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Two identical air-filled parallel-plate capacitors \(C_{1}\) and \(C_{2}\) are connected in series to a battery that has voltage \(V .\) The charge on each capacitor is \(Q_{0}\). While the two capacitors remain connected to the battery, a dielectric with dielectric constant \(K>1\) is inserted between the plates of capacitor \(C_{1},\) completely filling the space between them. In terms of \(K\) and \(Q_{0},\) what is the charge on capacitor \(C_{1}\) after the dielectric is inserted? Does the charge on \(C_{1}\) increase, decrease, or stay the same?

Short Answer

Expert verified
The new charge on capacitor \(C_{1}\) is \(K \cdot Q_{0}\) which is an increase from the initial charge \(Q_{0}\) since \(K>1\).

Step by step solution

01

Recognize The Problem

Identify that two capacitors in series share the same charge. This charge initially is \(Q_{0}\) on both capacitors \(C_{1}\) and \(C_{2}\). The aim is to determine the new charge on capacitor \(C_{1}\) when the dielectric is introduced.
02

Consider A Dielectric

When a dielectric is introduced in a capacitor, the value of the capacitance \(C\) increases by a factor of \(K\), the dielectric constant. The relation can be given as \(C' = K \cdot C\). In this case, the new capacitance of \(C_{1}\) will be \(K \cdot C_{1}\).
03

Compute Voltage

Calculate the voltage across \(C_{1}\) before introducing the dielectric. It's known that the voltage across a capacitor \(V\) is given by the equation \(V = Q/C\). Therefore, the new voltage across \(C_{1}\) after introducing the dielectric remains the same and will not change because the battery maintains a constant overall voltage. The voltage \(V_{1}\) across \(C_{1}\) before introducing the dielectric would therefore be \(V_{1} = Q_{0}/C_{1}\). This will be equal to the voltage \(V'_{1}\) across \(C_{1}\) after the dielectric is inserted.
04

Compute New Charge

Use the formula for the voltage to calculate the new charge on \(C_{1}\). After inserting the dielectric, the capacitor \(C_{1}\) gets a new capacitance \(K \cdot C_{1}\). The voltage across \(C_{1}\) remains the same, but the capacitance has increased. So, the formula \(V = Q/C\) has to be applied again to find the new charge \(Q'_{1}\). Given that \(V'_{1} = Q'_{1} / (K \cdot C_{1})\), we can solve this for \(Q'_{1}\) and find \(Q'_{1} = V'_{1} \cdot K \cdot C_{1}\).
05

Analyze The Values

Both \(V_{1}\) and \(V'_{1}\) are the same, and \(V_{1} = V'_{1} = Q_{0} / C_{1}\). So we can substitute \(V'_{1}\) for \(Q_{0} / C_{1}\) in the new charge equation. This gives us \(Q'_{1} = (Q_{0} / C_{1}) \cdot K \cdot C_{1}\). We see that the \(C_{1}\) terms cancel out, giving us \(Q'_{1} = Q_{0} \cdot K\). This shows that the new charge on \(C_{1}\) after introducing the dielectric is \(K\) times larger than the original charge \(Q_{0}\), and it therefore indicates an increase in charge.

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Key Concepts

These are the key concepts you need to understand to accurately answer the question.

Dielectric Constant
When considering capacitors, the dielectric constant is a crucial factor in determining how the presence of a dielectric material influences the capacitance. The dielectric constant, denoted by the symbol \(K\), represents the ratio of the electric permittivity of the dielectric material to the permittivity of a vacuum. Put simply, the dielectric constant measures how much the electric field is reduced when the material is placed in the field. An air-filled capacitor, when filled with a dielectric material of dielectric constant \(K\), will increase its capacity to store charge by \(K\) times.

For students, it is vital to remember that the dielectric constant is always greater than one for any substance other than vacuum. As in the given exercise, introducing a dielectric with a constant \(K > 1\) into a capacitor causes its capacitance to increase, which means that it can store more charge for the same voltage. This is reflected in the relationship \( C' = K \times C \), where \(C'\) represents the new capacitance with the dielectric in place, and \(C\) is the original capacitance without the dielectric.
Capacitance
Capacitance is a measure of a capacitor's ability to store an electrical charge. The unit of capacitance is the farad (F), and it is defined by the equation \( C = Q / V \), where \(C\) stands for capacitance, \(Q\) is the charge stored, and \(V\) indicates the voltage across the capacitor's terminals. Larger capacitance means that a capacitor can hold more charge at a given voltage.

It's important for students to understand that when a dielectric material fills the space between the plates of a capacitor, as outlined in the exercise, the capacitance does not just increase randomly but is directly proportional to the dielectric constant of the material. The new charge stored can be calculated by multiplying the original charge \(Q_0\) by the dielectric constant \(K\), as seen in the formula \(Q'_{1} = Q_{0} \times K\), a manifestation of the capacitance's increase. Thus, the charge capacity of a capacitor is deeply intertwined with the properties of the dielectric material used.
Series Circuits
In series circuits, such as the one featured with the capacitors \(C_{1}\) and \(C_{2}\) in the exercise, all components are connected end-to-end, forming a single path for the electric current. An essential characteristic of series circuits is that they have the same charge flow through all components. This concept explains the initial condition in our problem, where each capacitor holds the same charge \(Q_{0}\) when connected in series.

When students are assessing series circuits, they should remember that the voltage across each component can vary, depending on its properties. However, the total voltage across the circuit remains constant, as provided by the power source. In the context of capacitors in series, inserting a dielectric into one capacitor affects its capacitance, as seen earlier, but does not alter the charge on the second capacitor in the series. The overall voltage of the battery imposes a constant electrical potential difference across the series combination, ensuring the charge on both capacitors remains equal post-insertion of the dielectric.

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Most popular questions from this chapter

You have two identical capacitors and an external potential source. (a) Compare the total energy stored in the capacitors when they are connected to the applied potential in series and in parallel. (b) Compare the maximum amount of charge stored in each case. (c) Energy storage in a capacitor can be limited by the maximum electric field between the plates. What is the ratio of the electric field for the series and parallel combinations?

The plates of a parallel-plate capacitor are \(3.28 \mathrm{~mm}\) apart, and each has an area of \(9.82 \mathrm{~cm}^{2}\). Each plate carries a charge of magnitude \(4.35 \times 10^{-8} \mathrm{C}\). The plates are in vacuum. What is (a) the capacitance; (b) the potential difference between the plates; (c) the magnitude of the electric field between the plates?

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A spherical capacitor contains a charge of \(3.30 \mathrm{nC}\) when connected to a potential difference of \(220 \mathrm{~V}\). If its plates are separated by vacuum and the inner radius of the outer shell is \(4.00 \mathrm{~cm}\), calculate: (a) the capacitance; (b) the radius of the inner sphere; (c) the electric field just outside the surface of the inner sphere.

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