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Item RG112002: An engineer can increase the electrostatic potential energy of a capacitor by increasing the distance between the two plates.

A capacitor is a device that is used to store an electrostatic charge. It is composed of two large conductive plates separated by a nonconductive insulating layer.

An engineer would like to increase the electrostatic potential energy of a capacitor. Which of the following changes could she make to the capacitor to increase the electrostatic potential energy?

  1. Increase the distance between the two plates by increasing the thickness of the insulating layer
  2. Decrease the distance between the two plates by decreasing the thickness of the insulating layer
  3. The only way to increase the electrostatic potential energy of a capacitor is to replace the insulating layer.
  4. It is not possible to increase the electrostatic potential energy of a capacitor.
Distribution of Responses
Chart showing distrubtion of responses for Item EG112002
Scale Score for Item Difficulty
(200[Easy]-800[Difficult])
530
Students Responding Correctly
Group Correct Total Percent
Overall 413 1538 27%
Grades
  4–5N/AN/AN/A
  6–8 207 791 26%
  9–12 206 747 28%
Gender
  Male20773828%
  Female19677125%
Primary Language
  English370138927%
  Other3310930%

View data table