Question

An ideal parallel plate capacitor with a cross-sectional area of 0.4 cm2 contains a dielectric with a dielectric constant of 4 and a dielectric strength of 2 x 108 V/m. The separation between the plates of the capacitor is 5 mm. What is the maximum electric charge (in nC) that can be stored in the capacitor before dielectric breakdown

Answer 1

Answer:

The maximum charge is 7.08 x 10^-8 C.

Explanation:

Area, A = 0.4 cm^2

K = 4

Electric field, E = 2 x 10^8 V/m

separation, d = 5 mm = 0.005 m

Let the capacitance is C and the charge is q.

$q = CV\\\\q=\frac{\varepsilon o A}{d}\times E d\\\\q = \varepsilon o A E\\\\q = 8.85\times 10^{-12}\times0.4\times 10^{-4}\times 2\times 10^8\\\\q = 7.08\times 10^{-8}C$

Answer 2

Answer: $283.2\times 10^{-9}\ nC$

Explanation:

Given

Cross-sectional area $A=0.4\ cm^2$

Dielectric constant $k=4$

Dielectric strength $E=2\times 10^8\ V/m$

Distance between capacitors $d=5\ mm$

Maximum charge that can be stored before dielectric breakdown is given by

$\Rightarrow Q=CV\\\\\Rightarrow Q=\dfrac{k\epsilon_oA}{d}\cdot (Ed)\quad\quad [V=E\cdot d]\\\\\Rightarrow Q=k\epsilon_oAE\\\\\Rightarrow Q=4\times 8.85\times 10^{-12}\times 0.4\times 10^{-4}\times 2\times 10^8\\\\\Rightarrow Q=28.32\times 10^{-8}\\\\\Rightarrow Q=283.2\times 10^{-9}\ nC$