Question

If the capacitance of capacitor 1 is C, than the capacitance of capacitor 2 is:

What equations/theorems do I use to solve this?

Answer 1

To determine the capacitance of capacitor 2, use the series or parallel capacitance equations, with the formula for series yielding a total capacitance less than any individual capacitor, and the formula for parallel yielding a sum of individual capacitances.

Step-by-step explanation:

To find the capacitance of capacitor 2, you need to apply the appropriate formulas depending on whether the capacitors are connected in series or parallel. If capacitors are connected in series, the total capacitance (Cs) is found using:

1/Cs = 1/C1 + 1/C2 + 1/C3 + ...

This formula indicates that the total capacitance is always less than any of the individual capacitor values.

For parallel connections, the total capacitance (Cp) is the sum of the individual capacitances:

Cp = C1 + C2 + C3 + ...

So, if capacitor 1 has capacitance C and they are connected in parallel, then the total capacitance would increase by the capacitance of capacitor 2. If they are in series, solving for C2 would involve rearranging the above formula for series connection.