ab begin on the top plate end on the bottom plate. This requires
that the bottom plate have charge -Q. These negative charges
between the conductors (that is, the potential of the
-Q had to come from the top plate of which becomes
positively charged conductor a with respect to the
positively charged with charge This positive charge then pulls
negatively charged conductor b) that is just equal to the
negative charge -Q from the connection at point b onto the
voltage of the battery.
bottom plate of C2.
The electric field at any point in the region between the
The total charge on the lower plate of C1 and the upper
conductors is proportional to the magnitude Q of charge on
plate of C2 together must always be zero because these
each conductor. It follows that the potential difference V ab
plates aren’t connected to anything except each other. Thus,
between the conductors is also proportional to Q. If we
in a series connection the magnitude of charge on all plates
double the magnitude of charge on each conductor, the
is the same.
charge density at each point doubles, the electric field at
Referring to Fig. below, we can write the potential
each point doubles, and the potential difference between
differences between points a and b as,
conductors doubles; however, the ratio of charge to
potential difference does not change. This ratio is called the
capacitance of the capacitor:
 individual capacitances. In a series connection the equivalent
capacitance is always less than any individual capacitance.
 Capacitors in Parallel
The arrangement shown in Fig. 2 below is called a
parallel connection. Two capacitors are connected in parallel
between points a and b. In this case the upper plates of the
two capacitors are connected by conducting wires to form an
equipotential surface, and the lower plates form another.
Hence in a parallel connection the potential difference for all
individual capacitors is the same and is equal to V ab=V .The
charges Q1 and Q2 are not necessarily equal, however, since
charges can reach each capacitor independently from the
source (such as a battery) of the voltage V ab . The charges
Following a common convention, we use the symbols
are,
V1 and V2 to denote the potential differences V ac (across the
Q1=C 1 V ∧Q2=C 2 V
first capacitor), V cb (across the second capacitor), and (across
The total charge of the combination, and thus the total
the entire combination of capacitors), respectively.
charge on the equivalent capacitor, is

The parallel combination is equivalent to a single

capacitor Q = Q1 + Q2 with the same total charge and
potential difference V as the combination. The equivalent
capacitance of the combination, is the same as the
capacitance of this single equivalent capacitor.

In the same way we can show that for any number of

capacitors in parallel,
***The equivalent capacitance of a parallel
combination equals the sum of the individual capacitances.
The equivalent capacitance C eq of the series In a parallel connection the equivalent capacitance is always
combination is defined as the capacitance of a single greater than any individual capacitance.
capacitor for which the charge Q is the same as for the
combination, when the potential difference V is the same. In
other words, the combination can be replaced by an
equivalent capacitor of capacitance C eq.

Combining
equations, we find

We can extend this analysis to any number of

capacitors in series. We find the following result for the
reciprocal of the equivalent capacitance:

 Sample problem (Capacitors in series and in parallel)

***The reciprocal of the equivalent capacitance of a
series combination equals the sum of the reciprocals of the Problem: In Figs. 1 above and Fig. 2 above, let C1 = 6.0 μF,
C2 = 3.0 μF, and V ab=18 V Find the equivalent
capacitance and the charge and potential difference for
each capacitor when the capacitors are connected (a) in
series (see Fig. 1) and (b) in parallel (see Fig. 2).

Solution: (a) for a series combination,

The potential difference across each capacitor is inversely

proportional to its capacitance:

2. In Fig. below, each capacitor has C = 4.00 μF and

V ab=+ 28.0V . Calculate (a) the charge on each capacitor;
(b) for a parallel combination, (b) the potential difference across each capacitor; (c) the
potential difference between points a and d.

 Activity # 1
Read and analyze the problem carefully.

1. Electric eels and electric fish generate large potential

differences that are used to stun enemies and prey. These
potentials are produced by cells that each can generate
0.10 V. We can plausibly model such cells as charged
capacitors. (a) How should these cells be connected (in
series or in parallel) to produce a total potential of more
than 0.10 V? (b) Using the connection in part (a), how many
cells must be connected together to produce the 500-V References
surge of the electric eel?

2. The plates of a parallel-plate capacitor are 2.50 mm Shipman, J. Wilson J., & Higgins, C. (2013). An Introduction to
apart, and each carries a charge of magnitude 80.0 nC. The Physical Science (13th ed). 20 Channel Center Street,
plates are in vacuum. The electric field between the plates Boston, MA 02210 USA.
has a magnitude of 4.00 x 106 V /m (a) What is the
potential difference between the plates? (b) What is the Tillery, B. W. (2009). Physical Sciences (9th ed.) Arizona State
area of each plate? (c) What is the capacitance? University. McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., 1221 Avenue of
the Americas, New York, NY 100020.
 Assessment
Solve the following problems carefully.

1. For the system of capacitors shown in Fig. below, find

the equivalent
capacitance
(a) between b Freedom Wall😊
and c (b) between a
and c.