Here's what happens during the charging process:
- Initially, when the capacitor is first connected to the battery, electrons start to flow from the negative terminal of the battery to the positive plate of the capacitor. This causes the positive plate to become positively charged, while the negative plate becomes negatively charged.
- As the charging process continues, the voltage across the capacitor increases. This is because the increasing charge on the capacitor creates an electric field between the plates, which opposes the flow of further electrons.
- Eventually, the voltage across the capacitor reaches the same value as the voltage of the battery. At this point, the charging process stops, and the capacitor is said to be fully charged.
Once the capacitor is fully charged, it acts as an open circuit to direct current (DC). This means that the current stops flowing through the circuit, and the voltage across the capacitor remains constant. The capacitor effectively stores the electrical energy provided by the battery in the form of an electric field between its plates.