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What is the effect of placing a dielectric in an electric field?
The dielectric becomes polarized, creating an induced electric field that opposes the external field, reducing the overall electric field strength.
What happens when a dielectric is inserted between capacitor plates?
The capacitance increases because the dielectric reduces the electric field and voltage, allowing more charge to be stored at a given voltage.
What is the effect of increasing the dielectric constant?
The capacitance of the capacitor increases proportionally, allowing it to store more charge at the same voltage.
What happens to the electric field when a dielectric is inserted?
The electric field strength is reduced by a factor of the dielectric constant (κ).
What happens to the potential difference when a dielectric is inserted?
The potential difference (voltage) across the capacitor decreases.
What happens to the charge stored when a dielectric is inserted while connected to a battery?
The charge stored on the capacitor increases.
What is a dielectric?
A material that becomes polarized when placed in an electric field, increasing a capacitor's ability to store charge.
What is the dielectric constant (κ)?
A measure of how much a material can increase the capacitance of a capacitor; the ratio of the material's permittivity (ε) to the permittivity of free space (ε₀).
Define electric dipole.
A pair of equal and opposite electric charges separated by a small distance, which aligns with an external electric field in a dielectric material.
What is meant by polarization in a dielectric material?
The slight shifting of bound charges within the dielectric in response to an external electric field, creating electric dipoles.
What is dielectric breakdown?
The phenomenon where a dielectric material starts conducting electricity due to a very high voltage.
What is the difference between a conductor and a dielectric in an electric field?
Conductor: Electrons move freely, creating a surface charge distribution that cancels the external field. | Dielectric: Charges are bound and shift slightly, creating dipoles that reduce, but don't eliminate, the external field.
Compare E₀ and E in the context of dielectrics.
E₀: The original electric field strength without the dielectric. | E: The reduced electric field strength inside the dielectric.
Compare permittivity (ε) and permittivity of free space (ε₀).
ε₀: Permittivity of free space is a constant that describes the ability of a vacuum to permit electric fields. | ε: Permittivity of a material describes its ability to permit electric fields, and it's κ times ε₀.