Physics: Principles with Applications (7th Edition)

Published by Pearson
ISBN 10: 0-32162-592-7
ISBN 13: 978-0-32162-592-2

Chapter 17 - Electric Potential - General Problems - Page 498: 71

Answer

a. It doubles b. It doubles

Work Step by Step

The capacitor is charged and not connected to anything, so the charge on the capacitor doesn’t change. a. The stored energy is found using equation 17–10, $PE=\frac{1}{2}QV$. Q does not change, and the potential difference V is doubled, so the stored energy doubles. b. The stored energy is found using equation 17–10, $PE=\frac{Q^2}{2C} $. As the plate separation is doubled, equations 17-8 and 17-9 shows that the capacitance will be halved. Q does not change, so the stored energy doubles.
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