The plates of a parallel plate capacitor have an area of $90 \,cm^{2}$ each and are separated by $2.5 \,mm$. The capacitor is charged by connecting it to a $400 \,V$ supply.
$(a)$ How much electrostatic energy is stored by the capacitor?
$(b)$ View this energy as stored in the electrostatic field between the plates,and obtain the energy per unit volume $u$. Hence arrive at a relation between $u$ and the magnitude of electric field $E$ between the plates.

Vedclass pdf generator app on play store
Vedclass iOS app on app store
(N/A) Given:
Area $A = 90 \,cm^{2} = 90 \times 10^{-4} \,m^{2}$
Distance $d = 2.5 \,mm = 2.5 \times 10^{-3} \,m$
Potential $V = 400 \,V$
Permittivity $\epsilon_{0} = 8.85 \times 10^{-12} \,C^{2} \,N^{-1} \,m^{-2}$
$(a)$ Capacitance $C = \frac{\epsilon_{0} A}{d} = \frac{8.85 \times 10^{-12} \times 90 \times 10^{-4}}{2.5 \times 10^{-3}} = 3.186 \times 10^{-11} \,F$
Energy $U = \frac{1}{2} C V^{2} = \frac{1}{2} \times 3.186 \times 10^{-11} \times (400)^{2} = 2.55 \times 10^{-6} \,J$
$(b)$ Volume $V' = A \times d = 90 \times 10^{-4} \times 2.5 \times 10^{-3} = 2.25 \times 10^{-5} \,m^{3}$
Energy density $u = \frac{U}{V'} = \frac{2.55 \times 10^{-6}}{2.25 \times 10^{-5}} = 0.113 \,J \,m^{-3}$
Relation: $u = \frac{U}{Ad} = \frac{\frac{1}{2} (\frac{\epsilon_{0} A}{d}) V^{2}}{Ad} = \frac{1}{2} \epsilon_{0} (\frac{V}{d})^{2} = \frac{1}{2} \epsilon_{0} E^{2}$

Explore More

Similar Questions

If the potential of a capacitor having capacity of $6\,\mu F$ is increased from $10\,V$ to $20\,V$,then the increase in its energy will be:

The amount of work done in increasing the voltage across the plates of a capacitor from $5 \ V$ to $10 \ V$ is $W$. The work done in increasing it from $10 \ V$ to $15 \ V$ will be (nearly):

The charge $Q$ on a capacitor varies with voltage $V$ as shown in the figure,where $Q$ is taken along the $X$-axis and $V$ along the $Y$-axis. The area of triangle $OAB$ represents

$A$ capacitor of capacitance $5 \mu F$ is charged by a battery of emf $10 \text{ V}$. At an instant of time,the potential difference across the capacitor is $4 \text{ V}$ and the time rate of change of potential difference across the capacitor is $0.6 \text{ Vs}^{-1}$. Then,the time rate at which energy is stored in the capacitor at that instant is:

If the charge on a body is increased by $2 \ C$,the energy stored in it increases by $21 \%$. The original charge on the body in coulomb is:

Vedclass Products

For Students

Vedclass Test Series

Mock tests in real JEE/NEET style with performance analysis. 5-day free trial.

Start Free Trial
For Teachers

Exam Paper Generator

Generate Set A/B/C/D exam papers from 7.5L+ questions in 2 minutes. 3 chapters free.

Try Free
For Institutes

Online Exam Module

Live online exams with unlimited students, 360° analytics & white-label branding.

See Demo