What is the equivalent capacitance of N identical capacitors in parallel?

What is the equivalent capacitance of N identical capacitors in parallel?

• A. N C
• B. C / N
• C. N^2 C
• D. C

Answer: (A)

In parallel, the same voltage is across every capacitor and the charges add up, so the equivalent capacitance is the sum of all the individual capacitances. With N identical capacitors each of value C, the total becomes C + C + ... + C (N times) = N C. That’s why the equivalent capacitance is N C. The other ideas would come from different setups: in series the result would be C/N for identical values, and treating them as a single capacitor of value C would ignore the additive effect of parallel paths.

In parallel, the same voltage is across every capacitor and the charges add up, so the equivalent capacitance is the sum of all the individual capacitances. With N identical capacitors each of value C, the total becomes C + C + ... + C (N times) = N C. That’s why the equivalent capacitance is N C. The other ideas would come from different setups: in series the result would be C/N for identical values, and treating them as a single capacitor of value C would ignore the additive effect of parallel paths.