How does increasing the distance between the plates of a capacitor affect its capacitance?

The capacitance of a parallel plate capacitor is given by the formula:

C=ε0A/d

Where:

  • C is the capacitance.
  • ε0 is the permittivity of free space (a constant).
  • A is the area of the plates.
  • d is the distance between the plates.

From this formula, you can see that the capacitance is inversely proportional to the distance between the plates ().

So, if the distance between the plates is increased, the capacitance will decrease. Specifically, if the distance is doubled, the capacitance will be halved, and if the distance is tripled, the capacitance will decrease by a factor of three.

Increasing the distance between the plates of a capacitor reduces its capacitance.

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