A capacitor P with capacitance 10 10-6 F is fully charged with a potential difference of 6.0 V and disconnected from the battery. The charged capacitor P is connected across another capacitor Q with capacitance 20 10-6 F. The charge on capacitor Q when equilibrium is established will be 10-5 C (assume capacitor Q does not have any charge initially), the value of is .
Answer
4
Solution
Initial charge on P: q0 = CPV = 10 10-6 6 = 60
On connecting, charge is shared until both have the same potential difference (parallel connection), total charge conserved:
Vcommon = q0CP + CQ = 60 30 = 2 V
qQ = CQVcommon = 20 10-6 2 = 40 10-6 C
qQ = 4 10-5 C = 4
Answer: 4