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.

Short Answer

Expert verified

The capacitor's charging depends on the cross-sectional area of the wire or filament of the bulb.

Step by step solution

01

Assume some data on behalf of given question.

Let assume the resistance of the filament of the nichrome wire isR .

Area of the capacitor plates is A.

02

Determine the formulas that shows the relation between the final charge and resistance of the element.

The electron charge or current is defined as the number of the electron enter the wire every second.

The expression to calculate the electron current at the location Dis given as follows.

role="math" localid="1668592073069" i=nAμE …… (i)

Here, is the number of the electron, is the cross-sectional area, is the mobility and is the electrical field.

03

Determine that how the final charge on the capacitor depends on the particular resistance.

The electric field inside the capacitor plates is constant, and the current in the filament of the bulb and wire varies during the charging. The mobility is a constant value for the particular material. Therefore, the current depends on the cross-sectional area.

From equation (i), the current in the bulb's filament is directly proportional to the cross-sectional area. If the cross-sectional area of the wire or filament of the bulb is low, then the current through the wire and bulb's filament is low.

Hence, the capacitor's charging depends on the cross-sectional area of the wire or filament of the bulb.

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Most popular questions from this chapter

In the circuit shown in Figure 19.77 the emf of the battery is 7.4V. Resistor R1has a resistance of 31Ω, resistor R2 has a resistance of 47Ω, and resistor R3has a resistance of 52Ω . A steady current flows through the circuit.

(a)What is the equivalent resistance of R1and R2 ? (b) What is the equivalent resistance of all three resistors? (c) What is the conventional current throughR3

When, a thick-filament bulb is connected to one flashlight battery, the current is 0.2A.When you use two batteries in series, the current is not0.4Abut only0.33A.Briefly explain this behavior.

The insulating layer between the plates of a capacitor not only holds the plates apart to prevent conducting contact but also has a big effect on charging. Consider two capacitors whose only difference is that capacitor number has nothing between the plates, while capacitor number has a layer of plastic in the gap (Figure 19.57). They are placed in two different circuits having similar batteries and bulbs in series with the capacitor.

Show that in the first fraction of a second the current stays more nearly constant (decreases less rapidly) in the circuit with capacitor number . Explain your reasoning in detail. Hint: Consider the electric fields produced in the nearby wires by this plastic-filled capacitor. Suppose that the plastic is replaced by a different plastic that polarizes more easily. In the same circuit, would this capacitor keep the current more nearly constant or less so than capacitor ?

A more extensive analysis shows that this trend holds true for the entire charging process: the capacitor containing an easily polarized insulator ends up with more charge on its plates. The capacitor you have been using is filled with an insulator that polarizes extremely easily.

A circuit consists of two batteries (with negligible resistance), six ohmic resistors and connecting wires that have negligible resistance. The resistance R1is 10Ω, R2 is 20Ω, R3 is 30Ω, R4is 12Ω, R5is 15Ω and R6 is 20Ω. Unknown currents I1,I2 ,I3 ,I4 , I5 and I6 have their directions marked on the circuit diagram in figure 19.87.

(a) Write down a set of equations that could be solved for the six unknown currents. Make sure you can explain how to you got these equations. (b) When a correct set of equations is solved the currents are as follows (to the nearest miiampeares) I1=0.4394A, I2=0.3312A, I3=0.0065A, I4=0.1082A, I5=0.3247Aand I6=0.4329A. Check your equations by substituting in these numbers. (c) Suppose that you connect the negative lead of a voltmeter to location C. What does the voltmeter read, including both magnitude and sign? (d) What does the power output of the 5 V battery? (e) Resistor is made of a very thin metal wire that is 3 mm long, with a diameter of 0.1 mm. What is the electric field inside the metal resistor.

For the circuit shown in figure 19.86, which consists of batteries with known emf and ohmic resistors with known resistance, write the correct number of energy-conservation and current node rule equations that would be adequate to solve for the unknown currents, but do not solve the equations. Label nodes and currents on the diagram, and identify each equation (energy or current, and for which loop or node).

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