Capacitor

Example Problem

Two conducting plates are placed one above the other as shown in the frame. They are connected to a battery which is not shown.  The surrounding metal box is necessary for the calculation but unimportant for this discussion.  You can measure the voltage by click-dragging in the frame.  Start

• The equipotential lines that have been calculated are the ones that you will be asked to measure in one of your lab exercises.
• What is the relationship between these equipotentials and the electric field?
• Which plate is at the highest potential?
• What is the voltage distribution between the plates?
• What does the electric field for this configuration of plates look like between the plates and near the ends of the plates?
  

To check your answer to the last question, click here. Show electric field vectors.

Script Example

<script language="JavaScript"> 
function prelab_8(){
     	document.Poisson.setDefault();
     	document.Poisson.setNoDrag(0);
	document.Poisson.addRectangle(0.0,2.0, 200,10, -5)
	document.Poisson.addRectangle(0.0,-2.0, 200,10, 5)
	document.Poisson.setShowVOnDrag(1);
     	document.Poisson.setShowContours(1);
}
</script>

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