Answer to Question #79552 in Electric Circuits for Sonali

Question

If the space between the plates of a capacitor is filled will a dielectric material, does
it affect the value of capacitance? Justify your answer.

Answer 1

The capacitance of a parallel-plate capacitor is given by the formula С = kε0S/d, where k is the dielectric constant of the dielectric material between the plates of a capacitor, ε0 is the vacuum permittivity (electric constant), S is the area of the capacitor’s plates, d is the distance between plates. When the filler is absent, i.e. between the plates is a vacuum, this means that k = 1. If the dielectric is fully placed between the two plates of capacitor then it’s dielectric constant increases from its vacuum value so that k > 1. Hence, the capacitance is increased by factor k.