How Is the Capacitance of a Parallel-Plate Air Capacitor Calculated?

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Each plate of a parallel-plate air capacitor has an area of 0.0070 m2, and the separation of the plates
is 0.030 mm. An electric field of 4.0 × 106 V/m is present between the plates. The capacitance of the
capacitor, in pF, is closest to:?


The capacitive network shown is assembled with initially uncharged capacitors. A potential difference, Vab = +100 V, is
applied across the network. The switch S in the network is kept open throughout.
 

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Capacitance is electric energy per charge, you should be able to calculate the electric energy for a given charge setup so just put Q -Q on the capacitor and continue on from there.

As for the second it is just about knowing how to calculate parallel and series of capacitors. You should be able to prove these from the definition of capacitance.

If you have any problems try to start, post how far you got and I can give you more from there.
 
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hi vegamontalvo! welcome to pf! :smile:

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vegamontalvo said:
Each plate of a parallel-plate air capacitor has an area of 0.0070 m2, and the separation of the plates
is 0.030 mm. An electric field of 4.0 × 106 V/m is present between the plates. The capacitance of the
capacitor, in pF, is closest to:?

what formulas do you know relating E d A Q and C for a capacitor ? :smile:
Klockan3 said:
Capacitance is electric energy per charge …


no, capacitance = charge per voltage