Solution

ID: past-exam-of-the-physics-2-paper-of-the-university-of-oxford/2021-resit/1/a/solution

In vacuum, Gauss's law states that the outward electric flux through a closed surface is the enclosed electric charge divided by the vacuum permittivity:
Take opposite electric charges on the two electrical conductors, with surface charge densities . A Gaussian pillbox crossing one isolated large sheet gives , so each sheet contributes on either side. By the superposition principle, the electric fields add between the sheets and cancel outside. Ignoring the fringing field of a capacitor, the gap electric field is . The electric potential difference and capacitance of this parallel-plate capacitor are consequently
The approximation requires much smaller than both transverse sheet dimensions. A uniform filling with permittivity replaces by .

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