Question:
A capacitor of capacitance 1 micro faraday withstands the maximum voltage 6kV while a capacitor of 2 micro faraday withstands the maximum voltage 4kV. What maximum voltage will the system of these two capacitor withstands if they are connected in series?
My method:
I first found the maximum charge on each capacitor. For the first one it is 6 milli Coulomb and for the second one it is 8 milli Coulomb. Because they are connected in the series, their charge must be same. So the maximum charge on both capacitor plates when connected in series is 6 milli coulomb and totally 12 milli coulombs. Now i found the effective capacitance due to their series combinations by using 1/C(eff) = 1/C1 + 1/C2 (series combination) and i assumed the maximum charge on effective capacitor to be 12 milli coulomb. By using V = Q/C i got 12kV as the answer. But the answer is 9kV. Can you tell what mistake i did? and how to solve these type of questions?
