Your firm uses a large parallel-plate capacitor to store energy, and you measure the electric field strength
Question:
Your firm uses a large parallel-plate capacitor to store energy, and you measure the electric field strength between the plates to determine the amount of energy stored. During a test run with a new renewable energy source, you realize that the electric field magnitudes being produced are too small to be accurately detected by your equipment. The capacitor plates are fixed in place, and you cannot yet control the energy source to give you a greater potential difference. All you have to work with are four large flat slabs of metal, one \(d / 2\) thick, one \(d / 3\) thick, one \(d / 4\) thick, and one \(d / 5\) thick, where \(d\) is the fixed plate separation distance. You realize that it is necessary to increase \(E\) by at least an order of magnitude, but it takes you a while to figure out what to do. How do you increase \(E\) sufficiently?
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