ASSESSMENT SHEET

Prakhar
RISHABH
NAME-: AKHIL Pandey
YADAV
SINGH

CLASS-: XII

SECTION-: BA

SUBJECT -: PHYSICS
Subject-: PHYSICS

INTERNAL EXAMINER SIGNATURE -

EXTERNAL EXAMINER SIGNATURE -

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 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
I would like to earnestly acknowledge the sincere efforts and
valuable time given by my Senior Principal Mrs. Jyoti Kashyap
ma’am and Principal Mrs. Shivani Singh ma’am and also my
Subject teacher Mr.Ms.
D.P.Mukta.
Singh sir. Their valuable guidance and
feedback has helped me in completing this project. This project
gave me the opportunity to explore and research about
different topics which greatly enhanced my knowledge
regarding Physics.
Also, I would like to mention the support system and
consideration of my parents and friends who have helped with
this.

Thanking you,
Akhil
PRAKHAR
RishabhSingh
PANDEY
YadavXII-A
XII-B.

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 INDEX
TITLE PAGE NO.
1. Assessment Sheet 1
2. Acknowledgement 2
3. Index 3
4. Introduction 4
5. FREE CHARGES AND BOUND CHARGES INSIDE A CONDUCTOR 5
6. Capacitance of a Conductor 6
7. CAPACITANCE OF AN ISOLATED SPHERICAL CONDUCTOR 7-9
8. Potential Energy of a Charged Conductor 10-11
9. Redistribution of Charges: Common Potential 12-13
10.Capacitor 14-15
11.Capacitance of a Parallel-Plate Capacitor 16
12.CAPACITANCE OF A PARALLEL-PLATE CAPACITOR WITH A 17-19
DIELECTRIC SLAB BETWEEN THE PLATES
13.COMBINATION OF CAPACITORS 20-22
14.ENERGY STORED IN A CHARGED CAPACITOR 23-24
15.FORCE BETWEEN THE PLATES OF A CHARGED PARALLEL-PLATE 25-26
CONDUCTOR
16.Charges Induced on the Surfaces of Dielectric Slab Placed 27-28
between the Plates of Parallel-Plate Capacitor
17.DIELECTRICS AND POLARISATION 29-32
18.BIBLIOGRAPHY 33

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 1-INTRODUCTION
Electrically most of the materials can be placed in one of the two categories:

Conductors
● Conductors are those through which electric charges can flow easily. Example- Metals,
human body, earth, mercury and electrolytes.
● In metals only the negative charge is free to move, positive charge is immobile.
● In metals, the actual charge carriers are free electrons (valence electrons in the
outermost orbit of the atom) .
● The residual positive ions in the metals are made up of nuclei and the bound electrons
of the atom.
● In electrolytic conductors, the charge carriers are both positive and negative ions.
● The free electrons are bound with the conductors as a whole.

Insulators
● Insulators are those through which electric charges cannot flow. Example- Glass, hard-rubber,
plastic, mica, wax, ebonite and paper.
● Insulators are also called Dielectrics.
● Dielectrics fail to conduct electricity.
● When an electric field is applied, induced charge appear on the surface of the dielectric. Hence,
dielectric transit electric effect but do not conduct electricity.

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 2-FREE CHARGES AND
BOUND CHARGES INSIDE A
CONDUCTOR
Free Charge
● In an atom the electrons close to the nucleus are bound with the nucleus by coulomb
force of attraction.
● The electrons of the outermost orbit are loosely bound with the nucleus, are called
valence electrons and are nearly free at room temperature. They move freely in the
whole metal. The free electrons form a kind of ‘gas’; they collide with each other and
with the positive ions, and move randomly in different directions.
● These electrons are called free electrons or conduction electrons.
● The electrical conductivity of a solid substance depends upon the number of free
electrons present in it.
● The substances which have a sufficient number of free electrons are called ‘good
conductors’.
● In an external electric field, the free electrons drift against the direction of the field.

Bound Charge
● The substances which do not have free electrons are called ‘bad conductors’.
● When an electron comes out from an atom, the atom becomes positively charged and is
called a positive ion.
● The positive ions made up of the nuclei and the bound electrons,are permanently bound in
metal lattice and cannot go leaving their positions, remain held in their fixed positions. Hence,
they are called bound charge.

Thus, in metals free electrons are free charge while positive ions are a bound charge.

In bad conductors the outer orbits of atoms completely filled with electrons and electrons are
not free. That is why in bad conductors or dielectrics substances generally free charge is not
present.

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 3-Capacitance of a
Conductor
Capacitance is the ability of a conductor (component or circuit) to collect and store energy in
the form of an electrical charge.

