Capacitive Impedance Demo

 



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 Code Number :   5C30.42  

Disclaimer:

Reprinted by permission of Dick Berg, University of Maryland, for use on this website.

The demonstrations contained and referenced herein are listed for the purposes of cataloging and describing physics demonstrations which should be conducted only under the direction of a trained instructional support professional or physicist. These demonstrations are not presented for the purpose of being conducted by persons unconnected to this Facility and/or persons not consulting with or being supervised by the recognized instructional support professional or physicist and his/her staff. The University is responsible only for those demonstrations carried out using its own equipment using established safety and scheduling policies, and bears no responsibility for those choosing to use this source material for their own purposes. All demonstrations described and contained herein are public domain, and can also be found in reference materials in libraries, bookstores, and electronic sources.

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Condition :   Good   
Principle :   Parallel vs. Series Capacitance  
Area of Study :  Electricity & Magnetism  
Equipment :   150 V DC power supply, Capacitors (2), Light bulb (25 watt), Key switch, Digital or Overhead Volt Meter, Resistor, Knife Switch.

  
Procedure :   Hook the power supply, capacitor, light bulb, and Key switch in series as a circuit. Observe the voltages with and without the capacitor in the circuit. 

You can also add a second capacitor in parallel which doubles the time for charging.  As the voltage goes up on the meter the light will become dimmer.  CAUTION:  Do not go above 75 VDC on the power supply when adding the second capacitor.

The other part of the demo shown is the same as above except that a resistor replaces the light bulb. 

The two circuits may also be placed in parallel as shown.  

Another meter may be substituted for the overhead volt meter. 

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   References

Baswajit Ray, "When Is a Capcitor NOT a Capacitor?" TPT, Vol. 44, # 2, Feb. 2006, p. 106.

 

En-4:  Freier and Anderson,  A Demonstration Handbook for Physics.

 

Ronald Newburgh, "Two Theorems on Dissipative Energy Losses in Capacitor Systems", Physics Education, Vol. 40 (4), July 2005, p. 370. 



Mail Questions and Comments to:  Dale Stille