Discuss the behaviour of capacitors connected i... - SS2 Physics Electronics Question
Discuss the behaviour of capacitors connected in series and in parallel in an electric circuit. How does the total capacitance change in each configuration? Provide examples to illustrate your explanation.
When capacitors are connected in series in an electric circuit, the total capacitance (Ctotal) is given by the reciprocal of the sum of the reciprocals of individual capacitances (C1, C2, C3, ...). In other words, 1/C_total = 1/C1 + 1/C2 + 1/C3 + ...
For capacitors connected in parallel, the total capacitance is equal to the sum of the individual capacitances (C_total = C1 + C2 + C3 + ...).
For example, if we have three capacitors connected in series with capacitances of 2 μF, 4 μF, and 6 μF, the total capacitance would be 1/Ctotal = 1/2 + 1/4 + 1/6 = 3/4 μF. Conversely, if the same three capacitors are connected in parallel, the total capacitance would be Ctotal = 2 + 4 + 6 = 12 μF.
It is important to note that connecting capacitors in series decreases the total capacitance while connecting them in parallel increases the total capacitance.
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