Parallel Plate Capacitor Capacitance Calculator

This Parallel Plate Capacitor capacitance calculator helps you determine the capacitance between two parallel plates. We’ll also cover the formula used in the calculator.

What is a Parallel Plate Capacitor?

This type of capacitor is made up of two conducting plates separated by a small distance, as you can see in the figure below. The plates are parallel to each other. The space between them can be a vacuum or filled with a dielectric material that has a constant K.

Here, ‘A’ represents the area of each plate, and ‘D’ is the distance separating them. When a battery is connected, the two plates will hold charges of ‘+Q’ and ‘-Q’.

The capacitance ‘C’ of a parallel plate capacitor can be calculated as follows:

$C = Q/V = K \*ε0 \* A/D$

Parallel Plate Capacitor Calculator

This handy calculator uses the surface area, the distance between the plates, and the dielectric material as inputs to calculate the capacitance.

EXAMPLE:

INPUTS: K = 2.53, A = 0.5 mm², D = 0.005 mm

OUTPUT: Capacitance = 2.24 x 10^-12 farads or 2.24 pF

Equation or Formula Used for the Parallel Plate Capacitor Capacitance Calculator

The following equation or formula is used in this Parallel Plate Capacitor capacitance calculator:

$C = K \* ε0 \* A/D$

Where:

• K = Dielectric constant of the material (refer to Table 1 and Table 2 below to select the appropriate value for the material)
• ε0 = 8.854 x 10^-12
• A = Overlapping surface area of the plates
• D = Distance between the plates