The amount of electricity a capacitor can store is directly proportional to the plate area and inversely proportional to the distance between the plates. Which option best expresses this relationship?

• A. Plate area and inversely proportional distance between plates
• B. Plate area and distance between plates
• C. Distance between plates and area
• D. Dielectric constant only

Answer: (A)

Capacitance for a parallel-plate capacitor grows with plate area and falls as the plate separation increases. This is captured by C ∝ A/d, and in exact form C = ε A / d (or C = κ ε0 A / d with a dielectric). So the description that combines plate area with inverse dependence on the distance between plates best expresses the relationship. Doubling the area doubles the capacitance, while doubling the separation halves it. The other options miss either the inverse distance part or the dependence on area.