Solution

ID: past-exam-of-the-physics-course-of-the-year-1-of-the-natural-sciences-course-of-the-university-of-cambridge/2016/paper-1/section-a/a4/solution

For an ideal air-gap parallel-plate capacitor, neglecting fringing, the electric field between oppositely charged plates is . Dielectric breakdown therefore limits the magnitude of the electric charge on either plate to
The two plates carry and ; the quoted stored electric charge is the magnitude on one plate, rather than the net electric charge of the whole capacitor. The gap does not enter this ideal bound: and make independent of . Edge enhancement of the electric field can lower the practical limit.

New to topics? Read the docs here!