The capacitance of a capacitor is directly proportional to the surface area of the plates and inversely proportional to the distance between them. If the distance between the plates is increased by a factor of 4, the capacitance will decrease by a factor of 4. This is because the increased distance between the plates reduces the electric field between them, and therefore, the amount of charge that can be stored on the plates. Thus, the capacitance of a capacitor can be calculated using the formula C = εA/d, where C is the capacitance, ε is the permittivity of the material between the plates, A is the surface area of the plates, and d is the distance between them. Increasing the distance between the plates while keeping the surface area constant reduces the capacitance, while decreasing the distance increases the capacitance.