Four identical capacitors are joined in series, across a battery of 20 V . The capacitors are separated and then connected in parallel. The potential difference across the parallel combination is

Step-by-step solution

Let the capacitance of each capacitor be C . When four identical capacitors are connected in series across a 20 V battery, the potential difference divides equally among them. The potential difference across each capacitor is: V' = 20 4 = 5 V The charge acquired by each capacitor is q = CV' = 5C . When these capacitors are separated and connected in parallel (with plates of the same polarity connected together), the total charge of the system becomes: Q_ total = 4q = 4(5C) = 20C The equivalent capacitance of the pa