What occurs to the capacitance when the distance between capacitor plates is increased?

When the distance between the plates of a capacitor is increased, the capacitance decreases. This is due to the fundamental relationship described by the formula for capacitance, which is given by:

[ C = \frac{ε \cdot A}{d} ]

In this formula:

• ( C ) represents the capacitance,

• ( ε ) is the permittivity of the dielectric material between the plates,

• ( A ) is the area of one of the plates,

• ( d ) is the distance between the plates.

As the distance ( d ) increases, the denominator in the formula becomes larger, which results in a smaller value for ( C ). Consequently, capacitance is directly proportional to the area of the plates and inversely proportional to the distance between them. Therefore, increasing the distance between the plates reduces the capacitance, making it less effective at storing electric charge.

This relationship is fundamental to understanding how capacitors work in various electrical circuits and applications, confirming that when plate separation increases, capacitance decreases.