Final answer:
The charge on a capacitor, Q, is determined using the formula Q = CV, where C is the capacitance and V is the voltage applied. The energy stored in the capacitor is Ecap = QV/2.
Step-by-step explanation:
The charge on a capacitor, which is often represented as Q, is calculated by the formula Q = CV, where C is the capacitance of the capacitor and V is the voltage applied across it. The energy stored in the capacitor, denoted as Ecap, is given by the expression Ecap = QV/2. To find the charge Q, you simply multiply the capacitor's capacitance C by the voltage V that is applied to it.
Additionally, to provide context to the magnitude of charges, the text refers to an example where the charge Q is found to be 2.901 x 10^-20 C. This charge can be compared to the charge on a single electron, which is 1.6022 × 10^-19 C, to understand the distribution of electron probability on a molecular level, such as with a Cl atom in HCl.