How many conductors make up a capacitor?

How many conductors make up a capacitor?

• A. 1
• B. 2
• C. 3
• D. 4

Answer: (B)

Capacitors store energy by having two conductors held at different electric potentials with an insulating material between them. These two conductors, usually called plates, attract opposite charges when connected to a circuit, creating an electric field in the dielectric and enabling energy storage. If there were only one conductor, charges couldn’t be separated to form an electric field, so there would be no capacitance. Some specialized configurations use multiple conducting surfaces, but the fundamental capacitor consists of two conductors separated by a dielectric. So, the number of conductors is two.

Capacitors store energy by having two conductors held at different electric potentials with an insulating material between them. These two conductors, usually called plates, attract opposite charges when connected to a circuit, creating an electric field in the dielectric and enabling energy storage. If there were only one conductor, charges couldn’t be separated to form an electric field, so there would be no capacitance. Some specialized configurations use multiple conducting surfaces, but the fundamental capacitor consists of two conductors separated by a dielectric. So, the number of conductors is two.