The Figure shows a capacitor made of two circular plates each of radius $12 \mathrm{~cm}$ and separated by $\mathbf{5 . 0} \mathbf{~ c m}$. The capacitor is being charged by an external source (not shown in the figure). The charging current is constant and equal to 0.15A.
(a) Calculate the capacitance and the rate of change of the potential difference between the plates.
(b) Obtain the displacement current across the plates.
The Figure shows a capacitor made of two circular plates each of radius $12 \mathrm{~cm}$ and separated by $\mathbf{5 . 0} \mathbf{~ c m}$. The capacitor is being charged by an external source (not shown in the figure). The charging current is constant and equal to 0.15A.
(a) Calculate the capacitance and the rate of change of the potential difference between the plates.
(b) Obtain the displacement current across the plates.

The radius of each circular plate $(r)$ is given as $0.12 \mathrm{~m}$

The distance between the plates $(d)$ is given as $0.05 \mathrm{~m}$

The charging current (I) is given as $0.15 \mathrm{~A}$

The permittivity of free space is known as $\varepsilon_{0}=8.85 \times 10^{-12} \mathrm{C}^{2} \mathrm{~N}^{-1} \mathrm{~m}^{-2}$

(a) The capacitance between the two plates can be calculated from the expression:

$C=\frac{\varepsilon_{0} A}{d}$

where,

$\mathrm{A}=$ Area of each plate $=\pi r^{2} \quad
C=\frac{\varepsilon_{0} \pi r^{2}}{d}$

$=\frac{8.85 \times 10^{-12} \times \pi(0.12)^{2}}{0.05}$

$=8.0032 \times 10^{-12} F$

$=80.032 \mathrm{pF}$

The charge on each plate is given by the relation,

$q=C V$

Differentiating both sides with respect to $t$, we get,

$\frac{\mathrm{d} q}{\mathrm{~d} t}=C \frac{\mathrm{d} V}{\mathrm{~d} t}$

But, $\frac{d q}{d t}=$ I

$\therefore \frac{\mathrm{d} V}{\mathrm{~d} t}=\frac{I}{C}$

$\Rightarrow \frac{0.15}{80.032 \times 10^{-12}}=1.87 \times 10^{9} \mathrm{~V} / \mathrm{s}$

Therefore, $1.87 \times 10^{9} \mathrm{~V} / \mathrm{s}$ is the change in the potential difference between the plates.

(b) The conduction current is the same as the displacement current across the plates. As a result, the displacement current, id, equals $0.15 \mathrm{~A}$.