In a capacitor, if the plate area is increased while keeping the separation cons
Practice Questions
Q1
In a capacitor, if the plate area is increased while keeping the separation constant, what happens to the capacitance?
It increases
It decreases
It remains the same
It becomes zero
Questions & Step-by-Step Solutions
In a capacitor, if the plate area is increased while keeping the separation constant, what happens to the capacitance?
Correct Answer: Capacitance increases.
Step 1: Understand what a capacitor is. A capacitor is a device that stores electrical energy.
Step 2: Know that a capacitor has two plates that hold opposite charges.
Step 3: Recognize that the capacitance (C) of a capacitor depends on the area of the plates (A) and the distance between them (d).
Step 4: Remember the formula for capacitance: C = ε * (A / d), where ε is the permittivity of the material between the plates.
Step 5: Notice that in the formula, capacitance (C) is directly proportional to the plate area (A). This means if you increase A, C will also increase.
Step 6: Since the separation (d) is kept constant, only the area (A) is changing.
Step 7: Conclude that if the plate area is increased, the capacitance will also increase.