What if we have different charge on each plate of capacitor?

Capacitors do not store charge. Capacitors actually store an imbalance of charge. If one plate of a capacitor has 1 coulomb of charge stored on it, the other plate will have −1 coulomb, making the total charge (added up across both plates) zero.

Can capacitor plates have unequal charge?

The plates of a capacitor can not be provided unequal charges.

What is the relationship between the potential difference across the capacitor plates and the charge stored on its plates?

When a capacitor is fully charged there is a potential difference, (p.d.) between its plates, and the larger the area of the plates and/or the smaller the distance between them (known as separation) the greater will be the charge that the capacitor can hold and the greater will be its Capacitance.

How is the capacitance of a parallel plate capacitor affected by the charge on the plates?

Capacitance is directly proportional to the electrostatic force field between the plates. Therefore, as the distance between the plates decreases, capacitance increases.

How do you distribute a charge on a capacitor?

Capacitors in Series Summary Two or more capacitors in series will always have equal amounts of coulomb charge across their plates. As the charge, ( Q ) is equal and constant, the voltage drop across the capacitor is determined by the value of the capacitor only as V = Q ÷ C.

What is the value of the capacitance if the plates are not charged?

zero
The value of the capacitance is zero if the plates are not charged.

When a capacitor is fully charged the current through the capacitor is?

In a real capacitor there will always be a small leakage current and this can be modelled by a resistor in parallel with the “perfect” capacitor. If you have a perfectly flat DC voltage source, and an ideal capacitor, then yes, when the capacitor is fully charged then no current will flow.

How does charging a capacitor work?

When positive and negative charges coalesce on the capacitor plates, the capacitor becomes charged. A capacitor can retain its electric field — hold its charge — because the positive and negative charges on each of the plates attract each other but never reach each other.

How is the capacitance of a parallel plate capacitor affected by the area of each plate *?

The capacitance of a parallel plate capacitor is proportional to the area, A in metres2 of the smallest of the two plates and inversely proportional to the distance or separation, d (i.e. the dielectric thickness) given in metres between these two conductive plates.

How is the capacitance of a parallel plate capacitor affected by filling the space between the plates with an insulator *?

(a) The molecules in the insulating material between the plates of a capacitor are polarized by the charged plates. This produces a layer of opposite charge on the surface of the dielectric that attracts more charge onto the plate, increasing its capacitance.

What is the electric field inside a parallel plate capacitor?

Two identical plates of parallel plate capacitor are given unequal charges Q 1 and Q 2 . Let the charge appearing on the inner surface be +q and -q, then the charges appearing on outer surfaces are as shown in the figure. If we take a point P inside the plate 1, then electric field at P should be zero.

What happens when the plates of a capacitor have equal capacitance?

If the plates of a capacitor with capacitance C have equal and opposite electric charge Q, the capacitor is electrically neutral but stores an energy where V is the potential difference between the plates. If the plates of a capacitor have unequal charge, there is now energy stored in more than one capacitance.

What happens when capacitor is fully discharged in RC circuit?

Fig. 2 Capacitor connected in RC circuit Assume capacitor (C) is fully discharged and the switch is open, there will no charge on the capacitor. This situation represents a scenario where at t=0, I=0, and charge stored on capacitor C will also be zero.

How do you know when a capacitor is fully charged?

After a five-time constant, the capacitor will be fully charged and the charging current will be zero. Considering the charge on the capacitor as a function of time when it is connected in the circuit, the amount of charge at any time instant can be found.