# CAPACITORS EXPERIMENT

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Course and Section_______
Names ___________________________
Date___________
_________________________________
CAPACITORS EXPERIMENT
Short description:
In this experiment you will determine how voltages are distributed in capacitor circuits and
explore series and parallel combinations of capacitors.
Equipment:
−
−
−
−
AC power supply (set to 10V)
Three 0.1&micro;F capacitors, one 0.01&micro;F capacitor, one unknown capacitor
Multimeter
4 cables
Theory:
Capacitors are electronic devices which have fixed values of capacitance and negligible
resistance. The capacitance C is the charge stored in the device, Q, divided by the voltage
difference across the device, ∆V:
C = Q/∆V
(1)
The schematic symbol of a capacitor is has two vertical (or horizontal) lines a small distance
apart (representing the capacitor plates) connected to two lines representing the connecting wires
There are two ways to connect capacitors in an electronic circuit - series or parallel connection.
Series:
In a series connection the components are connected at a single point, end to end as shown
below:
C1
C2
For a series connection, the charge on each capacitor will be the same and the voltage drops will
add. We can find the equivalent capacitance, Ceq, from
Q &middot; 1/Ceq = ∆V = ∆V1 + ∆V2 = Q/C1 + Q/C2 = Q [1/C1+1/C2]
1/Ceq = 1/C1 + 1/C2
(2)
(3)
Parallel:
In the parallel connection, the components are connected together at both ends as shown below:
C1
C2
For a parallel connection, the voltage drops will be the same, but the charges will add. Then the
equivalent capacitance can be calculated by adding the charges:
Ceq ∆V = Q = Q1 + Q2 = C1∆V + C2∆V = [C1+C2] ∆V
Ceq = C1 + C2
(5)
(6)
Procedure:
Figure 2. AC power supply
Figure 1. Multimeter
1. Turn on the power supply and set the AC voltage to 10 V. Measure the actual power
supply voltage with the multimeter and record it below:
VPS = ___________________V
2. Connect two 0.1 &micro;F capacitors in series. Measure V2
(across C2) and record it below.
V2 (measured) = ____________ V
3. Compute the expected value of V2 using VPS, the
values of C1 and C2 with equations 1 and 3.
Remember that Eq. 1 is true for each capacitor,
including the combined C12.
C2
C1
V
V2 (expected) = ____________ V
% difference = |measured - expected| / measured x 100 % = __________
4. Connect a third 0.1 &micro;F capacitor in parallel with C2.
Compute their equivalent capacitance C23.
∼
C2
C23 = _________ &micro;F.
Measure and compute the voltage across C2. [Hint: is this the
same as the voltage across the equivalent capacitor C23? You may
want to compute the total equivalent capacitance seen by the
power supply, C123]
C3
V2 (measured) = ________ V,
V
V2 (expected) = ________ V,
% difference = ________
5. Now remove the third capacitor C3 and replace it with a 0.01 &micro;F capacitor.
Compute their equivalent capacitance C23.
C23 = _________ &micro;F.
Measure and compute the voltage across C2
V2 (measured) = ________ V,
V2 (expected) = ________ V,
% difference = ________
C1
∼
6. Now connect the 0.1 &micro;F and the 0.01 &micro;F
capacitor in series. as C2 and C3. Compute the
equivalent capacitance C23
C2
C3
C1
C23 = _________ &micro;F.
V
Measure and compute the voltage across the equivalent capacitance C23.
V23 (measured) = ________ V,
V23 (expected) = ________ V,
% difference = ________
7. This method can be used to find an unknown capacitance. Replace C2 with the unknown
value capacitor and determine its capacitance by measuring V2 and using equations 1 and 3.
V2 = ___________ V,
C 2 = _________ &micro;F.
∼
C2 = ?
V
C1
```
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