Consider a parallel-plate capacitor consisting of two identical rectangular metal…
PHYSICS · Multi-part · CBSE · Physics · Electrostatic Potential and Capacitance · Electrostatic Potential and Capacitance
Problem
Consider a parallel-plate capacitor consisting of two identical rectangular metal plates separated by air.
(i) Define capacitance of a capacitor.
(ii) Explain qualitatively how the capacitance will change in each of the following independent situations:
(a) Only the plate area is doubled while the separation remains the same.
(b) Only the plate separation is halved while the area remains the same.
(iii) The plate area is doubled and, simultaneously, the separation is reduced to one-third of its initial value. Without performing any numerical substitution, state the overall factor by which the capacitance changes and justify your answer clearly.