Question

A 2.0-cm-diameter parallel-plate capacitor with a spacing of 0.50 mm is charged to 200 V?What is the total energy stores in the electic field?U=______ JWhat is the energy densityu=________J/m^3

Answer 1

1) $1.11\cdot 10^{-7} J$

The capacitance of a parallel-plate capacitor is given by:

$C=\frac{\epsilon_0 A}{d}$

where

$\epsilon_0$ is the vacuum permittivity

A is the area of each plate

d is the distance between the plates

Here, the radius of each plate is

$r=\frac{2.0 cm}{2}=1.0 cm=0.01 m$

so the area is

$A=\pi r^2 = \pi (0.01 m)^2=3.14\cdot 10^{-4} m^2$

While the separation between the plates is

$d=0.50 mm=5\cdot 10^{-4} m$

So the capacitance is

$C=\frac{(8.85\cdot 10^{-12} F/m)(3.14\cdot 10^{-4} m^2)}{5\cdot 10^{-4} m}=5.56\cdot 10^{-12} F$

And now we can find the energy stored,which is given by:

$U=\frac{1}{2}CV^2=\frac{1}{2}(5.56\cdot 10^{-12} F/m)(200 V)^2=1.11\cdot 10^{-7} J$

2) 0.71 J/m^3

The magnitude of the electric field is given by

$E=\frac{V}{d}=\frac{200 V}{5\cdot 10^{-4} m}=4\cdot 10^5 V/m$

and the energy density of the electric field is given by

$u=\frac{1}{2}\epsilon_0 E^2$

and using

$E=4\cdot 10^5 V/m$, we find

$u=\frac{1}{2}(8.85\cdot 10^{-12} F/m)(4\cdot 10^5 V/m)^2=0.71 J/m^3$