Question

Why does placing a dielectric between the plates of a capacitor increase its capacitance? Include in image to illustrate your explanation (provide URL of image if you don't draw it yourself), describe one way in which capacitors are used in our day to day life other than those examples provided in the textbook such as the defibrillator, camera flashes, and microelectronic devices during battery recharging.

Answer 1

Placing a dielectric material between the plates of a capacitor increases its capacitance due to the dielectric's ability to polarize in the presence of an electric field.

A capacitor consists of two conductive plates separated by a gap. When a voltage is applied across the plates, an electric field is established in the gap between them.

A dielectric is an insulating material that can be inserted between the capacitor plates. When the dielectric is exposed to the electric field, the atoms or molecules within the dielectric rearrange themselves. This rearrangement creates a polarization effect where positive and negative charges are separated within the dielectric material. The induced polarization in the dielectric reduces the effective electric field between the capacitor plates.