SERIES AND PARALLEL CAPACITORS 0 Materials and Equipment . PASCO AC/DC Electronics Laboratory! Wire lead¹ (6) Digital capacitance meter/multimeter, 1-μF resolution www.pasco.com/ap04 Driving Question | Objective How does connecting capacitors

in series or parallel affect the equivalent capacitance of a circuit? Experimentally determine the mathematical relationship between equivalent capacitance and capacitors connected in series and parallel. PASCO AC/DC Electronics Laboratory ● Capacitor (4), 10-μF • 4-mm banana plug patch cord (2) • 4-mm banana plug patch cord alligator clip (2) STRUCTURED Background Capacitance is a measure of the ability of a system to store charge at a given potential difference. Capacitors are devices designed to store charge. When multiple capacitors are electrically connected within a circuit, the overall capacitance-known as equivalent capacitance-within the circuit changes depending on how the capacitors are connected. Capacitors with their positively charged plates connected together, and their negatively charged plates connected together, are said to be connected in parallel. Capacitors connected together in a straight line with the positively charged plate of one capacitor directly connected to the negatively charged plate of the next capacitor are said to be connected in series. (3 非非 Series Parallel In this activity, you will investigate simple series and parallel circuits with multiple capacitors to experimentally determine a mathematical expression that describes the equivalent capacitance of each circuit type. Safety Follow these important safety precautions in addition to your regular classroom procedures: If you are using polarized capacitors, always connect the common or negative lead of the DMM to the negative lead of the capacitor, as shown. The negative capacitor lead is shorter and marked negative. Arrows point to the negative capacitor lead. PASCO/PS-3815 1 2 SERIES AND PARALLEL CAPACITORS/STRUCTURED Procedure Part 1 - Capacitors in Parallel 1. Attach one capacitor between two springs on the AC/DC Electronics Laboratory board. 2. Adjust the dial on the digital multimeter (DMM) to measure capacitance in microfarads (uF), and as shown. then connect the leads from the DMM across the capacitor, SET UP COLLECT DATA OFF OFF AYOUT RIS PASCO/PS-3815 3. Measure the capacitance of the capacitor and record the value in Table 1 in the Data Analysis section below. 4. Remove the DMM leads from the capacitor and connect a second capacitor in parallel with the first capacitor. 5. Connect the DMM across both capacitors. VOLT BULAS VOLTSMAN- B) C) A KIT NO A VOLTS MAX 새로 KIT NO WANAN PAN SERIES AND PARALLEL CAPACITORS/STRUCTURED 6. Measure the equivalent capacitance of the two capacitors in parallel and record the value in Table 1. 7. Repeat the data collection steps for three and four capacitors in parallel. Record the number of capacitors and the equivalent capacitance for each trial in Table 1. Part 2- Capacitors in Series SET UP 9. 8. Remove all capacitors from the board and replace one as shown in the figure. Connect the DMM leads across the capacitor. COLLECT DATA OFF WWWW YOLFRASS MINEINAN WWW-WWW MN WIN ->>> VOLTSMAN KIT NO. 10. Measure the capacitance of the capacitor and record the value in Table 2 in the Data Analysis section below. 11. Remove the DMM leads from the capacitor and connect a second capacitor in series with the first capacitor. PASCO/PS-3815 3 SERIES AND PARALLEL CAPACITORS/STRUCTURED 12. Connect the DMM leads across both capacitors. OFF 2 333 y 13. Measure the equivalent capacitance of the two series capacitors and record the value in Table 2. APMI-OHAIN 14. Repeat the data collection steps for three and four capacitors in series. Record the number of capacitors and the equivalent capacitance for each trial in Table 2. Data Analysis Part 1 - Capacitors in Parallel Table 1: Equivalent capacitance for capacitors connected in parallel Equivalent Capacitance Number of Capacitors (μF) 11.30 22.84 VOLTWARS 35.00 46.15 KIT NO 1. Plot a graph of equivalent capacitance sure to label both axes with the correct scale and units. Graph 1: Equivalent capacitance versus number of capacitors connected in parallel Moot 360 300 260 200 150 100 50 SERIES AND PARALLEL CAPACITORS/STRUCTURED versus number of capacitors in the blank Graph 1 axes. Be 0.5 1 15 2 2.5 3 3.5 4 4.5 5 5.5 6 2. Draw a line of best fit through your data in Graph 1. Determine and record the equation of the line here: Best fit line equation: 11.78 -0.355 ? 3. What does the slope of your best fit line represent? Part 2- Capacitors in Series Table 2: Equivalent capacitance for capacitors connected in series Number of Capacitors 1/Number of Capacitors 3 1/2 1/2 74 Equivalent Capacitance (HF) 11-16 3.72 2.80 PASCO/PS-3815 5