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Class XII · Physics

Electrostatics: NEET MCQ practice

379 practice questions on Electrostatics, each with an explanation. Practise them chapter by chapter in the GyaanLoop app.

379

Practice questions

210

Easy

165

Medium

4

Hard

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What Electrostatics covers

Topics in the NEET (UG) 2026–27 syllabus for this chapter.

  • Electric charges, conservation of charge, Coulomb's law
  • Electric field, field lines, electric dipole, dipole in a uniform electric field
  • Electric flux, Gauss's law and applications
  • Electric potential, potential due to point charge/dipole/system of charges
  • Equipotential surfaces, potential energy in an electric field
  • Conductors, dielectrics, capacitors and capacitance, energy stored in a capacitor

Sample questions on Electrostatics

Try each one, then open the answer and explanation.

Question 1 · Practice question

Electric field lines provide information about

  1. A.field strength
  2. B.direction
  3. C.nature of charge
  4. D.all of these
Show answer

Answer: D. all of these

Electric field lines show direction (tangent gives field direction), strength (closer lines indicate stronger field), and nature of charge (lines start from positive and end at negative charges). Thus option (d) is correct. Students might think only direction or charge nature is shown separately, but a field line diagram encodes all three pieces of information.

Question 2 · Practice question

In a parallel plate capacitor, the capacity increases if

  1. A.area of the plate is decreased
  2. B.distance between the plates increases
  3. C.area of the plate is increased
  4. D.dielectric constant decreases
Show answer

Answer: C. area of the plate is increased

The capacitance of a parallel plate capacitor is directly proportional to the area of the plates and the dielectric constant, and inversely proportional to the distance between plates. Increasing area (option C) directly increases capacitance. Option A decreases capacitance, option B decreases it, and option D also decreases it.

Question 3 · Practice question

A parallel plate capacitor has two square plates with equal and opposite charges. The surface charge densities on the plate are +σ and −σ respectively. In the region between the plates the magnitude of electric field is:

  1. A.σ/2ε 0
  2. B.σ/ε 0
  3. C.0
  4. D.none of these
Show answer

Answer: B. σ/ε 0

For a parallel plate capacitor with surface charge density ±σ, the magnitude of electric field between the plates is σ/ε₀. This is because the fields due to both plates add up constructively inside. Option (a) σ/(2ε₀) is incorrect; that's the field due to a single isolated charged sheet.

Question 4 · Practice question

A parallel plate air capacitor is charged to a potential difference of V volts. After disconnecting the charging battery the distance between the plates of the capacitor is increased using an insulating handle. As a result the potential difference between the plates

  1. A.increases
  2. B.decreases
  3. C.does not change
  4. D.becomes zero
Show answer

Answer: A. increases

After disconnecting the battery, the charge on the capacitor plates remains fixed. When plate separation is increased, capacitance decreases (C ∝ 1/d). Since Q = C·V, and Q is constant, a decrease in C leads to an increase in V to keep Q unchanged. Option (b) would be tempting if the battery remained connected, because then voltage would stay constant and charge would change instead.

Question 5 · Practice question

A parallel plate capacitor is charged and then isolated. What is the effect of increasing the plate separation on charge, potential, capacitance, respectively?

  1. A.constant, decreases, decreases
  2. B.increases, decreases, decreases
  3. C.constant, decreases, increases
  4. D.constant, increases, decreases
Show answer

Answer: D. constant, increases, decreases

Since the capacitor is isolated after charging, the charge on plates remains constant. Capacitance decreases with increased separation because C ∝ 1/d. From Q = CV, if C decreases while Q is constant, the potential V must increase. Option (d) correctly states: constant charge, increased potential, decreased capacitance. A common mistake is choosing (a) — forgetting that potential increases when capacitance decreases under constant charge.

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