Advertisements
Advertisements
Question
A parallel plate capacitor is to be designed with a voltage rating 1 kV, using a material of dielectric constant 3 and dielectric strength about 107 Vm−1. (Dielectric strength is the maximum electric field a material can tolerate without breakdown, i.e., without starting to conduct electricity through partial ionisation.) For safety, we should like the field never to exceed, say 10% of the dielectric strength. What minimum area of the plates is required to have a capacitance of 50 pF?
Advertisements
Solution
Potential rating of a parallel plate capacitor, V = 1 kV = 1000 V
Dielectric constant of a material, `in_"r"` = 3
Dielectric strength = 107 V/m
For safety, the field intensity never exceeds 10% of the dielectric strength.
Hence, electric field intensity, E = 10% of 107 = 106 V/m
Capacitance of the parallel plate capacitor, C = 50 pF = 50 × 10−12 F
Distance between the plates is given by,
`"d" = "V"/"E"`
= `1000/10^6 = 10^-3 "m"`
Capacitance is given by relation
C = `(in_0in_"r""A")/"d"`
Where,
A = Area of each plate
`in_0` = Permittivity of free space = `8.85 xx 10^-12 "N"^-1 "C"^2 "m"^-2`
∴ `"A" = ("Cd")/(in_0in_"r")`
= `(50 xx 10^-12 xx 10^-3)/(8.85 xx 10^-12 xx 3) ≈ 19 "cm"^2`
Hence, the area of each plate is about 19 cm2.
RELATED QUESTIONS
Draw a neat labelled diagram of a parallel plate capacitor completely filled with dielectric.
Explain briefly the process of charging a parallel plate capacitor when it is connected across a d.c. battery
Considering the case of a parallel plate capacitor being charged, show how one is required to generalize Ampere's circuital law to include the term due to displacement current.
In a parallel plate capacitor with air between the plates, each plate has an area of 6 × 10−3 m2 and the distance between the plates is 3 mm. Calculate the capacitance of the capacitor. If this capacitor is connected to a 100 V supply, what is the charge on each plate of the capacitor?
Show that the force on each plate of a parallel plate capacitor has a magnitude equal to `(1/2)` QE, where Q is the charge on the capacitor, and E is the magnitude of the electric field between the plates. Explain the origin of the factor `1/2`.
A slab of material of dielectric constant K has the same area as the plates of a parallel plate capacitor but has a thickness \[\frac{3d}{4}\]. Find the ratio of the capacitance with dielectric inside it to its capacitance without the dielectric.
A ray of light falls on a transparent sphere with centre C as shown in the figure. The ray emerges from the sphere parallel to the line AB. Find the angle of refraction at A if the refractive index of the material of the sphere is \[\sqrt{3}\].

In a parallel plate capacitor with air between the plates, each plate has an area of 6 × 10−3m2 and the separation between the plates is 3 mm.
- Calculate the capacitance of the capacitor.
- If this capacitor is connected to 100 V supply, what would be the charge on each plate?
- How would charge on the plates be affected, if a 3 mm thick mica sheet of k = 6 is inserted between the plates while the voltage supply remains connected?
A slab of material of dielectric constant K has the same area as that of the plates of a parallel plate capacitor but has the thickness d/2, where d is the separation between the plates. Find out the expression for its capacitance when the slab is inserted between the plates of the capacitor.
Define the capacitance of a capacitor and its SI unit.
A parallel-plate capacitor of plate area 40 cm2 and separation between the plates 0.10 mm, is connected to a battery of emf 2.0 V through a 16 Ω resistor. Find the electric field in the capacitor 10 ns after the connections are made.
A parallel-plate capacitor is filled with a dielectric material of resistivity ρ and dielectric constant K. The capacitor is charged and disconnected from the charging source. The capacitor is slowly discharged through the dielectric. Show that the time constant of the discharge is independent of all geometrical parameters like the plate area or separation between the plates. Find this time constant.
A parallel plate air condenser has a capacity of 20µF. What will be a new capacity if:
1) the distance between the two plates is doubled?
2) a marble slab of dielectric constant 8 is introduced between the two plates?
Answer the following question.
Describe briefly the process of transferring the charge between the two plates of a parallel plate capacitor when connected to a battery. Derive an expression for the energy stored in a capacitor.
Solve the following question.
A parallel plate capacitor is charged by a battery to a potential difference V. It is disconnected from the battery and then connected to another uncharged capacitor of the same capacitance. Calculate the ratio of the energy stored in the combination to the initial energy on the single capacitor.
In a parallel plate capacitor, the capacity increases if ______.
A parallel plate capacitor filled with a medium of dielectric constant 10, is connected across a battery and is charged. The dielectric slab is replaced by another slab of dielectric constant 15. Then the energy of capacitor will ______.
