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Q.Derive an expression for the capacitance of a parallel plate capacitor.

Jharkhand JacJAC Intermediate Board 2019Subjective· 3mImportance★★★★★
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Using Gauss's law to find the uniform field between two oppositely charged parallel plates, then integrating to get the potential difference, gives C = Q/V = eps0 A/d.

Consider two large, parallel conducting plates, each of area AA, separated by a small distance dd (small compared to plate dimensions, so edge effects can be ignored). Let the plates carry charges +Q+Q and −Q-Q, giving a uniform surface charge density σ=Q/A\sigma = Q/A on the facing surfaces.

Step 1 - Electric field between the plates: Using Gauss's law for an infinite charged sheet, each plate produces a field of magnitude σ/2ε0\sigma/2\varepsilon_0 pointing away from itself (for the positive plate) or towards itself (for the negative plate) in the region between the plates. In the region between the plates, the fields from both plates point in the same direction and add up, while outside the plates they cancel. So the net field between the plates is …

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