AP Capacitors in Circuits

Capacitors or any other elements in a circuit only see the full circuit voltage across themselves if each end is connected directly to the a side Different side for each end, of course) of the voltage source ( say a battery). If there is some other element between it and the voltage source on either end, then the voltage is split between the two or more elements and the respective partial voltages depend on the characteristics of the elements. For example two 10 uF capacitors in series will each have half the total voltage across them. A 1 uF in series with a 4 uF will have 4/5 of the total voltage across it, and the 4uF will have the remaining 1/5 of the voltage.