Question

Consider three capacitors, of capacitance 3100 pf, 5800 pf, and ________. What maximum and minimum capacitance can you form from these? How do you make the connection in each case?

Answer 1

Capacitors connected in parallel produce the maximum capacitance by adding their values, while those connected in series give the minimum capacitance calculated by taking the reciprocal of the sum of their reciprocals.

Step-by-step explanation:

The student's question is about determining the maximum and minimum capacitance that can be formed from three capacitors with given capacitances. When capacitors are connected in parallel, their capacitances add up, thus achieving the maximum total capacitance. To achieve the minimum total capacitance, the capacitors are connected in series, and the reciprocal of the total capacitance is the sum of the reciprocals of the individual capacitances.

To find the maximum capacitance, you simply add the capacitances of the 3100 pf, 5800 pf capacitors, and the third capacitor (whose value is not specified in this question). On the other hand, to achieve the minimum capacitance possible with these three capacitors, you would use the formula for capacitors in series:

1/C_{total} = 1/C_1 + 1/C_2 + 1/C_3

Upon calculating the reciprocals and summing them up, you would then take the reciprocal of that sum to find the total series capacitance.