Question

Why are the plates in a capacitor parallel to each other?

to allow each plate to become positively charged
to form a uniform electric field between the plates
to establish a potential difference between the plates
to allow each plate to hold the same amount of charge

Answer 1

To have a uniform field. The field is the voltage between the plates divided by the distance between the plates. If the distance varies so would the field between them.

Answer 2

to form a uniform electric field between the plates

Step-by-step explanation:

As we know that the capacitor is a device which is used to store the electrostatic potential energy between the plates.

So here our aim is to design such a capacitor system which will store energy between two plates and that energy will be uniform if the two plates are parallel to each other

If the two plates are not parallel to each other then in that case the field between the plates becomes non uniform and that will form make the charge distribution non uniform.

So here correct answer will be

to form a uniform electric field between the plates