(i) The plates of a capacitor, initially connected to a battery for a long time, are disconnected from it now. How is the charge on the capacitor affected?
(ii) The plates of a charged capacitor are connected to each other by a conducting wire. What happens to the charge after connection?

Explanation

(i) The charges on the plates of capacitor being opposite in polarity are bound due to attraction between them. Thus, charge will remain same even if the battery is disconnected.
(ii) Now, if the plates are connected to each other by a conducting wire, the charges on the plates will transfer through the wire till the plates acquire a common potential. Thus, the capacitor will be discharged as the net charge will become zero on each plate plate after connection.