If a charge Q raises the potential of a conductor by V, then

Q proportional to V

Q=CV

C=Q/V

This constant C is known as the capacitance of the conductor. Thus, the capacitance of a
conductor is defined as the ratio of the charge given to the rise in the potential of the
conductor.

Unit : farad denoted by F

1 faraday = 1 coulomb/volt

1 F = 1 C V -1

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 4-CAPACITANCE OF AN
ISOLATED SPHERICAL
CONDUCTOR
Consider a Spherical conductor . Mark its center as 'O' and radius 'r'.Give some positive charge say '+q 'to
charge the conductor. When we will give the charge to the conductor it will start spreading equally over
its outer surface. Charge spreading does not depend upon the type of conductor used. You can take
hollow as well as solid conductor. Charge spreading will be same. If the charge spreading will be uniform
then the potential will be also uniform.

Capacitance of a spherical conductor is directly proportional to its radius

Capacitance of a Spherical Capacitor

Construction of a spherical capacitor is shown in the following figure. It consists of two concentric
spherical plates A and B. Outer plate B is connected with Earth and inner plate A is given charge +q.

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Positive charge induced on B goes to Earth and negative charge remains on this plate. Therefore,
potential is produced on the inner plate.

V = V1 + V2

Where, V1 = potential due to its own charge

Here K is the dielectric constant of the medium present between the two plates.

Since outer plate B is connected with Earth, therefore its potential will be
zero. ∴ Potential difference between two plates, = V - O = V Therefore, the
capacitance of the spherical capacitor,

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From equation (1), it is clear that the capacitance of spherical capacitor can be increased as below:

(i) Capacitance can be increased by increasing r1 and r2 but this method is not adopted because it is
against the principle of capacitor.

(ii) C ∝ K, therefore placing the dielectric slab of high value of dielectric constant, between the plates of
the capacitor.

(iii) C ∝ 1/( r2 − r1 ) i.e., by decreasing the distance between the plates, capacitance can be increased.

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 5-Potential Energy of a
Charged Conductor
Work has to be done in charging a conductor against the force of repulsion by the already
existing charges on it. The work done in charging the conductor is stored as potential energy in
the electric field in the vicinity of the conductor.

U=Q2/2C

U=CV2/2

U : potential energy stored in the conductor

Q : charge given to the conductor

C : capacitance of the conductor

V : potential acquired by the conductor

Unit : If C is in farad and V in volt, then the energy U will be in joule.

Derivation:
When a conductor of capacitance C is given a charge Q , it acquires a potential given by

V=Q/C

The work done in charging the conductor is stored as potential energy in the electric field in the
vicinity of the conductor. Suppose we bring from infinitesimally small charge dQ to the
conductor. The work done will be (potential X charge)

dW=VdQ=(Q/C)dQ

Therefore, the work done in increasing the charge on the conductor from 0 to Q is

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 ∫
W=1/C0 Q QdQ

= Q2/2c

This work is the electric potential energy U stored in the conductor. Thus

U=Q2/2C

But Q=2C Therefore U=CV2/2

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 6-Redistribution of
Charges: Common
Potential
Redistribution of charges means rearrangement of charges on two charged conductors when
they are joined by a wire. On connecting two charged conductors , the redistributed charges on
them are in the ratio of their capacitances.

Proof:

When an insulated conductor A of capacitance C1 is given a charge Q1 raised to potential V1

then, Q1=C1V1

and another insulated conductor B of capacitance C2 is given a charge Q2 raised to potential V2

then, Q2=C2V2

We assume that A is at higher potential, that is V1>V2

Now, if we join both the conductors by a thin wire, then there is a transfer of positive charges,
that is, the positive charges begin to flow from A to B( from the conductor at a higher potential
to the conductor at a lower potential), till both the conductors acquire the same potential. So
charges on the two conductors are redistributed although the total quantity of charge remains
same Q1 + Q2

Following the two conditions

● The conductors are at sufficient distance apart so that they do not exert any electrical
effect on each other
● Capacitance of the connecting wire is negligible

the combined capacitance will be C1 + C2. Taking the common potential of the conductors V
after the redistribution of charges,

V= total charge/ combined capacitance = Q1+Q2/C1+C2=C1V1+C2V2/C1+C2 ------- (i)

Suppose, after redistribution, the charges on A is Q1’ and on B is Q2’. Then,

Q1’=C1V Q2’=C2V

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Therefore Q1’/Q2’=C1V/C2V=C1/C2

