Weight. As a scientific term Weight is referred to as the force that Earth and objects have with each other. Your weight can be different on other planets.
As stated in the statement, we will apply energy conservation to solve this problem.
From this concept we know that the kinetic energy gained is equivalent to the potential energy lost and vice versa. Mathematically said equilibrium can be expressed as
Where,
m = mass
= initial and final velocity
g = Gravity
h = height
As the mass is tHe same and the final height is zero we have that the expression is now:
You have effectively got two capacitors in parallel. The effective capacitance is just the sum of the two.
Cequiv = ε₀A/d₁ + ε₀A/d₂ Take these over a common denominator (d₁d₂)
Cequiv = ε₀d₂A + ε₀d₁A / (d₁d₂) Cequiv = ε₀A( (d₁ + d₂) / (d₁d₂) )
B) It's tempting to just wave your arms and say that when d₁ or d₂ tends to zero C -> ∞, so the minimum will occur in the middle, where d₁ = d₂
But I suppose we ought to kick that idea around a bit.
(d₁ + d₂) is effectively a constant. It's the distance between the two outer plates. Call it D.
C = ε₀AD / d₁d₂ We can also say: d₂ = D - d₁ C = ε₀AD / d₁(D - d₁) C = ε₀AD / d₁D - d₁²
Differentiate with respect to d₁
dC/dd₁ = -ε₀AD(D - 2d₁) / (d₁D - d₁²)² {d2C/dd₁² is positive so it will give us a minimum} For max or min equate to zero.
-ε₀AD(D - 2d₁) / (d₁D - d₁²)² = 0 -ε₀AD(D - 2d₁) = 0 ε₀, A, and D are all non-zero, so (D - 2d₁) = 0 d₁ = ½D
In other words when the middle plate is halfway between the two outer plates, (quelle surprise) so that
d₁ = d₂ = ½D so
Cmin = ε₀AD / (½D)² Cmin = 4ε₀A / D Cmin = 4ε₀A / (d₁ + d₂)
