Like the title says, my task is to find the initial voltage across the terminals. The two capacitors are in Series with positive end of one plate connected to that of another.
The given information are:
\$C_1\$ = 12 microFarad, \$V_1\$ = 6 Volts, \$C_2\$ = 4 microFarad, \$C_2\$ = 2 Volts.
The circuit diagram is:
I have calculated the equivalent capacitance and I just need the total charge in the circuit to find the total or initial voltage using the equation,
Q = C*V
So, I first attempted to find \$Q_1\$ = \$C_1\$ * \$V_1\$ = 72 microCoulomb.
\$Q_2\$ = \$C_2\$ * \$V_2\$ = 8 microCoulomb.
I know that the positive charges accumulate on the positive end of the capacitor,
Hence, I am unsure whether \$Q_T\$ or Total Charge in the circuit = \$Q_1\$ + \$Q_2\$ or the difference between the two charges which is |\$Q_1\$ – \$Q_2\$|?
Best Answer
You are overthinking this; it's quite simply 2 volts minus 6 volts or, 6 volts minus 2 volts if your reference node is at the top.