A capacitor with capacitance is fully charged with a potential difference of and disconnected from the battery. The charged capacitor is connected across another capacitor with capacitance . The charge on capacitor when equilibrium is established will be (assume capacitor does not have any charge initially). The value of is _____.
JEE Physics 2026 Question with Solution
Answer
Correct answer:4
Step-by-step solution
Charge conservation between connected capacitors
Given: Capacitor has and is initially charged to . Capacitor has and is initially uncharged.
Find: The value of if the final charge on capacitor is .
Step 1: Find initial charge on capacitor .
Step 2: Apply charge conservation. After connecting capacitors and , total charge is conserved. Let the common final potential be .
Step 3: Find charge on capacitor .
Step 4: Compare with the given form.
Therefore, the value of is .
Using common potential after redistribution
Given: One capacitor is initially charged and the other is uncharged.
Find: The final charge on capacitor in the form .
When two capacitors are connected together, they finally attain the same potential. Since the battery is disconnected, the total charge of the isolated system remains constant.
Initial total charge:
Equivalent capacitance after connection:
Common final potential:
Charge on capacitor :
Thus, in the form , the value is .
Common mistakes
Using conservation of potential difference instead of conservation of charge. The potential across the capacitors changes after connection; only the total charge of the isolated system remains conserved. First conserve total charge, then find the common final potential.
Taking the charge on capacitor as the initial total charge. Capacitor is initially uncharged, so its final charge must be calculated from after finding the shared final potential.
Adding charges directly without using the common final potential. After connection, both capacitors have the same final voltage, not the same charge. Use the relation separately for each capacitor at equilibrium.
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