University Physics with Modern Physics (14th Edition)

Published by Pearson
ISBN 10: 0321973615
ISBN 13: 978-0-32197-361-0

Chapter 24 - Capacitance and Dielectrics - Problems - Exercises - Page 810: 24.27

Answer

(a) $U_{parallel} = 4U_{series}$ (b) $Q_{parallel} = 2Q_{series}$ (c) $E_{parallel} = 2E_{series}$

Work Step by Step

(a) In parallel both capacitors have the same potential, therefore their total energy stored is $$U_{parallel} = CV^2$$ While in series, each capacitor has the half value of the total potential $V/2 $, therefore, their stored energy in series is given by $$U_{series} = \dfrac{1}{4} CV^2$$ Let us take the ratio between both energies $$\dfrac{U_{parallel}}{U_{series}} = \dfrac{CV^2}{\dfrac{1}{4} CV^2} = 4 $$ $$\therefore \boxed{U_{parallel} = 4U_{series}}$$ (b) In parallel, each capacitor has its own charge and the total charge for their combination is $$Q_{parallel} = 2Q$$ While in series, both capacitors have the same charge even for their combination and is given by $$Q_{series} = Q$$ Let us take the ratio between both charges $$\dfrac{Q_{parallel}}{Q_{series}} = \dfrac{2Q}{Q} = 2 $$ $$\therefore \boxed{Q_{parallel} = 2Q_{series}}$$ (c) The electric field depends on the potential of the capacitor and is given in the form $$E = \dfrac{V}{d}$$ In parallel, both have the same potential, therefore the same electric field for their combination $$E_{parallel} = \dfrac{V}{d}$$ While in series, each capacitor has half of the potential, therefore, the electric field for their combination in series $$E_{series} = \dfrac{V}{2} d$$ Let us take the ratio between both charges $$\dfrac{E_{parallel}}{E_{series}} = \dfrac{ \dfrac{V}{d}}{ \dfrac{V}{2} d} = 2 $$ $$\therefore \boxed{E_{parallel} = 2E_{series}}$$
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