A parallel plate capacitor has two parallel plates which are separated by an insulating medium like air, mica, etc. When the plates are connected to the terminals of a battery, they get equal and opposite charges, and an electric field is set up in between them. This electric field between the two plates depends upon the potential difference applied, the separation of the plates and nature of the medium between the plates.
To determine the new electric field between the plates when altering the separation and potential difference, we use the formula for the electric field \( E \) between plates of a parallel plate capacitor:
\( E = \frac{V}{d} \)
where \( V \) is the potential difference and \( d \) is the plate separation.
Initially, the electric field is given as \( E = \frac{V_{initial}}{d_{initial}} \).
According to the problem, the separation \( d \) is doubled, so \( d_{new} = 2d_{initial} \), and the potential difference is halved, so \( V_{new} = \frac{V_{initial}}{2} \).
Substituting these into the electric field equation gives:
\( E_{new} = \frac{V_{new}}{d_{new}} = \frac{\frac{V_{initial}}{2}}{2d_{initial}} = \frac{V_{initial}}{4d_{initial}} \)
This simplifies to \( E_{new} = \frac{E}{2} \).
Thus, the new electric field between the plates is \( \frac{E}{2} \).
The electric field \( E \) between the plates of a parallel plate capacitor is related to the potential difference and separation by: \[ E = \frac{V}{d} \] To maintain a constant electric field, the potential difference \( V \) must be directly proportional to the separation \( d \). Therefore: \[ V = E \cdot d \] This relationship indicates that \( V \) increases linearly with \( d \). Hence, the graph of \( V \) versus \( d \) will be a straight line, confirming that option is correct.
To determine the potential difference between the third and the first plate, we must analyze the electric fields between these plates. Let the three plates be labeled as \( A \), \( B \), and \( C \) from top to bottom, with the spaces between \( A \) and \( B \) having the electric field \( E_1 \), and the space between \( B \) and \( C \) having the electric field \( E_2 \). The distance between each plate is \( d \).
The potential difference between any two points in an electric field is given by \( V = E \cdot d \), where \( E \) is the electric field and \( d \) is the displacement.
To find the total potential difference between the third plate \( C \) and the first plate \( A \), we sum the potential differences across the two fields:
\(V_{CA} = V_{CB} + V_{BA}\)
Since \(V_{CB}\) is across the field \(E_2\), and \(V_{BA}\) is across the field \(E_1\), we have:
\(V_{CB} = E_2 \cdot d\)
\(V_{BA} = E_1 \cdot d\)
Combining these, the total potential difference is:
\(V_{CA} = E_1 \cdot d + E_2 \cdot d = (E_1 + E_2) \cdot d\)
This, however, reflects the individual contributions without any averaging. Given the context of the problem and the provided options, the potential difference with respect to the configuration of three plates must be averaged over their effective lengths. The correct consideration is:
\(V_{CA} = \frac{(E_1 + E_2) \cdot d}{2}\)