Networks of capacitors in a d.c. circuit

摘要

Suppose that an arbitrary electric circuit with a network of capacitors is connected to a d.c. e.m.f. device. Herein we address several related questions. What is the equivalent capacitance of the network? What is the voltage and charge on each capacitor? How long will it take to charge the network and will all capacitors be charged at the same time? Finally, the most challenging among these questions: how, in fact, are capacitors being charged? We answer these questions using theory and experiment adapted to the undergraduate level.