Exp No:4, Determination of Dielectric Constant of different materials

Debdoot Ghosh, Roll No:-1811056

THEORY
ABSTRACT
From Maxwells equations in vacuum we get :
One of the aims of this Experiment is to find relation of £
Q
charge Q of a plate capacitor and distance between two E dA “ (1)
plates d with Capacitance of the capacitor. Another is 0
A
to know about the dielectric constant r of air and other ¿
dielectric materials. E ds “ 0 (2)
We have done this experiment with a plate capacitor
and another capacitor of fixed capacitance. We have where E is the electric field intensity, Q the charge en-
taken different medium between the plates(Air,Plastic, closed by the closed surface A, 0 the electric constant and
Glass). We have taken the data of charge Q with dif- s a closed path.
ferent input voltage between two plates and also with If we apply U voltage between the two plates of the ca-
different distance between the plates. pacitor, then an electric field E (Fig-1) is created between
From the data we have plotted the Graph of Q Vs two plates. That is :
U and Q Vs 1/d and got proportionality between ż2
them.We also calculated r of different medium. U“ E dr (3)
At last we have concluded that r is a material depen- 1
dent constant and it comes in to the picture due to the Electrostatic charges of the opposite sign are drawn to-
polarisation of medium atom by electric field. wards the surfaces of the capacitor as voltage sources
do not generate charges, but only can separate them,
the absolute values of the opposite electrostatic induction
charges must be equal.
Assuming distance between two plates d is very small,
we can conclude that the field lines of the electric field
OBJECTIVE
always to be perpendicular to the capacitor surfaces of
1. The relation between charge Q and voltage U is to be surface A, due to symmetry and from eq(1) and eq(3) we
measured using a plate capacitor. The electric constant get:
Q UA
0 is to be determined from the relation between charge “ EA “ (4)
0 d
Q and voltage U.
2. Under constant voltage, the charge of a parallel plate We get charge on the capacitor Q is proportional to volt-
capacitor is to be measured as a function of the inverse of age U by a proportionality constant C which is called the
the distance between the plates. Capacitance of the capacitor.
3.To Calculate the dielectric constant of the dielectric me- 0 A
dia that are introduced between the plates of capacitor Q “ CU “ U (5)
d
and to establish the relation between charge Q and volt-
age U. So C is proportional to the area A of the capacitor plate
and inversely proportional to distance d between them.
0 A
0 C“ (6)
d
1
2
APPARATUS
1.Set of parallel plate capacitors (Diameter = 26 cm)
2.High voltage power supply (0-10kV)
3.A 10 M resistor
4.Reference capacitor (220nF)
5.Universal measuring amplifier
6.Voltmeter
7.Dielectric materials (Plastic and glass plates)
Figure 1: Electric field of a Capacitor with small distance 8.Connecting cables, adapters, T-connectors
d between two plates

Things are changed when we insert any dielectric ma- EXPERIMENTAL SET UP
terial between the capacitor.Dielectrics does not have free
The Schematic Diagram of Experimental set up is in Fig(3).
electron but they have nucleus and electron.When we ap-
ply electric field E0 these two are aligned and form local
dipole(Fig-2).The opposite charge of adjacent dipole can-
cel each other but in the surface the charge remains and
create an opposite electric field. So the net field E is weak-
ened by material dependent constant r ,is called Dielectric
constant(Relative permittivity) of the material.

E0
E“ (7)
r
If P is the polarization vector, the induced electric field

Figure 3: Schematic Diagram of Experimental set up

OBSERVATION

Table-1:
Figure 2: Polarisation of Dielectric due Electric field
Q Vs U
EP due to these charges will be in opposite direction to Cr ef = 220 nF , d (air) = 2 mm
applied electric field:
r ´ 1 P
Ep “ E0 ´ E “ E0 “ (8) U A=0.053 m2
r 0
(KV) V0 (V) Q(nA S)=V0 Cr ef
The Electric displacement vector in an isotropic medium 0.5 0.6 132
is: 1.0 1.1 242
D “ E “ 0 r E ““ 0 E ` P (9) 1.5 1.6 352
2.0 2.1 462
From equation (3) and (7) we get for a dielectric the volt- 2.5 2.6 572
age U is decreased by a factor r but charge on the plate 3.0 3.2 704
will be same so the capacitance will be increased by r so: 3.5 3.6 792
Q A 4.0 4.1 920
“ Cd ielectric “ r 0 (10)
U d Table 1: Q Vs U of air
So dielectric constant r is :
1 dQ The graph of Q Vs U(Fig-4) and the straight line fit(Fig-
r “ (11) 5) is given below
0 A U
 3

