Can please help me understand this question?
A capacitor has a capacitance of 2.0 10-8 F. In the charging process, electrons are removed from one plate and placed on the other plate. When the potential difference between the plates is 540 V, how many electrons have been transferred?
________electrons
Compute the charge Q associated the V = 540 V voltage difference using the formula
Q = C V
Then divide Q by the electron charge (1.6*10^-19 C) to get the number of electrons transferred.
To understand this question, let's break it down step by step:
1. The first sentence tells us that we have a capacitor with a capacitance of 2.0 x 10^(-8) F. Capacitance is a measure of a capacitor's ability to store charge.
2. The second sentence mentions the charging process, where electrons are removed from one plate and placed on the other plate. When a capacitor charges, electrons are transferred from one plate to the other, creating a potential difference between the plates.
3. The third sentence gives us the potential difference between the plates, which is 540 V.
4. Finally, the question asks how many electrons have been transferred.
Now, let's calculate the number of electrons transferred using the given information:
The charge on a capacitor is given by the formula Q = CV, where Q is the charge on the capacitor, C is the capacitance, and V is the potential difference.
In this case, the capacitance (C) is 2.0 x 10^(-8) F, and the potential difference (V) is 540 V. We can substitute these values into the formula to find the charge:
Q = (2.0 x 10^(-8)) F * 540 V
Q = 1.08 x 10^(-5) C
The charge (Q) represents the total number of electrons transferred. The elementary charge of an electron is approximately 1.6 x 10^(-19) C.
To find the number of electrons, we need to divide the total charge (Q) by the elementary charge:
Number of electrons transferred = Q / Elementary charge
Number of electrons transferred = (1.08 x 10^(-5) C) / (1.6 x 10^(-19) C)
Now, we can simplify and calculate the final result:
Number of electrons transferred = 6.75 x 10^13 electrons.
Therefore, approximately 6.75 x 10^13 electrons have been transferred during the charging process.