FAA Aviation Mechanic General (AMG)Fundamentals of Electricity and ElectronicsMedium
A technician is designing a capacitor and wants to increase its capacitance without changing the dielectric material or plate spacing. What change should be made?
- AReduce the number of plates
- BIncrease the surface area of the plates
- CIncrease the distance between the plates
- DUse a dielectric with a lower dielectric constant
Show answer & explanationAnswer & explanation
Correct answer: B. Increase the surface area of the plates
Capacitance is directly proportional to plate area; increasing the surface area of the plates allows more charge to be stored, increasing capacitance.
Why the other options are wrong
- A. Reducing plate count decreases total capacitance.
- C. Increasing plate distance decreases capacitance.
- D. A lower dielectric constant decreases capacitance.
Capacitance Factors
Capacitance depends on plate area, distance between plates, and the dielectric constant of the insulating material.
- Capacitance increases with larger plate area
- Capacitance decreases with greater plate spacing
- Higher dielectric constant increases capacitance
- Measured in farads
Memory trick: Big plates, close together, good insulator = big capacitance.