AAPT Logo
TPT Logo
 
   
 

The Physics Teacher -- February 2012 -- Volume 50, Issue 2, pp. 73

Charge and Energy Stored in a Capacitor

Yaakov Kraftmakher

Bar-Ilan University, Ramat-Gan 52900, Israel

Full Text: Read Online (HTML) | Download PDF FREE | View Cart
Using a data-acquisition system, the charge and energy stored in a capacitor are measured and displayed during the charging/discharging process. The experiment is usable as a laboratory work and/or a lecture demonstration.

© 2012 American Association of Physics Teachers

KEYWORDS and PACS

Keywords

capacitors, data acquisition, energy storage, physics education, student experiments

PACS

  • 01.50.My

    Demonstration experiments and apparatus

  • 84.60.-h

    Direct energy conversion and storage

History
Online Jan 2012

PUBLICATION DATA

ISSN

0031-921X (print)  

Publisher

$abstract.society.value is a Member of CrossRef American Association of Physics Teachers

ARTICLE DATA

Digital Object Identifier
http://dx.doi.org/10.1119/1.3677277

  1. E. Hecht, Physics (Brooks/Cole, Pacific Grove, 1994), pp. 648–649.
  2. H. D. Young and R. A. Freedman, Sears and Zemansky's University Physics, 10th ed. (Addison-Wesley, San Francisco, 2000), pp. 779–780.
  3. R. Weiss, “A quantitative demonstration of the energy stored in a capacitor or an inductor,” Am. J. Phys. 37, 566 (May 1969).
  4. F. Heinrich, “Entropy change when charging a capacitor: A demonstration experiment,” Am. J. Phys. 54, 742–744 (Aug. 1986)AJPIAS000054000008000742000001. [ISI]
  5. A. Edgar, “Calorimetric measurements of capacitance and inductance using an integrated circuit temperature sensor,” Am. J. Phys. 61, 949–951 (Oct. 1993).
  6. I. Fundaun, C. Reese, and H. H. Soonpaa, “Charging a capacitor,” Am. J. Phys. 60, 1047–1048 (Nov. 1992)AJPIAS000060000011001047000001.
  7. K. Mita and M. Boufaida, “Ideal capacitor circuits and energy conservation,” Am. J. Phys. 67, 737–739 (Aug. 1999)AJPIAS000067000008000737000001. [ISI]
  8. R. Newburgh, “Two theorems on dissipative energy losses in capacitor systems,” Phys. Educ. 40, 370–372 (2005).
  9. P. S. Carvalho and A. Sampaio e Sousa, “Helping students understand real capacitors: Measuring efficiencies in a school laboratory,” Phys. Educ. 43, 400–406 (2008).

Figures (click on thumbnails to view enlargements)

FIG.1
Setup for observing the charging/discharging process.

Export Figure to PowerPoint

FIG.2
Example of the measurement data and calculations for V0 = 5V, from top to bottom: charging/discharging current i, voltage V on the capacitor, charge Q, and energy E stored in the capacitor.

Export Figure to PowerPoint

FIG.3
The charge stored in the capacitor versus applied voltage and the energy stored versus applied voltage squared. The slope of both proportional fits equals to the capacitance in microfarads.

Export Figure to PowerPoint



Close

Your Recent History Recent History Help

Recently Viewed

  1. Charge and Energy Stored in a Capacitor
  2. The Many Faces of AAPT
  3. Meet Your New President, Jill Marshall
  4. MicroRewiews by the Book Review Editor: Life and Death of a Star: Astronomy Magazine
  5. MicroRewiews by the Book Review Editor: • Something Out of Nothing: Marie Curie and Radium: Carla Ki...

AAPT on:

close