Parallel Plate Capacitor Calculator

How to Use the Calculator

1. Enter the area of one of the plates (A) in square meters (m²). This is the surface area of the plate that faces the other plate.
2. Enter the distance between the two plates (d) in meters (m). This is the separation between the two conductive plates.
3. Enter the dielectric constant (ε) of the material between the plates. For a vacuum, the dielectric constant is approximately 8.854 × 10⁻¹² F/m. For other materials, you can look up the relative permittivity.
4. Click the "Calculate" button to compute the capacitance.
5. The result will be displayed in Farads (F).

Working Principle

A parallel plate capacitor is a type of capacitor that consists of two parallel conductive plates separated by a distance. The capacitance of a parallel plate capacitor is determined by the area of the plates, the distance between them, and the dielectric material used between the plates.

The formula for calculating the capacitance (C) of a parallel plate capacitor is:

C = (ε × A) / d

Where:

• C is the capacitance in Farads (F)
• ε is the dielectric constant of the material between the plates
• A is the area of one of the plates in square meters (m²)
• d is the distance between the plates in meters (m)

Example

If you have two parallel plates each with an area of 0.01 m², separated by a distance of 0.001 meters, and filled with air (dielectric constant ≈ 1), the capacitance would be:

C = (1 × 0.01) / 0.001 = 10 Farads