Lesson Plan: Capacitors Physics
This lesson plan includes the objectives, prerequisites, and exclusions of the lesson teaching students how to convert between common units of capacitance and understand how capacitors work in circuits.
Objectives
Students will be able to
- recall that a capacitor is a circuit component that can store charge,
- understand that a capacitor consists of two plates or sides and, when charged, one side is positively charged and the other side is negatively charged,
- understand that when a capacitor has charge stored in it, there is a potential difference across the capacitor,
- identify and draw the circuit symbol for a capacitor,
- recall that capacitance is measured in farads (F),
- understand how a capacitor can be charged using a simple circuit,
- understand that if the two sides of the capacitor are connected by a circuit with no other sources of potential difference, the capacitor will discharge,
- understand that a capacitor will discharge almost instantaneously if it is connected to a circuit with no resistance,
- use Ohm’s law to work out the potential difference across, the current through, and the resistance of different components in a circuit containing a discharging capacitor the instant the capacitor begins to discharge,
- recognize the shape of the graph of charge over time for a capacitor being charged using a circuit that has resistance.
Prerequisites
Students should already be familiar with
- electric currents, potential difference, and resistance,
- series circuits,
- static electricity.
Exclusions
Students will not cover
- calculations of the potential difference provided by a capacitor over time as it discharges,
- combinations of capacitors in series and in parallel.
