Conductors and Capacitors

1. A hollow sphere of charge does not produce on electric field at any

(a) interior point (b) outer point
(c) beyond 2 metres (d) beyond 10 metres

2. Inside a hollow spherical conductor, the potential

(a) is constant
(b) varies directly as the distance from the centre
(c) varies inversely as the distance from the centre
(d) varies inversely as the square of the distance from the centre

3. A hollow metal sphere of radius 5 cm is charged such that the potential on its surface is 10 V. The
potential at the centre of the sphere is
(a) 0 V
(b) 10 V
(c) same as at point 5 cm away from the surface
(d) same as at point 25 cm away from the surface

4. Two plates are 1 cm apart and the potential difference between them is 10 volts. The electric field
between the plates is
(a) 10 N/C (b) 500 N/C
(c) 1000 N/C (d) 250 N/C

5. Two metallic charged spheres whose radii are 20 cm and 10 cm respectively, have each 150 micro-
coulomb positive charge. The common potential after they are connected by a conducting wire is
(a) 9 × 106 volt (b) 4.5 × 106 volt
(c) 1.8 × 107 volt (d) 13.5 × 106 volt

6. A sphere of 4 cm radius is suspended within a hollow sphere of 6 cm radius. The inner sphere is
charged to a potential 3 e.s.u. when the outer sphere is earthed. The charge on the inner sphere is
(a) 54 e.s.u. (b) 1/4 e.s.u.
(c) 30 e.s.u. (d) 36 e.s.u.

7. A hollow metallic sphere of radius 10 cm is given a charge of 3.2 × 10-9 coulomb. The electric
potential at a point 4 cm from the centre is
(a) 9 × 10-9 volt (b) 288 volt
(c) 2.88 volt (d) zero

8. In a charged capacitor, the energy is stored in

(a) the field between the plates (b) the positive charges
(c) the negative charges (d) none of the above

9. Two insulated charged spheres of radii R1 and R2 having charges Q1 and Q2 respectively are connected
to each other. There is
(a) no change in the energy of the system
(b) an increase in the energy of the system
(c) always a decrease in the energy of the system
(d) a decrease in energy of the system unless Q1 R2 = Q2 R1

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10. The capacitance of a parallel plate condenser is given by
(a) C = QV (b) C = KA / (9 × 109 . 4πd )
(c) C = Kd / (9 × 109 . 4πA ) (d) C = A / (9 × 109 . 4πKd )

11. A parallel plate capacitor is charged and the charging battery is then disconnected. If the plates of
the capacitor are moved further apart by means of insulating handles
(a) the charge on the capacitor increases
(b) the voltage across the plate increases
(c) the capacitance increases
(d) the electrostatic energy stored in the capacitor increases

12. The force between the plates of a parallel plate capacitor of capacitance C and distance of separation
of the plates d with a potential difference V between the plates is
(a) CV 2 / 2 d (b) C 2 V 2 / 2 d 2
(c) C 2 V 2 / d 2 (d) V 2 d / C
13. A parallel plate capacitor is made by stacking n equally spaced plates connected alternately. If the
capacitance between any two plates is C, then the resulting capacitance is
(a) C (b) nC
(c) ( n - 1 ) C (d) ( n + 1 ) C

14. Two identical capacitors are joined in parallel, charged to a potential V, separated and then connected
in series i.e., the positive plate of one is connected to the negative plate of other.
(a) the charge on the free plates connected together are destroyed
(b) charges on the free plates are enhanced
(c) the energy stored in the system increases
(d) the potential difference between the free plates is 2V.

15. In order to increase the capacity of a parallel plate condenser, one should introduce between plate
condenser, a sheet of
(a) mica (b) tin
(c) copper (d) stainless steel

16. A dielectric is introduced between the elements of the condenser kept at a constant potential difference.
Then the charge on condenser
(a) decreases (b) increases
(c) remains the same (d) none of the above

17. Capacitor C1 of capacitance 1 microfarad and capacitor C2 of capacitance 2 microfarad are

separately charged fully by a common battery. The two capacitors are then separately allowed to
discharge through equal resistors at time t = 0.
(a) the current in each of the two discharging circuits is zero at t = 0
(b) the currents in the two discharging circuits at t = 0 are equal but not zero
(c) the currents in the two discharging circuits at t = 0 are unequal
(d) capacitor C1 loses 50% of its initial charge sooner than C2 loses 50% of its initial charge.

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18. A capacitor is charged by using a battery, which is then disconnected. A dielectric slab is then
slipped between the plates, which results in
(a) reduction of charge on the plates and increase of potential difference across the plates
(b) increase in the potential difference across the plates, reduction in stored energy, but no change in
the charge on the plates.
(c) decrease in the potential difference across the plates, reduction in stored energy, but no change
in the charge on the plates
(d) none of the above.

19. If K is the dielectric constant of the medium, r1 and r2 the inner and outer radius of sphere respectively,
then capacity of spherical condenser is given by
K r1 r2 (r2 − r1 )
(a) (r − r ) (b) K . r r
2 1 1 2

− K r1 r2 (r2 − r1 )
(c) (r − r ) (d) K . r r
2 1 1 2

20. A parallel plate air capacitor is connected to a battery. The quantities charge, voltage, electric field
and energy associated with this capacitor are given by Q0 , V0 , E0 and U 0 , respectively..
A dielectric slab is now introduced to fill the space between the plates with battery still in connection.
The corresponding quantities now given by Q, V, E and U are related of the previous ones as
(a) Q > Q0 (b) V > V0
(c) E > E0 (d) U > U 0

21. Two capacitors of 3 µF and 6 µF are connected in series across a potential difference of 120 volt.
Then the potential difference across 3 µF capacitor is
(a) 40 V (b) 60 V
(c) 80 V (d) 100 V

