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5: Capacitors

Last updated

Mar 5, 2022
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- 4.16: Attenuators
- 5.1: Introduction

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5.1: Introduction
A capacitor consists of two metal plates separated by a nonconducting medium (known as the dielectric medium or simply the dielectric) or by a vacuum.
5.2: Plane Parallel Capacitor
5.3: Coaxial Cylindrical Capacitor
5.4: Concentric Spherical Capacitor
5.5: Capacitors in Parallel
For capacitors in parallel, the potential difference is the same across each, and the total charge is the sum of the charges on the individual capacitor.
5.6: Capacitors in Series
The potential difference across the system of capacitors in series is the sum of the potential differences across the individual capacitances.
5.7: Delta-Star Transform
We can make a delta-star transform with capacitors.
5.8: Kirchhoff’s Rules
5.9: Problem for a Rainy Day
5.10: Energy Stored in a Capacitor
5.11: Energy Stored in an Electric Field
5.12: Force Between the Plates of a Plane Parallel Plate Capacitor
5.13: Sharing a Charge Between Two Capacitors
5.14: Mixed Dielectrics
5.15: Changing the Distance Between the Plates of a Capacitor
5.16: Inserting a Dielectric into a Capacitor
5.17: Polarization and Susceptibility
5.18: Discharging a Capacitor Through a Resistor
5.19: Charging a Capacitor Through a Resistor
5.20: Real Capacitors
Real capacitors can vary from huge metal plates suspended in oil to the tiny cylindrical components seen inside a radio. A great deal of information about them is available on the Web and from manufacturers’ catalogs, and I only make the briefest remarks here.
5.21: More on E, D, P, etc
5.22: Dielectric material in an alternating electric field.

Thumbnail: Capacitors connected in series. The magnitude of the charge on each plate is Q. (CC BY-SA 3.0; OpenSTAX).

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