Capacitors

Pre-Lab: Capacitors

Name: Section:

1. What is the equation for the capacitance C of a parallel-plate capacitor

where the two plates are separated by a distance d and both have an area
A (see figure below).

2. If the area of each plate in a parallel-plate capacitor is doubled, how does

the capacitance change?

3. If the distance between the plates in a parallel-plate capacitor is doubled,

how does the capacitance change?
4. Briefly summarize the procedures you will follow in this lab. Write one or
two sentences for each activity.

5. List any part (or parts) of the lab that you think may suffer from non-trivial
experimental error, or may otherwise cause you trouble. How might this
affect your results?
 4

I get a real charge out of

capacitors.
P. W. Laws

Objectives
• To define capacitance and learn how to measure it with a digital multime-
ter.
• To determine how capacitance changes when capacitors are wired in par-
allel and when they are wired in series.

Overview
Any two conductors separated by an insulator can be electrically charged so that
one conductor has a positive charge and the other conductor has an equal amount
of negative charge; such an arrangement is called a capacitor. A capacitor can
be made up of two strange shaped blobs of metal or it can have any number of
regular symmetric shapes such as that of one hollow sphere inside another, or
one hollow rod inside another.
The type of capacitor that is of the most practical interest is the parallel plate
capacitor. Thus, we will focus exclusively on the study of the properties of par-
allel plate capacitors. There are a couple of reasons why you will be studying
parallel plate capacitors. First, the parallel plate capacitor is the easiest to use
when making mathematical calculations or using physical reasoning. Second, it
is relatively easy to construct. Third, parallel plate capacitors are used widely
in electronic circuits to do such diverse things as defining the flashing rate of a
neon tube, determining what radio station will be tuned in, and storing electrical
energy to run an electronic flash unit. Materials other than conductors separated

59
60 Capacitors

by an insulator can be used to make a system that behaves like a simple capac-
itor. Although many of the most interesting properties of capacitors come in
the operation of alternating current circuits, we will limit our present study to
the properties of the parallel plate capacitor and its behavior in direct current
circuits.
The typical method for transferring equal and opposite charges to a capacitor
is to use a voltage source such as a battery or power supply to impress a poten-
tial difference between the two conductors. Electrons will then flow off of one
conductor (leaving positive charges) and on to the other until the potential dif-
ference between the two conductors is the same as that of the voltage source. In
general, the amount of charge needed to reach the impressed potential difference
will depend on the size, shape, and location of the conductors relative to each
other. The capacitance of a given capacitor is defined mathematically as the ratio
of the magnitude of the charge q on either one of the conductors to the voltage
V applied across the two conductors so that
q
C= .
V
Thus, capacitance is defined as a measure of the amount of net or excess charge
on either one of the conductors per unit voltage.
You can draw on some of your experiences with electrostatics to think about
what might happen to a parallel plate capacitor when it is hooked to a battery.
This thinking can give you an intuitive feeling for the meaning of capacitance.
For a fixed voltage from a battery, the net charge found on either plate is propor-
tional to the capacitance of the pair of conductors.

Part I Capacitance Measurements for Parallel

Plates
The unit of capacitance is the farad (F) named after Michael Faraday. One farad
is equal to one coulomb/volt. As you will demonstrate shortly, one farad is a
very large capacitance. Thus, actual capacitances are often expressed in smaller
units with alternate notation as shown below:

microfarad: 10−6 F = 1 F

nanofarad: 10−9 F = 1 nF
Part I. Capacitance Measurements for Parallel Plates 61

picofarad: 10−12 F = 1 pF

You can make a parallel plate capacitor out of two rectangular sheets of alu-
minum foil separated by pieces of paper. A textbook works well as the separator
for the foil as you can slip the two foil sheets between any number of sheets
of paper and weight the book down with something heavy and non-conducting
like another massive textbook. You can then use your digital multimeter in its
capacitance mode for the measurements.
When you measure the capacitance of your “parallel plates”, be sure the alu-
minum foil pieces are arranged carefully so they don’t touch each other and short
out. Also, make sure a constant pressure is applied to the textbook throughout
the entire experiment.
To complete the next few activities you will need to construct a parallel plate
capacitor and use a multimeter to measure capacitance. Thus, you’ll need the
following items:

• 2 sheets of aluminum foil

• Large textbook

• Multimeter (w/ a capacitance mode)

• 2 insulated wires, stripped at the ends

• Ruler

• Computer

Activity 1.1 Measuring How Capacitance Depends on Area

1. Using two sheets of aluminum foil with the same area construct a paral-
lel plate capacitor by placing the sheets in a textbook so that the sheets
are separated by 50 pages. Measure the capacitance. Since the capaci-
tances will be small, you may get better results if you use the multimeter
in relative mode (the “ ” button). Repeat at least 4 times with foils of
different areas. Fill in the table, and make a graph of the results showing
capacitance as a function of area.
62 Capacitors

Capacitance [pF] Area [cm2 ]

2. Is your graph a straight line? If not, you should make a guess at the func-
tional relationship it represents and linearize the data.

3. What is the function that best describes the relationship between area and
capacitance?

Part II Capacitors in Series and Parallel

You can observe and measure the equivalent capacitance for series and parallel
combinations. For this study you can use two identical capacitors. You’ll need:

• 2 cylindrical capacitors (0.1 F)

• Multimeter
Part II. Capacitors in Series and Parallel 63

Activity 2.1 Capacitance for a Parallel Arrangement

1. What is the relationship between capacitance and the area and plate sep-
aration for a parallel plate capacitor? Since you have two identical ca-
pacitors, the area and plate separation are the same. Use direct physical
reasoning (and a little algebra) to predict the equivalent capacitance of a
pair of identical capacitors wired in parallel. Explain your reasoning be-
low. Hint: What is the effective area of two parallel plate capacitors wired
in parallel? Does the effective spacing between plates change?

2. What is the equivalent capacitance of your two capacitors wired in paral-

lel? Summarize your actual data!

3. What is the general equation for the equivalent capacitance of a parallel

network as a function of the two capacitances C1 and C2 .
Ceq =
64 Capacitors

Activity 2.2 Capacitance for a Series Arrangement

1. For a series connection the bottom plate of the upper capacitor and the top
plate of the lower capacitor are connected electrically and are effectively
at the same potential. If this combination is redrawn as shown on the right,
what is the effective plate separation between the upper and lower plates
of the combination? Use direct physical reasoning (and some algebra) to
predict the equivalent capacitance of a pair of capacitors wired in series.
Explain your reasoning below.

2. Measure the equivalent capacitance when your two pairs of capacitors are
wired in series. Report your actual data. Are the results compatible with
the expected values?

3. What is the general equation for the equivalent capacitance of a series

network as a function of C1 and C2 .
Ceq =