Capacitors

Question 1

What are the two things that capacitors store?

Answer 1

Electrical charge and electrical energy

Question 2

What is the energy under a Q-V graph?

Answer 2

Energy of the capacitor

Question 3

What happens to a capacitor when it is charging?

Answer 3

When the switch closes:

1) Current starts from maximum decreasing.
2) Voltage across capacitor will increase until it reaches Vs

Question 4

What happens to a capacitor when it is discharging?

Answer 4

When it discharges:

1) Current flows in the opposite direction, starting from Imax all the way until 0.
2) Voltage across capacitor decreases until 0

Question 5

What happens in a capacitor when the switch is open?

Answer 5

All of Vs belongs to R

Question 6

Explain how capacitors work?

Answer 6

1) Capacitors have an insulator between their plates.
2) Electrons flow through the circuit as they are repelled from the negative terminal of the power supply to one plate of the capacitor.
3) They are then attracted off the other plate to the positive terminal of the power supply