Combination of capacitors
When two or more capacitors are combined , mainly in series and parallel arrangement for some or the other reasons , the effective capacitance be obtained by employing some constrains.In this tutorial we will discuses how those relations are obtained.
Parallel Combination
In parallel combination through out the circuit the charge gets distributed among the capacitors, i.e the total charge is the sum of charge through all the capacitors.So adding all the charges through the capacitor will give the total charge, knowing the total potential the effective capacitance can be calculated using the formula for capacitance i.e
Let the potential applied across be V and capacitance of capacitor be C1 and C2.
Total charge equals the sum of charge across each Capacator
Summing all the charges and rearranging
This implies that parallel combination the effectice capacitance is sum of capacitance of each capacitor.
Series Combination
As mentioned above for parallel combination here in series combination the potential gets divided among the capacitors, i.e the sum of potential across each capacitor is total potential.
Let the potential applied across be V and capacitance of capacitor be C1 and C2.
Total potential equals the sum of potential across each Capacator
Summing all the potential and rearranging
This implies that Series combination the effectice capacitance is sum of reciprocal capacitance of each capacitor.
