How is the charging time for a capacitor correlated with the initial current? That is, if the initial current is bigger, is the charging time, longer, shorter, or the same?

Short Answer

Expert verified

The charging time will be shorter, with a larger initial current, as the charge accumulation rate at the plates is high.

Step by step solution

01

Charging a capacitor

Due to the accumulation of charge at the capacitor plates, an electric field is developed between the plates. With more and more charge accumulation, the strength of the electric field between the plates grows. Thus, the energy content of the capacitor also increases. This phenomenon is called the charging of capacitors.

02

Explanation

If the initial current is larger, the rate of charge accumulation at the plates will be higher. Thus, the strength of the electric field also grows quickly. So, charging time will be less.

03

Conclusion

Due to a larger initial current, the accumulation rate of charge, at the plates, will be more. Thus, the charging time will be less.

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Most popular questions from this chapter

Which of the following statements about the discharging of a capacitor through a light bulb are correct? Choose all that are true. (1) The fringe field of the capacitor decreases as the charge on the capacitor plates decreases. (2) Electrons flow across the gap between the plates of the capacitor, thus reducing the charge on the capacitor. (3) The electric field at a location inside the wire is due to charge on the surface of the wires and charge on the plates of the capacitor. (4) Electrons in the wires flow away from the negative plate toward the positive plate, reducing the charge on the plates.

Should an ammeter have a low or high resistance? Why? Should a voltmeter have a low or high resistance? Why?

Using thick connecting wires that are very good conductors, a Nichrome wire (“wire 1”) of length L1 and cross-sectional area A1 is connected in series with a battery and an ammeter (this is circuit 1). The reading on the ammeter is I1. Now the Nichrome wire is removed and replaced with a different wire (“wire 2”), which is 2.5 times as long and has 5.5 times the cross-sectional area of the original wire (this is circuit 2). In the following question, a subscript 1 refers to circuit 1, and a subscript 2 refers to circuit 2. It will be helpful to write out your solutions to the following questions algebraically before doing numerical calculations. (Hint: Think about what is the same in these two circuits.)(a) What is the value of I2/ I1, the ratio of the conventional currents in the two circuits? (b) What is the value of R2/ R1, the ratio of the resistances of the wires? (c) What is the value of E2/ E1, the ratio of the electric fields inside the wires in the steady states?

Question: How does the final (equilibrium) charge on the capacitor plates depend on the particular resistor (for example, the kind of bulb or the length of Nichrome wire) in the circuit during charging? Explain briefly.

A long Iron slab of width w and height h emerges from a furnace, as shown in Figure 19.79. Because the end of the slab near the furnace is hot and the other end Is cold, the electron mobility increases significantly with the distance x. The electron mobility is u=u0+kxwhere u0is the mobility of the iron at the hot end of the slab. There are n iron atoms per cubic meter, and each atom contributes one electron to the sea of the mobile electron (we can neglect the small thermal expansion of the iron). A steady state conventional current runs through the slab from the hot end towards cold end, and an ammeter (not shown) measures the current to have a magnitude I in amperes. A voltmeter is connected to two locations a distance d apart, as shown. (a) Show the electric field inside the slab at two locations marked with ×. Pay attention to the relative magnitudes of the two vectors that you draw. (b) Explain why the magnitude of the electric field is different at these two locations. (c) At a distance x from the left voltmeter connection, what is the magnitude of the electric field in terms x and the given quantities w,h,d,u0,k,l, and n ( and fundamental constants)? (d) What is the sign of potential difference displayed on the voltmeter? Explain briefly. (e) In terms of the given quantitiesw,h,d,u0,k,l, and n and ( and fundamental constants), what is the magnitude of the voltmeter reading? Check your work. (f) What is the resistance of this length of the iron slab?

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