A parallel-plate capacitor is made from two plates 13.0 c m on each side and 4.2
ID: 2277784 • Letter: A
Question
A parallel-plate capacitor is made from two plates 13.0cm on each side and 4.20mm apart. Half of the space between these plates contains only air, but the other half is filled with Plexiglas of dielectric constant 3.50. (See the figure below(Figure 1) .) An 15.5V battery is connected across the plates.
Explanation / Answer
a)
Area
A=L^2 =0.13^2
A=0.0169 m^2
C=C_air+C_plexigals
C =Keo(A/2)/d +eo(A/2)/d
C =(K+1)(eoA/2d)
C=(3.5+1)(8.85*10^-12*0.0169/2*4.2*10^-3)
C=8.01*10^-11 F
b)
E-=(1/2)CV^2 =(1/2)*(8.01*10^-11)*15.5^2
E=9.62*10^-9 J
c)
if we plexigals then capacitance
C=eoA/d =(8.85*10^-12)*0.0169/(4.2*10^-3)
C=3.56*10^-11 F
Energy stored
E=(1/2)CV^2=(1/2)*(3.56*10^-11)*15.5^2
E=4.28*10^-9 J