Quantity of Transferred charge

Charge on conductor A before joining is Q1 and after joining it with conductor B, charge on A is
Q1’, therefore the charge transferred from conductor A to B is

Q1-Q1’ = C1V – C2V

=C1(V1- C1V1 + C2V2/C1+C2) by eq (i)

=C1C2(V1-V2)/C1+C2

Loss of energy in Redistribution of charges

During the redistribution of charges, the charge flows from a conductor at higher potential (A)
to the conductor at lower potential (B) , and there is a decrease in the total potential energy of
the system. Before joining, the total potential energy of the two conductors is

U=(C1V12 + C1V22)/2 ------(ii)

after connecting the potential energy of the system is U’=(C1+ C2)V2/2

Substituting value of V from eq (i)

U’= 1(C1 +C2 ) C1 V1 + C2V2

Subtracting eq(iii) from eq(ii), the loss in energy is

U-U’=

In the above expression, C1 and C2 are both positive and (V1-V2)2, being a square term, is also
positive. Thus there is always a loss of energy in redistribution of charges. The energy is lost
partly as heat in the connecting wire and partly as light and sound if the sparking occurs.

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 7-Capacitor

A capacitor is an electrical device that stores electrical potential energy in an electric field
between a pair of closely spaced conductors. In fact, a capacitor is a pair of two conductors of
any shape which are close to each other and have equal and opposite charges. These
conductors are called the plates of the capacitor and are separated by a dielectric medium.
Every conductor can be assumed to be a capacitor whose other plate is at infinity. When current
is applied to the capacitor, electric charges of equal magnitude, but opposite polarity, build up
on each plate. Capacitors are used in electrical circuits as energy-storage devices. They can also
be used to differentiate between high-frequency and low-frequency signals and this makes
them useful in electronic filters.

Capacitance of a Capacitor: The capacitance of a capacitor is defined as the ratio of the charge
given to the plate of the capacitor to the potential difference produced between the plates.

If the charge on the plates of the capacitor are +Q and –Q and the potential difference between
them be V, then the capacitance of the capacitor is given by

C=Q/V

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Factors affecting the capacitance of a capacitor
● Area of the Plates : the capacitance(C) of a capacitor depends upon the area(A) of the
plates, and is directly proportional to it

C ∝A

● Distance between the Plates : the capacitance of a capacitor depends upon the
distance(d) between the plates and is inversely proportional to it

C ∝1/d

● Medium between the plates : the capacitance of a capacitor depends upon the medium
between the two plates and increases for a dielectric medium. It is proportional to the
dielectric constant K of the medium

C ∝K

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 8-Capacitance of a
Parallel-Plate
Capacitor
A parallel-plate capacitor is a capacitor which consists of two long, plane ,metallic plates
mounted on two insulating stands and placed at a small distance apart. The plates are exactly
parallel to each other and the space between them is filled with air or some dielectric material.

Derivation

Suppose the surface charge density of both the plates is +σ. The area of overlap of the plates is
A and they are separated by a distance d. The uniform field present between the capacitor
plates is

E= σ / ϵ0

therefore σ =q/A

E=q/ ϵ0 A (i)

The potential difference between the capacitor plates is V then;

E=V/d (ii)

From eq(i) and (ii)

V/d=q/ ϵ0 A

q/V= ϵ0 A /d

or C= ϵ0 A /d

If the medium between the capacitor plates is a dielectric of dielectric constant K;then the
capacitance of the parallel plate capacitor is

C= ϵ0 A K/d

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 9- CAPACITANCE OF A
PARALLEL-PLATE
CAPACITOR WITH A
DIELECTRIC SLAB BETWEEN
THE PLATES:
i. Consider a parallel plate capacitor with the two plates each of
area A separated by a distance d. The capacitance of the capacitor
is given by
C0 = Aε0/d

ii. Let E0 be the electric field intensity between the plates before the
introduction of the dielectric slab. Then the potential difference
between the plates is given by V0 = E0d, where E0 = σ/ε0 = Q/Aε0,
and σ is the surface charge density on the plates.

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iii. Let a dielectric slab of thickness t (t < d) be introduced between
the plates of the capacitor as shown in the figure below.

iv. The field E0 polarizes the dielectric, inducing charge –Qp on the left
side and +Qp on the right side of the dielectric. 

v. These induced charges set up a field Ep inside the dielectric in the

opposite direction of E0.The induced field is given by 

Ep = σp/ε0 = Qp/Aε0
(∵σp = Qp/A)

vi. The net field (E) inside the dielectric reduces to E0 – Ep.

∴E = E0 – E = E0/k
(∵E0/E0 – Ep = k)

where k is a constant called the dielectric constant.

