Basic Capacitors: What Happens When a Thick Slab is Inserted?

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SUMMARY

The discussion centers on the effect of inserting a thick slab of metal between the plates of a parallel-plate capacitor. When a conductor is placed between the plates, the electric field inside the metal becomes zero due to charge rearrangement, effectively creating two capacitors in series with the same charge. This configuration alters the overall capacitance of the system, as the presence of the metal slab modifies the electric field distribution between the plates.

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michael650
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The question I had was more qualitative than quantitative, but I always preferred to understand concepts in both ways clearly. Can someone explain what happens to the capacitance of parallel-plate capacitor when a thick slab of metal is inserted between the plates, parallel to them but not in contact with them? I'm having trouble going through the algebra of it all.

~~Thanks!
 
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hi michael650! :smile:
michael650 said:
Can someone explain what happens to the capacitance of parallel-plate capacitor when a thick slab of metal is inserted between the plates, parallel to them but not in contact with them?

the https://www.physicsforums.com/library.php?do=view_item&itemid=6"

the electric field E is zero inside the metal (because it's a conductor, and the charges rearrange themselves to cancel out any external field), and D0 in the two gaps …

so the capacitance is … ? :smile:

(of course, you could just say that it's now two capacitors in series, with the same charge :wink:)
 
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on the metal slab free charge would come to the surface to make the E field inside the slab 0 since it is a conductor . Tiny tim submitted his when i was typing this .
 

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