Final answer:
To calculate the equivalent capacitance of a network, use reciprocal rules for series and direct sum for parallel configurations. Given two capacitors in series and one in parallel, the solution was to calculate the series equivalent first (0.833 µF) and add it to the parallel capacitor's capacitance (8.000 µF) for a total of 8.833 µF.
Step-by-step explanation:
The question is focused on finding the equivalent capacitance of a network of capacitors within a physics context. The relevant equations for calculating equivalent capacitances in series and parallel are critical to solving this question.
Capacitors in series are found using the reciprocal of the sum of the reciprocals of their capacitances while capacitors in parallel are simply the sum of their capacitances. In the given example, two capacitors (C1 and C2) with capacitances of 1.000 µF and 5.000 µF respectively are connected in series, and their equivalent capacitance (Cs) is found to be 0.833 µF.
This Cs is then connected in parallel with a third capacitor (C3) having a capacitance of 8.000 µF. To find the total capacitance (Ctot), the equivalent series capacitance (Cs) is added to the capacitance C3, yielding a total of 8.833 µF.