PHY 3104 PHYSICS II

Semester 1, 16/17

TUTORIAL 3
CAPACITANCE AND DIELECTRIC & CURRENT, RESISTANCE AND
ELECTROMOTIVE FORCE

1.

A parallel-plate air capacitor of capacitance 245 pF has a charge of magnitude 0.148 C on

each plate. The plates are 0.328 mm apart. (a) What is the potential difference between the
plates? (b) What is the area of each plate? (c) What is the electric-field magnitude between
the plates? (d) What is the surface charge density on each plate? ANS : (a) 604 V, (b) 90.8
cm2, (c) 1.84 x 106 V/m, (d) 1.63 x 10-5 C/m2.

2.

A cylindrical capacitor has an inner conductor of radius 1.5 mm and an outer conductor of
radius 3.5 mm. The two conductors are separated by vacuum, and the entire capacitor is 2.8
m long. (a) What is the capacitance per unit length? (b) The potential of the inner conductor
is 350 mV higher than that of the outer conductor. Find the charge (magnitude and sign) on
both conductors. ANS : (a) 66 pF/m, (b) 64 pC.

3.

Figure 1 shows a system of four capacitors, where the potential difference across ab is 50.0
V. (a) Find the equivalent capacitance of this system between a and b. (b) How much charge
is stored by this combination of capacitors? (c) How much charge is stored in each of the
10.0 F and the 9.0 F capacitors? ANS : (a) 3.47 F, (b) 174 C, (c) both are 174 C.

4.

Figure 1
A 450 F capacitor is charged to 295 V. Then a wire is connected between the plates. How
many joules of thermal energy are produced as the capacitor discharges if all of the energy
that was stored goes into heating the wire? ANS :19.6 J.

5.

A parallel-plate vacuum capacitor has 8.38 J of energy stored in it. The separation between
the plates is 2.30 mm. If the separation is decreased to 1.15 mm, what is the energy stored
(a) if the capacitor is disconnected from the potential source so the charge on the plates
remains constant, and (b) if the capacitor remains connected to the potential source so the
potential different between the plates remains constant? ANS : (a) 4.19 J, (b) 16.8 J.

6.

A parallel-plate capacitor has capacitance Co = 5.00 pF when there is air between the plates.
The separation between the plates is 1.50 mm. (a) What is the maximum magnitude of
charge Q that can be placed on each plate if the electric field in the region between the plates
is not to exceed 3.00 x 104 V/m? (b) A dielectric with K = 2.10 is inserted between the plates
1

PHY 3104 PHYSICS II

Semester 1, 16/17

of capacitor, completely filling the volume between the plates. Now what is the maximum
magnitude of charge on each plate if the dielectric field between the plates is not exceeding
3.00 x 104 V/m? ANS : (a) 2.25 x 10-10 C , (b) 6.08 x 10-10 C.
7.

A capacitor has parallel plates of area 12 cm2 separated by 2.0 mm. The space between the
plates is filled with polystyrene (K = 2.6, Em = 2 x 107 V/m). (a) Find the permittivity of
polystyrene. (b) Find the maximum permissible voltage across the capacitor to avoid
dielectric breakdown. (c) When the voltage equals the value found in part (b), find the
surface charge density on each plate and the induced surface-charge density on the surface
of the dielectric. ANS : (a) 2.3 x 10-11 C2/N.m2, (b) 4.0 x 104 V, (c) 2.8 x 10-4 C/m2.

8.

A silver wire 2.6 mm in diameter transfer a charge of 240 C in 80 min. Silver contains 5.8 x
1028 free electrons per cubic meter. (a) What is the current in the wire? (b) What is the
magnitude of the drift velocity of the electrons in the wire? ANS : (a) 8.75 x 10-2 A, (b) 1.78
x 10-6 m/s.

9.

A 1.50 m cylindrical rod of diameter 0.50 cm is connected to a power supply that maintains
a constant potential difference of 15.0 V across its end, while an ammeter measures the
current through it. You observe that at room temperature (20.0 oC) the ammeter reads 18.5 A,
while at 92.0oC it reads 17.2 A. You can ignore any thermal expansion of the rod. Find (a)
the resistivity and (b) the temperature coefficient of resistivity at 20 oC for the material of the
rod. ANS : (a) 1.06 x 10-6 .m, (b) 0.00105 oC-1.

10. A tightly coiled spring having 75 coils, each 3.50 cm in diameter, is made of insulated metal
wire 3.25 mm in diameter. An ohmmeter connected across its opposite ends reads 1.74 .
What is the resistivity of the metal? ANS : 1.75 x 10-6 .m.
11. A carbon resistor is to be used as a thermometer. On a winter day when the temperature is
4.0oC, the resistance of the carbon resistor is 217.3 . What is the temperature on a spring
day when the resistance is 215.8 ? (Take the reference temperature T0 to be 4.0oC). ANS :
17.8oC.
12. The circuit shown in Figure 2 contains 2 batteries, each with an emf and an internal
resistance, and two resistors. Find (a) the current in the circuit (magnitude and direction), (b)
the terminal voltage Vab of the 16V battery, (c) the potential difference Vac of point a with
respect to point c. (a) 0.47A (b) 15.2V (c) 11.0V

Figure 2

PHY 3104 PHYSICS II

Semester 1, 16/17

13. The capacity of a storage battery, such as those used in automobile electrical systems, is
rated in ampere-hours (A.h). A 50 A.h battery can supply a current of 50 A for 1.0 h, or 25A
for 2.0 h, and so on. (a) What total energy can be supplied by a 12 V, 60 A.h battery if its
internal resistance is negligible? (b) What volume (in liters) of gasoline has a total heat of
combustion equal to the energy obtained in part (a)?(density of gasoline is 900 kg/m3). (c) If
a generator with an average electrical power output of 0.45 kW is connected to the battery,
how much time will be required for it to charge the battery fully? ANS : (a) 2.6 x 106 J, (b)
0.063 L, (c) 1.6 h.
PROBLEMS
Please submit the answer for problem 1 and 2.
1.

In Figure 3, each capacitance C1 is 6.9 F, and each capacitance C2 is 4.6 F. (a) Compute
the equivalent capacitance of the network between points a and b. (b) Compute the charge
on each of the three capacitors nearest a and b when Vab = 420 V. (c) With 420 V across a
and b, compute Vcd .

Figure 3
2.

(a) What is the potential difference Vad in the circuit of Figure 4? What is the terminal
voltage of the 4.00 V battery? (c) A battery with emf 10.30z V and internal resistance 0.50
is inserted in the circuit at d, with its negative terminal connected to negative terminal of
the 8.00 V battery. What is the difference of potential V bc between the terminals of the 4.00
V battery now?

Figure 4
3