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Adding a dielectric to a capacitor

Student 3057 9 years ago updated by Physics Tutorial Center Staff 9 years ago 1

A capacitor is connected to a battery until it is fully charged. The battery is then disconnected from the circuit and a dielectric with a dielectric constant of 2 is added to the capacitor. How do the capacitance, charge, and voltage of the capacitor change?

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I think you will find it helpful to first check your lectures notes and the textbook for information on dielectrics. If you're having trouble finding the section in your textbook, keep in mind you can always use the index!


After you know how a dielectric affects a capacitor, think about which of those three quantities are able to be changed. Do you know of a conservation law that applies to one of them (i.e. because the battery has been disconnected)? Once you've figured out which of these quantities definitely cannot change, look for a formula that relates all three quantities.


If you need some more specific help, please don't hesitate to ask!