Question

Air isn't a perfect electric insulator, but it does have a very high resistivity. Dry air has a resistivity of approximately 3× 1013Ω⋅ m. Assume we have a capacitor with square plates 16 cm on a side separated by 2.0 mm of dry air.

a. Assuming that the air between the capacitor's plates can be treated like any other resistor, find its resistance value.

b. If the capacitor is charged to 300 V , what current will flow between the plates of the capacitor? Make two approximations: That the potential difference doesn't change as the charge flows and that the air obeys Ohm's law.

c. What fraction of its initial charge will the capacitor lose after one minute?

Answer 1