A charging capacitor has

The correct answer is Option (3) → Both displacement and conduction currents present

Note: The given answer is as per the official NTA Answer Key. However, the question can have more than one correct answer, i.e. Option (1), Option (2) and Option (3), as explained below. When more than one option is a true statement, choose the most complete one; here Option (3) combines Options (1) and (2).

While a capacitor charges, charge flows in the connecting wires and the electric field between the plates keeps changing. The conduction current \( I_c = dq/dt \) exists in the wires; no charge crosses the gap. The displacement current \( I_d = \varepsilon_0\, d\Phi_E/dt \) exists in the gap and equals the conduction current, so the total current is continuous.

Option (1) Only conduction current present in connecting wire — Correct. True, but it describes only the wires.

Option (2) Only displacement current present in the space between plates — Correct. True, but it describes only the gap.

Option (3) Both displacement and conduction currents present — Correct. Conduction current in the wires and displacement current in the gap: the most complete description.

Option (4) No current present in different regions of space — Incorrect. A current exists in every region while the capacitor is charging.

NCERT (2026-27):
Displacement Current – “… In explicit terms, this means that outside the capacitor plates, we have only conduction current i_c = i, and no displacement current, i.e., i_d = 0. On the other hand, inside the capacitor, there is no conduction current, i.e., i_c = 0, and there is only displacement current, so that i_d = i.”

Displacement Current – “… In other cases, for example, the charging capacitor above, both conduction and displacement currents may be present in different regions of space.”