A capacitor is charged to a potential difference of 12V. If it is disconnected from the battery and the plates are moved apart, what happens to the potential difference? (2021)
Practice Questions
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Q1
A capacitor is charged to a potential difference of 12V. If it is disconnected from the battery and the plates are moved apart, what happens to the potential difference? (2021)
Increases
Decreases
Remains the same
Becomes zero
When the plates of a disconnected capacitor are moved apart, the capacitance decreases, leading to an increase in potential difference.
Questions & Step-by-step Solutions
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Q
Q: A capacitor is charged to a potential difference of 12V. If it is disconnected from the battery and the plates are moved apart, what happens to the potential difference? (2021)
Solution: When the plates of a disconnected capacitor are moved apart, the capacitance decreases, leading to an increase in potential difference.
Steps: 6
Step 1: Understand that a capacitor stores electrical energy when connected to a battery, in this case at 12V.
Step 2: When the capacitor is disconnected from the battery, it retains the charge it had at 12V.
Step 3: Know that the capacitance of a capacitor depends on the distance between its plates.
Step 4: When the plates of the capacitor are moved apart, the capacitance decreases.
Step 5: Since the charge remains constant and capacitance decreases, the potential difference (voltage) across the capacitor must increase.
Step 6: Therefore, moving the plates apart increases the potential difference beyond 12V.