22. The capacity of a parallel plate condenser is 5 µF. When a glass plate is placed between the plates
of the condenser, its potential difference reduces to ( 1/8 ) of the original value. The value of the
relative dielectric constant of glass is
(a) 1.6 (b) 5
(c) 8 (d) 40

23. A parallel plate capacitor with air as medium between the plates has a capacitance of 10 µF. The
area of the capacitor is divided into two equal halves and filled with two media having dielectric
constant K1 = 2 and K2 = 4. The capacitance of the system will now be
(a) 10 µF (b) 20 µF
(c) 30 µF (d) 40 µF

24. Three capacitors of capacitance 3 µF, 9 µF and 18 µF are connected once in series and another
time in parallel. The ratio of equivalent capacitance in the two cases ( CS / CP ) will be
(a) 1 : 15 (b) 15 : 1
(c) 1 : 1 (d) 1 : 3

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25. A parallel plate capacitor with a dielectric slab ( εr = 3 ) filling the space between the plates is
charged to potential V and isolated. Then the dielectric slab is drawn out and another dielectric of
equal thickness but εr = 2 is introduced between the plates. The ratio of the energy stored in the
capacitor later to that initially is
(a) 2 :3 (b) 3 : 2
(c) 4 : 9 (d) 9 : 4

26. 64 small drops of water having the same charge and same radius are combined to form one big
drop. The ratio of capacitance of big drop to small drop is
(a) 4 : 1 (b) 1 : 4
(c) 2 : 1 (d) 1 : 2
27. A dielectric is placed in between the two parallel plates of a capacitor as shown in figure. The
dielectric constant of the dielectric being K. If the initial capacity is C, then the new capacity will be
(The dielectric covers only half the area of the plates)

(a) K C (b) ( K + 1 ) C
(c) C ( K + 1 ) / 2 (d) (K - 1 ) C
28. A slab of copper of thickness b is inserted in between the plates of parallel plate capacitor as shown
in figure. The separation of the plate is d. If b = d / 2, then the ratio of capacities of the capacitor
after and before inserting the slab will be
A=AREA

b Cu d

(a) 2 :1 (b) 2 : 1

(c) 1 : 1 (d) 1 : 2
29. A parallel plate condenser is filled with two dielectric as shown in figure. Area of each plate is A
metre2 and the separation is d metre. The dielectric constants are K1 and K2 respectively. Its
capacitance in farad will be

ε0 A FG IJ
ε 0 A K1 + K2
(a)
d
( K1 + K2 ) (b)
dH K
2
ε A FK −K I
(c)
ε0 A
d
b
2 K1 + K2 g (d)
0
G
d H 2 K
1
J 2

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30. A parallel plate condenser with plate area A and separation d is filled with dielectrics as shown in
figure. The dielectric constants are K1 and K2 respectively. The capacitance will be

ε0 A FG
ε 0 A K1 + K2 IJ
(a)
d
( K1 + K2 ) (b) d
H
K1 K2 K
FG
2ε 0 A K1 K2 IJ FG
2ε 0 A K1 + K2 IJ
(c) d H
K1 + K2 K (d) d H
K1 K2 K
31. Five equal capacitors connected in series have a resultant capacitance of 4 µF. The total energy
stored in these, when these are connected in parallel and charged to 400 V, is
(a) 8 joule (b) 16 joule
(c) 4 joule (d) 80 joule

32. Three capacitors charges accumulated on the plates of C 1 , C 2 and C 3 are

qa , qb , qc , qd , qe and q f respectively, then

(a) qb + qd + q f = (100 / 9) Coulomb

(b) qb + qd + q f = 0
(c) qa + qc + qe = 50 Coulomb
(d) qb = qd = q f

33. The equivalent capacity between the points A and B in the following figure will be

(a) 9 µF (b) 1 µF
(c) 4.5 µF (d) 6 µF

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34. The effective capacitance between points X and Y shown in figure assuming C2 = 10 µF and that the
other capacitors are all 4.00 µF is

(a) 8 µF (b) 6 µF
(c) 2.5 µF (d) 4 µF

35. Four metallic plates, each with a surface area of one side A, are placed at a distance d apart from
each other. The two inner plates are connected to point B and the other two plates to another point
A as shown in figure. Then the capacitance of the system is

(a) ε 0 A / d (b) 2 ε 0 A / d
(c) 3ε 0 A / d (d) 4 ε 0 A / d

36. Four metallic plates of each with a surface area of one side A, are placed at a distance d from each
other. The alternate plates are connected to points A and B as shown in figure. The equivalent
capacitance of the system will be

(a) ε 0 A / d (b) 2 ε 0 A / d
(c) 3ε 0 A / d (d) 4 ε 0 A / d

37. In figure, the resultant capacitance between P and Q is 1 µF. The capacitance C is

32 11
(a) µF (b) µF
11 32
23 32
(c) µF (d) µF
32 23

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38. In figure, three capacitors C1, C2 and C3 are joined to a battery. With symbols having their usual
meanings, the correct conditions will be

(a) Q1 = Q2 = Q3 and V1 = V2 = V3 + V
(b) Q1 = Q2 + Q3 and V = V1 + V2 + V3
(c) Q1 = Q2 + Q3 and V = V1 + V2
(d) Q3 = Q2 and V2 = V3

39. The potential difference across the capacitance of 2 µF in figure is

(a) 10 V (b) 60 V
(c) 28 V (d) 56 V

40. Four condensers each of capacity 4 mµF are connected as shown in figure. If VP - V Q = 15 V, the
energy stored in the system will be

(a) 2.6 ergs (b) 1.8 ergs

(c) 3.6 ergs (d) 5.4 ergs