Capacitor

A capacitor (originally known as a condenser) is a passive two-terminal electrical

component used to store energyelectrostatically in an electric field. The forms of practical
capacitors vary widely, but all contain at least two electrical conductors separated by
a dielectric (insulator); for eample, one common construction consists of metal foils separated
by a thin layer of insulating film. !apacitors are widely used as parts of electrical circuits in
many common electrical devices.
"hen there is a potential difference across the conductors, an electric field develops across the
dielectric, causing positive charge to collect on one plate and negative charge on the other
plate. #nergy is stored in the electrostatic field. An ideal capacitor is characteri$ed by a single
constant value, capacitance. This is the ratio of the electric charge on each conductor to the
potential difference between them. The %& unit of capacitance is the farad, which is e'ual to
one coulombper volt.
The capacitance is greatest when there is a narrow separation between large areas of conductor,
hence capacitor conductors are often called plates, referring to an early means of construction. &n
practice, the dielectric between the plates passes a small amount of leakage current and also has
an electric field strength limit, the breakdown voltage. The conductors and leads introduce an
undesired inductance and resistance.
!apacitors are widely used in electronic circuits for blocking direct current while
allowing alternating current to pass. &nanalog filter networks, they smooth the output of power
supplies. &n resonant circuits they tune radios to particularfre'uencies. &n electric power
transmission systems they stabili$e voltage and power flow.
History
&n (ctober )*+,, #wald -eorg von .leist of /omerania in -ermany found that charge could be
stored by connecting a high-voltage electrostatic generator by a wire to a volume of water in a
hand-held glass 0ar. 1on .leist2s hand and the water acted as conductors, and the 0ar as
adielectric (although details of the mechanism were incorrectly identified at the time). 1on .leist
found that touching the wire resulted in a powerful spark, much more painful than that obtained
from an electrostatic machine. The following year, the 3utch physicist /ieter van
4usschenbroekinvented a similar capacitor, which was named the 5eyden 0ar, after
the 6niversity of 5eiden where he worked. 7e also was impressed by the power of the shock he
received, writing, 8& would not take a second shock for the kingdom of 9rance.8
3aniel -ralath was the first to combine several 0ars in parallel into a 8battery8 to increase the
charge storage capacity. :en0amin 9ranklininvestigated the 5eyden 0ar and came to the
conclusion that the charge was stored on the glass, not in the water as others had assumed. 7e
also adopted the term 8battery8, (denoting the increasing of power with a row of similar units as
in a battery of cannon), subse'uently applied to clusters of electrochemical cells.
;*<
5eyden 0ars
were later made by coating the inside and outside of 0ars with metal foil, leaving a space at the
mouth to prevent arcing between the foils. The earliest unit of capacitance was the 0ar, e'uivalent
to about ) nanofarad.
5eyden 0ars or more powerful devices employing flat glass plates alternating with foil conductors
were used eclusively up until about )=>>, when the invention of wireless (radio) created a
demand for standard capacitors, and the steady move to higher fre'uencies re'uired capacitors
with lower inductance. A more compact construction began to be used of a fleible dielectric
sheet such as oiled paper sandwiched between sheets of metal foil, rolled or folded into a small
package.
#arly capacitors were also known as condensers, a term that is still occasionally used today. The
term was first used for this purpose byAlessandro 1olta in )*?@, with reference to the device2s
ability to store a higher density of electric charge than a normal isolated conductor.
Theory of Operation
!harge separation in a parallel-
plate capacitor causes an
internal electric field. A
dielectric (orange) reduces the
field and increases the
capacitance.
A capacitor consists of
two conductors separated by a
non-conductive region.
;)><
The
non-conductive region is called
the dielectric. &n simpler terms,
the dielectric is 0ust an electrical insulator. #amples of dielectric media are glass, air,
paper, vacuum, and even asemiconductor depletion region chemically identical to the
conductors. A capacitor is assumed to be self-contained and isolated, with no net electric
charge and no influence from any eternal electric field. The conductors thus hold e'ual and
opposite charges on their facing surfaces,
;))<
and the dielectric develops an electric field.
&n %& units, a capacitance of one farad means that one coulomb of charge on each conductor
causes a voltage of one voltacross the device.
;)@<
An ideal capacitor is wholly characteri$ed by a constant capacitance C, defined as the ratio of
charge AQ on each conductor to the voltage V between themB
:ecause the conductors (or plates) are close
together, the opposite charges on the conductors attract one another due to their electric fields,
