A capacitor is charged to a voltage V and then disconnected from the battery. If
Practice Questions
Q1
A capacitor is charged to a voltage V and then disconnected from the battery. If the distance between the plates is increased, what happens to the charge?
Increases
Decreases
Remains the same
Becomes zero
Questions & Step-by-Step Solutions
A capacitor is charged to a voltage V and then disconnected from the battery. If the distance between the plates is increased, what happens to the charge?
Correct Answer: Charge remains constant.
Step 1: Understand that a capacitor stores electrical charge.
Step 2: Know that when a capacitor is connected to a battery, it gets charged to a certain voltage V.
Step 3: When the capacitor is disconnected from the battery, it is isolated and cannot gain or lose charge from the battery.
Step 4: Recognize that the charge on the capacitor remains constant after it is disconnected.
Step 5: Understand that increasing the distance between the plates of the capacitor affects its capacitance, which is a measure of how much charge it can store per unit voltage.
Step 6: Realize that while increasing the distance decreases the capacitance, it does not change the amount of charge already stored on the capacitor.
Capacitance and Charge Relationship – When a capacitor is disconnected from a voltage source, the charge stored on the plates remains constant regardless of changes in capacitance.
Effect of Plate Separation – Increasing the distance between the plates of a capacitor decreases its capacitance, but since the charge is constant, the voltage across the capacitor will increase.