∴E = Q/Aε0k or Q = Akε0E

vii. The field Ep exists over a distance of t and E0 over the remaining
distance (d – t) between the capacitor plates. Hence the
potential difference between the capacitor plates is

V = E0 (d – t) + E (t) 
= E0 (d – t) + E0/k (t)
(∵ E = E0/k)
= E0 [ (d - t) + t/k]
= Q/ (Aε0) [d – t + t/k]

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viii. The capacitance of the capacitor on the introduction of dielectric
slab becomes

C=Q=Q = Aε0
V Q/Aε0 (d – t + d/k) (d – t + t/k)

C = Aε0/ (d - t + t/k)

This is the required expression.

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 10: COMBINATION OF
CAPACITORS:

1.) Capacitors in Series:

In this arrangement of capacitors, the charge has no alternative path no

flow.

(i) The charges on capacitors are equal i.e.

Q = C1V1 + C2V2 + C3V3

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(ii) The total potential difference between across AB is shared
between the capacitors in the ratio of the capacitances,

V = V1 + V2 + V3

If Cs is the net capacitance of the series combination, then,

Q = Q + Q + Q => 1 = 1 + 1 + 1
Cs C1 C2 C3 Cs C1 C2 C3

2.) Capacitors in Parallel:

In such an arrangement of capacitors, the charge has an

alternative path to flow.

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(i) The potential difference across each capacitor is same and
equals the total potential applied i.e.

V = V1 = V2 = V3 => V = Q1 = Q2 = Q3
C1 C2 C3

(ii) The total charge Q is shared by each capacitor in the direct

ratio of the capacitances.

Q = Q1 + Q2 + Q3

If Cp is the net capacitance for the parallel combination of

capacitors:

CpV = C1V + C2V + C3V => Cp = C1 + C2 + C3

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 11: ENERGY STORED IN A
CHARGED CAPACITOR:
The total amount of work in charging the capacitor is stored up in the
form of electric potential energy.

The energy stored in a capacitor is nothing but the electric potential

energy and is related to the voltage and charge on the capacitor. If the
capacitance of a conductor is C, then it is initially uncharged and it
acquires a potential difference V when connected to a battery. If q is
the charge on the plate at that time, then

q = CV

The work done is equal to the product of the potential and charge.
Hence,

W=V

If the battery delivers a small amount of charge dq at a constant

potential V, then the work done is,

dW = V dq = q/c dq

Now, the total work done in delivering a charge of an amount q to the

capacitor is given by

W = ∫q0 q/C dq = 1/C q2/2 = ½ q2/C

Therefore, the energy stored in a capacitor is given by

U = ½ q2/C

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Substituting q = CV in the equation above, we get the energy stored in a
capacitor as,

U = ½ CV2

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 12: FORCE BETWEEN THE
PLATES OF A CHARGED
PARALLEL-PLATE
CONDUCTOR:

We imagine a parallel-plate capacitor with a charge +Q on one of its

plates and –Q on the other plate. Let initially the plates of capacitor are
almost, but not quite touching. Due to opposite polarity there is an
attractive force F between the plates. Now, if we gradually pull the
plates apart to a distance d, in such a way that d is still small compared
to the linear dimension of the plates, then the approximation of

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uniform field E = (σ/ε0) between the plates is maintained and thus the
force remains constant at F.

Now, the work done in separating the plates from near 0 to d,

W=Fd (i)

This work done is stored as electrostatic potential energy between the

plates, that is,

U=½QV

But V = Ed,

∵U=½QEd (ii)

From Eqs. (i) and (ii), we have

Fd=½QEd

F = ½ Q E = ½ Q σ/ε0

F = ½ Q2 / ε0A

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 13-Charges Induced on
the Surfaces of
Dielectric Slab Placed
between the Plates of
Parallel-Plate
Capacitor
Suppose, slab of some dielectric material (dielectric constant K) is placed between
the plates of a parallel-plate capacitor. The charges on the plates are +Q and –Q.
Let the charges induced on the surfaces of the dielectric slab be -Q'and + Q'
(Q'<Q). Then, by Gauss' law, the magnitude of the electric field in the air between
the plates is a

and that within the dielectric slab is

But

Thus, the charges induced on the surfaces of the

dielectric slab will be - Q(1-1/K) and +Q(1- 1/K) respectively.

