Determine the equivalent capacitance between the points a and b for the system presented in the figure.

Step-by-step solution

The given circuit can be simplified by identifying the parallel and series combinations of the capacitors. The circuit consists of three parallel branches connected across the terminals a and b : 1. The upper branch has capacitors C₁ and C₂ connected in series. The equivalent capacitance of this branch is C_ upper = C₁ C₂ C₁ + C₂ . 2. The lower branch also has capacitors C₁ and C₂ connected in series. The equivalent capacitance of this branch is C_ lower = C₁ C₂ C₁ + C₂ . 3. The middle branch has a single capacitor