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MHT CET · Physics · Capacitance

A parallel plate capacitor is charged and then disconnected from the charging battery. If the plates are now moved further apart by pulling them by means of insulting handles, then

  1. A the capacitance of the capacitor increases
  2. B the voltage across the capacitor increases
  3. C the energy stored in the capacitor decreases
  4. D the charge on the capacitor decreases
Verified Solution

Answer & Solution

Correct Answer

(B) the voltage across the capacitor increases

Step-by-step Solution

Detailed explanation

When the capacitor is charged and then disconnected, the charge across the plates remains a constant, even when the plates are separated.
The capacitance is related to the structure of parallel plate capacitor as \(\frac{A \varepsilon_0}{d}\). When the plate is separated, the distance between the plate \(d\) increases and hence the capacitance decreases.
Hence, according to the \(Q=C V\) relation, the voltage across the capacitor increases in order to keep the charge constant.