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Dielectric Capacitors Electronics ElectricalEngineering

Whydoesthecapacitanceofacapacitorincreases
How do dielectrics aect capacitance in capacitors?
withadielectric?

Whyisdielectricusedinacapacitor?
4Answers
Whatistheeffectofdielectriconthevalueofa2
Divya Acharya, Grad Student, Electrical Engineering, Texas A&M University platecapacitor?
AnsweredFeb7,2016
Whatistheabsolutecapacitanceofacapacitor?
Let us rst understand what a "capacitor" is - it is a component that has a non-conducting
gap within that stores electrical energy. Onwhichfactorsdoesthecapacitanceofacapacitor
depends?
So the non-conducting gap can be anything that does not conduct electricity, i.e any
Whatistheroleofadielectricinacapacitor?
insulator? Not exactly.
Canoilbeusedasadielectricinacapacitor?
The non-conducting gap is made of a special class of insulators called "dielectrics" which
get "polarized" due to the electric eld.As shown in the diagram, on application of voltage Whatistheenergystoredinadielectric?
across a dielectric, the molecules form dipoles and thereby "store" charges.
HowcanIfindthecapacitanceofacapacitor?

Howdoyouincreasecapacitanceinacapacitor?

Generally speaking, all insulators will have this property, but some insulators get polarized
to a greater extent than others, warranting the use of term "dielectric". The extent of this
polarization is captured by the quantity "dielectric constant" or "relative permittivity" r

The capacitance of a parallel plate capacitor given by the formula that relates area between
plates A, distance between the plates d and r, the relative permittivity . 0 is the electric
constant (0 8.8541012 Fm1) and the product r0 is the absolute permittivity of the
dielectric.

So clearly, if you use a material with powerful r, you can keep the dimensions of the
capacitor smaller. So for a given capacitance value needed, the choice of dielectric will
inuence the size of the capacitor.

Image source: Dielectrics

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RelatedQuestions MoreAnswersBelow

Whydoesthecapacitanceofacapacitorincreaseswithadielectric?

Whyisdielectricusedinacapacitor?

Whatistheeffectofdielectriconthevalueofa2platecapacitor?

Whatistheabsolutecapacitanceofacapacitor?

Onwhichfactorsdoesthecapacitanceofacapacitordepends?

Sumanta De, Electrical engineer

 AnsweredNov26,2016
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Think about what happens when a piece of insulating material is exposed to an electric
eld. If the molecules are non-polar, they will become polarized because the electrons will
feel a force opposite to the eld while the positively charged nuclei feel a force in the RelatedQuestions
direction of the eld. If the molecules are polar (as illustrated in the diagram below) they
will go from a random alignment to being aligned with the eld. Whydoesthecapacitanceofacapacitorincreases
withadielectric?

Whyisdielectricusedinacapacitor?

Whatistheeffectofdielectriconthevalueofa2
platecapacitor?

Whatistheabsolutecapacitanceofacapacitor?

Onwhichfactorsdoesthecapacitanceofacapacitor
depends?

Whatistheroleofadielectricinacapacitor?

Canoilbeusedasadielectricinacapacitor?

Whatistheenergystoredinadielectric?

HowcanIfindthecapacitanceofacapacitor?
When a piece of insulator is inserted into a capacitor, we call the insulator a dielectric. The
Howdoyouincreasecapacitanceinacapacitor?
side of the insulator closest to the positive plate will be negative, while the side closest to
the negative plate will be positive.

The electric eld from the polarized dielectric will partially cancel the electric eld from the
charge on the capacitor plates. This decreases the net eld inside the capacitor, and
decreases the potential dierence across the capacitor. To return the capacitor to its original
potential dierence, more charge is needed.

The net eect of the dielectric is to increase the amount of charge a capacitor can store for a
given potential dierence. The whole point of using a capacitor is to store charge, so coming
up with a way to store more charge for the same amount of eort is a good thing.

Every material has a dielectric constant . This is the ratio of the eld without the dielectric
(Eo) to the net eld (E) with the dielectric:

= Eo/E

E is always less than or equal to Eo

, so the dielectric constant is greater than or equal to 1. The larger the dielectric constant,
the more charge can be stored.

Completely lling the space between capacitor plates with a dielectric increases the
capacitance by a factor of the dielectric constant:

C = Co

, where Co

is the capacitance with no dielectric between the plates.

For a parallel-plate capacitor containing a dielectric that completely lls the space between
the plates, the capacitance is given by:

C = o * eective Area * distance between plates

The capacitance is maximized if the dielectric constant is maximized, and the capacitor
plates have large area and are placed as close together as possible.

If a metal was used for the dielectric instead of an insulator the eld inside the metal would
be zero, corresponding to an innite dielectric constant. The dielectric usually lls the
entire space between the capacitor plates, however, and if a metal did that it would short out
the capacitor - that's why insulators are used instead.

993Views6UpvotesAnswerrequestedbyAkshayaLakshmi

Loring Chien, electrical engineer for 40 years, Sr. Member IEEE

AnsweredFeb1,2016

Every dielectric material has a dielectric constant.

A capacitor has a capacitance proportional to the area of the plates divided by the distance
between the plates times the dielectric constant.

Therefore a material with a higher dielectric constant will give proportionally more
capacitance.
You can nd tables of dielectric constants for materials on the internet. Generally air is
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considered to have a dielectric constant of one. SignIn

Dielectrics also have a signicant bearing on voltage breakdown - the higher the dielectrics
breakdown the closer the plates can be increasing capacitance while keeping the voltage RelatedQuestions
rating the same.
Whydoesthecapacitanceofacapacitorincreases
withadielectric?
980Views3Upvotes
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