El-4 The Capacitor
Published: Tuesday 14 March 2006 - Updated: Thursday 31 March 2011
Aim
To demonstrate that the capacitance of a parallel plate capacitor is inversely proportional to d the distance of separation.
Apparatus
- Parallel plate capacitor
- Electroscope
- Portalab projector system
- 9V battery
- Hook up wire
Diagrams
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The Capacitor |
Capacitor Diagram |
Videos
The Capacitor |
Description
The plates of the capacitor have been shellaced so that they can be brought into contact without shorting. In this position 9V is applied momentarily to the capacitor. No deflection is noted on the electroscope. On separating the plates the electroscope leaves diverge demonstrating that the voltage has increased and the capacitance decreased satisfying the relations
C=Q/V , C= A/d
It is worthwhile noting that for a modest deflection of the electroscope approximately 1000volts is required.