Figure 4: The graph of Q Vs U for air medium

Figure 6: The graph of Q Vs 1/d for air medium

Figure 5: straight line fit of Q Vs U for air medium

OBSERVATION
Figure 7: straight line fit of Q Vs 1/d for air medium
Table-2:
(Table-2) Q Vs 1/d
A= 0.053 m2 , Cr ef =220 nF, U=1.5 KV

d(mm) V0 Q(nA S)=V0 Cr ef

1.0 3.2 704
2.0 1.8 396
3.0 1.4 308
4.0 1.1 242
5.0 0.9 198
6.0 0.7 154

Table 2: Q Vs 1/d of air

The graph of Q Vs U and the straight line fit of

Plastic(Fig-8), Glass(Fig-10) is given below

Figure 8: The graph of Q Vs U of Plastic medium

4

Figure 9: The straight line fit of Q Vs U for Plastic medium

Figure 10: The graph of Q Vs U of Glass medium

Figure 11: The straight line fit of Q Vs U for Glass medium

 5
OBSERVATION CONCLUSION
Table-3: From this experiment we can conclude that charge of a
plate capacitor is proportional to voltage difference be-
(Table-3) Q Vs U(with dielectrics) tween the plates. And the capacitance of a plate capaci-
A=0.053 m2 , Cr ef =220 nF tor is inversely proportional to the distance between the
plates, so charge of the capacitor is also inversely pro-
The graph of Q Vs U and the straight line fit of portional to the distance between two plates in a fixed
Plastic(Fig-8,9), Glass(Fig-10,11) is given above voltage. We also come to know that the capacitance of
a capacitor is also depend on the medium between the
U Plastic Glass
(KV) V0 (V) Q=V0 Cr ef nA S V0 (V) Q=V0 Cr ef nA S
plates,by a material dependent constant r is called di-
0.5 0.6 132 0.82 180.4 electric constant or relative permittivity of the medium.
1.0 1.1 242 1.65 363 This come to the picture due the polarisation of the atoms
1.5 1.6 352 2.4 528 of the medium by electric field. We also get permittivity
2.0 2.0 440 3.4 748  of air is nearly same as free space and we also get r of
2.5 2.6 572 3.9 858 two Dielectric materials(Plastic and Glass).
3.0 3.1 682 4.8 1056
3.5 3.6 792 5.6 1232 REFERENCE
4.0 4.1 902 6.4 1408
(1)David E. Wilson, “ A direct laboratory approach to the
Table 3: Q Vs U with dielectrics study of capacitors”, Am. J. Phys. 57, 630 632, (1989).

(2)Constantino A. Utreras-Diaz, “Dielectric slab in a

parallel plate capacitor”, Am. J. Phys. 56, 700701, (1988).
RESULT
We know the theoretical permittivity of free space is
8.854 10´ 12. We get the dielectric constant of air medium
r from Table-1 and equation(11) those values are- 1.12,
1.03, 0.98, 0.98, 0.97, 1, 0.96, 0.98
average=1.0025
From Table-3 and equation(11) we get dielectric con-
stant of Plastic,those are- 3.48, 3.19, 3.1, 2.9, 3.02, 3, 2.97,
2.98
average=3.08
From Table-3 and equation(11) we get dielectric con-
stant of Glass,those are- 7.3, 7.34, 7.12, 7.57, 6.94, 7.12,
7.12, 7.12
average=7.20

ERROR ANALYSIS
1 dQ
r “ (12)
0 A U
c
δr δd δR δm 2
“ p q2 ` 4p q2 ` p q (13)
r d R m
Here m is slope of graph Q Vs U and as A = area of plate
so
δA δR
“2 (14)
A R
So, for air-
δr “ 1.00250.055 “ 0.055 (15)
So r =1.0025-0.055 to 1.0025+0.055
For Plastic-
δr “ 3.080.025 “ 0.077 (16)
So r =3.08-0.077 to 3.08+0.077
For Glass-
δr “ 7.200.025 “ 0.18 (17)
So r =7.20-0.18 to 7.20+0.18