# Is the charge on the plates of a parallel plate capacitor induced charge?

My question is-

Is the charge on the plates of a parallel plate capacitor induced charge?

Imagine two plates of the capacitor have $+q$ and $-q$ charges on it.

Basically, what I want to know is that if, I earthed (or grounded) one plate of a parallel plate capacitor, would the charge distribution still remain symmetrical (in equal and opposite sense) or would it change? I think that if it is induced charge it would not change otherwise it should change.

Thanks!

Imagine two plates of the capacitor have $q$ and $-q$ charges on it.
Grounding of one of the plates would not change charge distribution. Moreover, if the grounded plate did not have any net charge on it before the grounding, it would attract charge $q$ (positive or negative, depending on the charge sign on the other plate) from the ground to make the capacitor neutral and the distribution of charges would be indistinguishable from the first scenario.