Why Do Both Conductors in a Capacitor Acquire Equal Charge?

  • Thread starter Thread starter bananabandana
  • Start date Start date
  • Tags Tags
    Capacitor Charge
Click For Summary

Homework Help Overview

The discussion revolves around the behavior of charges in a capacitor connected to a battery, specifically why both conductors of the capacitor acquire equal charge regardless of their size or shape.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory, Conceptual clarification

Approaches and Questions Raised

  • The original poster attempts to understand the intuitive reasoning behind equal charge distribution on the conductors and expresses uncertainty about the mathematical representation of this concept. Other participants question the role of the battery in applying potential and how it affects charge distribution.

Discussion Status

The discussion is ongoing, with participants exploring the fundamental concepts of charge behavior in capacitors and the effects of battery connection. There is a focus on clarifying the relationship between potential and charge without reaching a definitive conclusion.

Contextual Notes

Participants are grappling with the underlying principles of electrostatics and the effects of a battery on charge distribution, indicating a need for deeper exploration of these concepts.

bananabandana
Messages
112
Reaction score
5

Homework Statement


A battery is connected to a capacitor made from two conductors. Why do each of the two conductors acquire the same charge,regardless of size or shape?


Homework Equations





The Attempt at a Solution


Well, I can see that this is sensible, intuitively that the charge on one will repel an equal amount of charge on the other. But I have no idea how to prove/represent this mathematically!
Thanks for help! :)
 
Physics news on Phys.org
What does a battery do to charge?
 
Apply a fixed potential to it, I suppose. But I'm not sure how that helps??
 
How does it apply the fixed potential?
What does it do to the charge to get that potential?
 

Similar threads

  • · Replies 18 ·
Replies
18
Views
3K
Replies
11
Views
4K
  • · Replies 3 ·
Replies
3
Views
2K
  • · Replies 5 ·
Replies
5
Views
2K
  • · Replies 11 ·
Replies
11
Views
3K
  • · Replies 4 ·
Replies
4
Views
4K
Replies
7
Views
1K
  • · Replies 8 ·
Replies
8
Views
2K
  • · Replies 3 ·
Replies
3
Views
3K
  • · Replies 10 ·
Replies
10
Views
4K