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Capacitance of a parallel plate capacitor with a metal plate kept inside
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[QUOTE="kuruman, post: 6852576, member: 192687"] You seem to labor under the impression that without stored charge and potential difference a capacitor does not have capacitance. That is not the case. As stated earlier, capacitance is a geometric property that [B]does not depend [/B]on whether there is a charge on the capacitor or a potential difference between the conductors forming the capacitor. Capacitance is like mass or moment of inertia. An object does not need to accelerate in order to have mass or rotate in order to have moment of inertia. For example, the capacitance of a parallel plate capacitor is (approximately) ##C=\frac{\epsilon_0 A}{d}## and there is no ##Q## or ##V## in the expression. However, to get that expression one has to perform a thought experiment that can be found in any introductory textbook. [LIST=1] [*]Charge ##Q## is removed from one conductor forming the capacitor and placed on the other. [*]The potential difference ##V## is measured or calculated between the two conductors. [*]The capacitance is the ratio ##Q/V##. [/LIST] This cannot happen with the "Z"-shaped conductor that you have. If you start with no charge on it and move ##+Q## from the top of the "Z" to the bottom, you will create a potential difference between top and bottom and the charge will go back where it came from. However, the "Z"-shaped piece and the other plate above it do form a capacitor and you can find its capacitance using the procedure outlined above. Or you can consider the "Z"-shaped alone, bring some charge from infinity and put it on then find the capacitance relative to infinity as mentioned earlier. [/QUOTE]
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Capacitance of a parallel plate capacitor with a metal plate kept inside
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