Physlet Illustration: Capacitors in Series
In this simulation, a 10 microFarad, 15 microFarad, and 30 microFarad capacitor are connected in series.  Move the mouse over the capacitors to measure their charge.  How are these related to the charge on the equivalent capacitor?  

Hints:

  1. What is the charge stored on each capacitor?
  2. What is the voltage drop across each capacitor?
  3. Which of these is the same for each capacitor?
  4. What is the total (net) charge stored in the circuit? (Be careful of signs.)
  5. How large would a single capacitor need to be to store the same amount of net charge?  What is the equivalent capacitance of the circuit?  

Reference

See Walker, Section 21-6

Illustration written by Chuck Niederriter