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[Phys-L] Voltage of capacitors in series.



I noticed an answer to a question on Quora:

Q: What is the output voltage of capacitors in series, each charged to V1, V2, V3...

The answer given was:

A: Output voltage V = V1 + V2 + V3...

   - which seemed straight-forward.

But  I noticed a physicist commented, "What if the capacitance of the various capacitors were greatly different?"     to which the response was, "If the smallest series capacitor value is much greater than the input capacitance of the voltage reading device, the answer is valid."

This response appeared unsatisfying to him. Why?


Brian W