Single correct option
A capacitor is charged to and a capacitor is charged to . They are then joined with the positive plate of one connected to the negative plate of the other. After charge flow stops, the pair is isolated and a dielectric of constant completely fills the space between the plates of (with the two capacitors still connected as before). The energy stored in the combination is then
- A.
- B.
- C.
- D.
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Answer: (A)
Before joining, and . Joining unlike plates makes the charges partly cancel, so the net charge on the connected pair of plates is . After charge flow stops the capacitors are in parallel with total capacitance and potential difference . With the pair isolated the net charge stays . Filling with the dielectric makes , so the parallel capacitance becomes and . The energy is . The wrong choices are: (forgetting the dielectric), (keeping the voltage instead of the charge fixed) and (adding the charges as if the like plates had been joined).
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