In A, there’s no charge on the capacitor and therefore no displacement of the electrons. In B, a positive charge has been applied to the right-hand plate. You can see how the electrons in the dielectric have been attracted to and displaced toward the positive plate. In C, a positive charge has been applied to the left-hand plate. Again, you can see how the electrons in the dielectric have been displaced toward the positive plate.

Figures B and C show that the electric field in the dielectric is in the opposite direction from the electric field created by the capacitor plates. As a result, the net electric field in the dielectric space decreases when a dielectric other than air or a vacuum is placed on the space between the capacitor plates. Since the value of the capacitor is equal to the charge on the plates divided by the electric field between the plates, the value of the capacitor increases when a dielectric is placed between the plates.

When the value of a capacitor with a non-vacuum dielectric is divided by the value of a capacitor with a vacuum dielectric, the resulting value is called the dielectric constant of the insulating material, or K. A vacuum dielectric has a dielectric constant of 1, and all other dielectric materials have a dielectric constant greater than 1.

	Created by That Yeti Dog Person over 3 years ago

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