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 14-DIELECTRICS AND
POLARISATION
Dielectrics are non-conducting substances. In contrast to conductors, they have no
(or negligible number of ) charge carriers. What happens when a conductor is
placed in an external electric field. The free charge carriers move and charge
distribution in the conductor adjusts itself in such a way that the electric field due
to induced charges opposes the external field within the conductor. This happens
until, in the static situation, the two fields cancel each other and the net
electrostatic field in the conductor is zero. In a dielectric, this free movement of
charges is not possible. It turns out that the external field induces dipole moment
by stretching or re-orienting molecules of the dielectric. The collective effect of all
the molecular dipole moments is net charges on the surface of the dielectric
which produce a field that opposes the external field. Unlike in a conductor,
however, the opposing field induced does not exactly cancel the external field. It
only reduces it. The extent of the effect depends on the nature of the dielectric. To
understand the effect, we need to look at the charge distribution of a dielectric at
the molecular level. The molecules of a substance may be polar or non-polar. In a
non-polar molecule, the centres of positive and negative charges coincide. The
molecule then has no permanent (or intrinsic) dipole moment. Examples of
non-polar molecules are oxygen (O2) and hydrogen (H2) molecules which,
because of their symmetry, have no dipole moment. On the other hand, a polar
molecule is one in which the centres of positive and negative charges are
separated (even when there is no external field). Such molecules have a
permanent dipole moment. An ionic molecule such as HCl or a molecule of water
(H2O) are examples of polar molecules.

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Difference in behaviour of a conductor and a dielectric
in an external electric field.

In an external electric field, the positive and negative charges of a non polar
molecule are displaced in opposite directions. The displacement stops when the
external force on the constituent charges of the molecule is balanced by the
restoring force (due to internal fields in the molecule). The non-polar molecule
thus develops an induced dipole moment. The dielectric is said to be polarised by
the external field. We consider only the simple situation when the induced dipole
moment is in the direction of the field and is proportional to the field strength.
(Substances for which this assumption is true are called linear isotropic
dielectrics.) The induced dipole moments of different molecules add up giving a
net dipole moment of the dielectric in the presence of the external field.

Some examples of polar and non-polar molecules

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A dielectric with polar molecules also develops a net dipole moment in an
external field, but for a different reason. In the absence of any external field, the
different permanent dipoles are oriented
randomly due to thermal agitation; so the total dipole moment is zero. When an
external field is applied, the individual dipole moments tend to align with the
field. When summed over all the molecules, there is then a net dipole moment in
the direction of the external field, i.e., the dielectric is polarised.

A dielectric develops a net dipole moment in an external

electric field. (a) Non-polar molecules, (b) Polar molecules

The extent of polarisation depends on the relative strength of two mutually

opposite factors: the dipole potential energy in the external field tending to align
the dipoles with the field and thermal energy tending to disrupt the alignment.
There may be, in addition, the ‘induced dipole moment’ effect as for non-polar
molecules, but generally the alignment effect is more important for polar
molecules. Thus in either case, whether polar or non-polar, a dielectric develops a
net dipole moment in the presence of an external field. The dipole moment per
unit volume is called polarisation and is denoted by P. For linear isotropic
dielectrics,
P = χe E
Where, χe is a constant characteristic of the dielectric and is known as the electric
susceptibility of the dielectric medium. It is possible to relate χe to the molecular
properties of the substance, but we shall not pursue that here. The question is:

30
how does the polarised dielectric modify the original external field inside it? Let us
consider, for simplicity, a rectangular dielectric slab placed in a uniform external
field E0 parallel to two of its faces. The field causes a uniform polarisation P of the
dielectric. Thus every volume element Dv of the slab has a dipole moment P Dv in
the direction of the field. The volume element Dv is macroscopically small but
contains a very large number of molecular dipoles.

A uniformly polarised dielectric amounts

to induced surface charge density, but
no volume charge density

Anywhere inside the dielectric, the volume element Dv has no net charge (though
it has net dipole moment). This is, because, the positive charge of one dipole sits
close to the negative charge of the adjacent dipole. However, at the surfaces of
the dielectric normal to the electric field, there is evidently a net charge density.
The positive ends of the dipoles remain un neutralised at the right surface and the
negative ends at the left surface. The unbalanced charges are the induced charges
due to the external field. Thus the polarised dielectric is equivalent to two charged
surfaces with induced surface charge densities, say σp and –σ p. Clearly, the field
produced by these surface charges opposes the external field. The total field in
the dielectric is, thereby, reduced from the case when no dielectric is present. We
should note that the surface charge density ±σ p arises from bound (not free
charges) in the dielectric.

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 15 – BIBLIOGRAPHY
1. Nootan ISC Physics for Class XII by Raj Kumar, Kapil Mittal and G.L. Mittal.
2. NCERT Physics for Class XII.
3. www.wikipedia.com

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