About Capacitor Lab: Basics
Explore how a capacitor works! Change the size of the plates and the distance between them. Change the voltage and see charges build up on the plates. View the electric field, and measure the voltage. Connect a charged capacitor to a light bulb and observe a discharging RC circuit.
How to play Capacitor Lab: Basics
Everything is hands-on: drag, click and experiment — the simulation reacts instantly. Explore how a capacitor works!
Questions & answers
- What is Capacitor Lab: Basics?
- Capacitor Lab: Basics is a free interactive simulation from PhET Interactive Simulations (University of Colorado Boulder) that you can play right in your browser on crumble.lol — no downloads and no sign-up. Explore how a capacitor works! Change the size of the plates and the distance between them.
- What can kids learn from Capacitor Lab: Basics?
- It helps kids explore: explain the relationships between voltage, charge, stored energy, and capacitance predict how capacitance changes when the plate area or plate separation changes describe how charge drains away from a capacitor into a light bulb.
- What age is Capacitor Lab: Basics good for?
- It is designed for middle school (roughly ages 10–14) up to university, and curious kids outside that range can absolutely enjoy poking around it too.
- Is Capacitor Lab: Basics free to play?
- Yes — Capacitor Lab: Basics is completely free on crumble.lol and runs fully in your browser on computers and tablets.