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Three capacitors of 2 pF, 3 pF and 4 pF are connected in parallel. What is the total capacitance of the network?

Asked in GSEB Board March 2020 · Series and parallel combinations

• (1) (12)/(13) pF
• (2) 9 pF
• (3) (13)/(12) pF
• (4) 1/9 pF

Step-by-step solution

Why the other options are wrong

• (1) This is the series result: 1/C = 1/2 + 1/3 + 1/4 = (13)/(12), so C = (12)/(13) pF. In parallel the capacitances simply add.
• (3) This is 1/2 + 1/3 + 1/4 = (13)/(12): the series rule, and even then only 1/C, never inverted.
• (4) This inverts the correct sum, 1/(2+3+4) = 1/9, as if the parallel sum were 1/C. For capacitors in parallel the sum is C itself.

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