🔍 Key Concepts

• Identify from the illustration whether C1 and C2 are in series or in parallel • Formula for total capacitance of capacitors in series vs parallel • Compare how total capacitance changes relative to the largest single capacitor in the group

💭 Think About

• From the drawing, do both capacitor tops connect to the same point in the circuit and both bottoms connect to the same return path? What does that tell you about series vs parallel? • For that type of connection, should you add the capacitances directly, or use the reciprocal (1/C) formula? • Given C1 is 100 μF and C2 is 50 μF, should the total capacitance be greater than 100 μF or less than 50 μF for this kind of connection?

✅ Before You Answer

• Be sure you have correctly identified the connection in figure A as series or parallel before using any formula • Use the proper formula for that configuration and keep the units as microfarads (μF) throughout the calculation • Eliminate any answer choices that are smaller than both capacitors if the configuration must increase capacitance, or larger than both if it must decrease capacitance