11/5/2024

Electricity & Magnetism – Lecture 7

Electric Capacitance

Capacitors
Device for storing electrical energy which can then be
released in a controlled manner
Consists of two conductors, carrying charges of q and –q,
that are separated, usually by a nonconducting material -
an insulator

Symbol in circuits is

It takes work, which is then stored as potential energy in

the electric field that is set up between the two plates, to
place charges on the conducting plates of the capacitor

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Capacitors
We usually talk about capacitors in terms of
parallel conducting plates

They in fact can be any two conducting objects

Assortment of capacitors

Capacitance

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Capacitance

The capacitance is defined to be the ratio of the amount of charge

that is on the capacitor to the potential difference between the
plates

Application of Capacitors

Capacitors have many important applications

in electronics. Some examples include
storing electric potential energy, delaying
voltage changes when coupled with
resistors, filtering out unwanted frequency camera’s flash unit
signals, forming resonant circuits and making
frequency-dependent and independent
voltage dividers when combined with
resistors.

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Capacitance for Parallel Plate Capacitor 

C =  ???
Gaussian
surface

+q
+++++++++++
d E
A Area of plate =A
- - - - - - - - - - - -q

 

⋅ ⃗  
 


 

 = -  . 
 
 
 

 = 
.  
   
   Coulomb/Volt = Farad

   
 
 =E  =Ed

Capacitance for Other Configurations (Spherical)

let’s consider a spherical capacitor which
consists of two concentric spherical shells
of radii a and b. The inner shell has a
charge +q uniformly distributed over its
surface, and the outer shell an equal but
opposite charge –q.

We use Gauss’ Law, with a spherical

gaussian surface closed in the region
between the spheres:

The electric field is non-vanishing only in the region a <r < b . Using Gauss’s law,
we obtain



⋅ ⃗     
  
4   E=
!"# $ %

_ *   * &$  ' '  (*

=
  (
!"# $ %
  
!"# ( $ %
 
!"# (
) * C =   4 *(

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Capacitance for Other Configurations (Cylindrical)

b
To calculate capacitance, we first need to determine the E field between the
plates. We use Gauss’ Law, with a cylindrical gaussian surface closed in the
region between the plates (neglect fringing at ends):


⋅ ⃗   So   
  
2-
or
 /2 -

_ *   * &$  *  /
=
  (
!"# $/
  !" / (
$
 !" / 0 ( C =   2 3
# # 12 
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Electric Potential Energy of Capacitor

Electrical Potential energy is stored in a capacitor. The energy comes from
the work that is done in charging the capacitor
Let q and v be the intermediate charge and potential on the capacitor
The incremental work done in bringing an incremental charge, dq, to
the capacitor is then given by
V
  V = q/c
5   
q/c

The total work done is just the integral of this equation from 0 to Q q
dq Q
8
1 9
5 7  
 2

Using the relationship between capacitance, voltage and charge we also

obtain
9 1  1
:    9 where U is the stored potential energy
2 2 2

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Energy Density
The quantity that is of interest is in fact the energy density (potential energy/volume)

1 
 where A and d are the area of the capacitor

0;<= ?;0@AB=  C  2
 plates and their separation, respectively

 1
   
 C  

Using 
and we then have 2

Example –Calculate the energy stored in a 10 µF capacitor when it is charged

to 100 V.
1  1

   D 10F D 100  50 mJ
2 2

Capacitors in Series and Parallel

• Capacitors in parallel
• consider a voltage V applied
across two capacitors
• then the charge on each is
9'   ' 9   

• if the two capacitors are replaced with a single capacitor C which has a similar
effect as the pair, then

Charge stored on  9' U 9

  'U 
 'U 

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Capacitors in Series and Parallel

• Capacitors in series
• consider a voltage V applied
across two capacitors in series

• the only charge that can be

applied to the lower plate of C1   ' U 
9 9 9
is that supplied by the upper plate  U
of C2. Therefore the charge on ' 
1 1 1
each capacitor must be identical.  U
' 
Let this be Q, and therefore if a
single capacitor C has the same
effect as the pair, then

capacitance of a coaxial cable

9 W a = 0.5 mm
 ln
20- X b = 2.0 mm
κ≅2
9 920-
 
 W
9 ln
X
20-

W
ln
X
Now if a=0.5mm and b=2.0mm, then
20

- W
ln
X And if κ = 2, then
6 D 10'' 6 D 10''
  ]^
- ln 4 1.38  86 For κ = 2
- _
]^
 43
- _ ε0 (for air)

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Dielectrics
Most capacitors have a non-conducting material between their plates

This nonconducting material, a dielectric, accomplishes three

things
1) Solves mechanical problem of keeping the plates separated
2) Increases the maximum potential difference allowed between the plates
3) Increases the capacitance of a given capacitor over what it would be
without the dielectric
We write 0 (permittivity of free space), with a little zero subscript. But other materials
(water, paper, plastic, even air) have different permittivities  = k 0. The k is called the
dielectric constant or relative permittivity, and is a unit less number. For air, k =
1.00054 (we consider,  for air is the same as for “free space”)
 is the property of every material, which measures the opposition offered against the formation of an electric field.

Some dielectric constants