Wednesday 4 October 2017

Why does the distance between the plates of a capacitor affect its capacitance?


Why does the capacitance of a capacitor increase when its plates are closer in distance to each other?



Answer



Intuitive approach: if the distance wouldn't be a factor then you would be able to place the plates at an infinite distance apart and still have the same capacitance. That doesn't make sense. You would expect a zero capacitance then.
If the capacitor is charged to a certain voltage the two plates hold charge carriers of opposite charge. Opposite charges attract each other, creating an electric field,


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and the attraction is stronger the closer they are. If the distance becomes too large the charges don't feel each other's presence anymore; the electric field is too weak.


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