allowing the capacitor to store more charge for a given voltage than if the conductors were
separated, giving the capacitor a large capacitance.
Capacitors in Series
In series, capacitors will each have the same amount of charge stored on them because the
charge from the first one travels to the second one, and so on.
The total charge stored is the charge that was moved from the cell, which equals the charge
that arrived at the first capacitor, which equals the charge that arrived at the second, etc...
So, QT = Q1 = Q2 = Q, etc.
The voltage of the circuit is spread out amongst the capacitors !so that each one onl" gets
a portion of the total#.
So from the diagram !and remembering that $=Q%&#
Capacitors in Parallel
Two small capacitors in parallel
can be thought of as being the same
as one big capacitor:
There is 0ust as much 2plate2 on the
left hand side for the charge to flow
into in both of these diagrams.
%o adding capacitors in parallel will increase the space available to store charge and will
therefore increase the capacitance of the combination.
The pd across each capacitor is the same as the total pd. Let's call it V.
C
T
D Total charge stored D C
)
E C
@
EC
F
Using Q=V
1!
T
D 1!
)
E 1!
@
E 1!
F
!s the capacitors or in parallel they each ha"e the same "oltage across them# so cancel the
V's.
T = $ % & % ' for capacitors in parallel.
!apacitance is typified by a parallel plate
arrangement and is defined in terms of charge
storageB
where
Q = magnitude ofcharge stored on each
plate.
$ = voltage applied to the plates.
(!)!LL*L !+, -*).*- !(!.T/)-
SERIES &'()&TI'(*
-eries apacitor -chematic ,iagram
Series connected
Capacitors always
have the same
Charge. The" do
not the same
voltage unless the
capacitors have the
same
&apacitance C.
The &harge on the
equivalent capacitor Ce is the same as the charge on either capacitor.
The $oltage across the equivalent capacitor Ce is the sum of the voltage across both
capacitors.
PARALLEL &'(()&TI'(
Paral
lel
connected Capacitors always have the same voltage drop across each of
them The" do not have the same charge unless the" have the same capacitance C.
The &harge on the equivalent capacitor Ce is the sum of the charges on both capacitors.
The $oltage on the equivalent capacitor Ce is the same as the voltage across either
capacitor.
(arallel apacitor -chematic ,iagram
Charge on
Series
Capacitors
%ince charge cannot be added or taken away from the conductor between
series capacitors, the net charge there remains $ero. As can be seen from the
diagram, that constrains the charge on the two capacitors to be the same in a
3! situation. This charge C is the charge you get by calculating the
e'uivalent capacitance of the series combination and multiplying it by the
applied voltage 1.
Gou store less charge on series capacitors than you would on either one of
them alone with the same voltageH
+oes it ever ma,e sense to put capacitors in series- .ou get less capacitance and less charge
storage than with either alone. It is sometimes done in electronics practice because capacitors
have ma/imum wor,ing voltages, and with two 0122 volt ma/imum0 capacitors in series, "ou
can increase the wor,ing voltage to 1222 volts.
E!ample"
&apacitors in parallel add ...
If = 12
,
= 2
then = 32
!apacitors in series combine as reciprocals ...
= 4.5
T"pes of &apacitor
Super capacitor
The most common ,inds of
capacitors are*
&eramic capacitors have a
ceramic6 dielectric.
7ilm and paper capacitors are named for their dielectrics.
8luminum, tantalum and niobium electrol"tic capacitors are named after the material
used as the anode6 and the construction of the cathode6
Super capacitor is the famil" name for*
o +ouble9la"er capacitors were named for the ph"sical phenomenon of the
:elmholt;6 double9la"er
o <seudo capacitors 6 were named for their abilit" to store electric energ" electro9
chemicall" with reversible faradaic6 charge9transfer6
o :"brid capacitors combine double9la"er and pseudocapacitors to increase power
densit"
Seldom9used Silver mica, glass, silicon, air9gap and vacuum capacitors were named for
their dielectric.

(arts of apacitor
&apacitor 8pplications
&apacitor is a basic storage device to store electrical charges and release it as it is required b"
the circuit. &apacitors are widel" used in electronic circuits to perform variet" of tas,s, such as
smoothing, filtering, b"passing etc.... 'ne t"pe of capacitor ma" not be suitable for all
applications. &eramic capacitors are generall" superior than other t"pes and therefore can be
used in a vast ranges of application. The following is the t"pical capacitor applications in
electronic industries*
+& bloc,ing capacitor* In this application the capacitor bloc,s the passage of +& current !after
completel" charged# and "et allows the 8& to pass at certain portion of a circuit.
&apacitor as a filter* &apacitors are the main elements of filters. There are several t"pes of
filters that are used in electronic circuits, such as =<7 !=ow <ass 7ilter#, :<7!high <ass 7ilter#,
><7 !>and <ass 7ilter#, etc.... Since the reactance of the capacitor is inversel" related to the
frequenc", therefore it can be used to increase or decrease the impedance of the circuit at
certain frequencies and therefore does the filtration ?ob.
&apacitor as a discharge unit* &apacitors used as a charging unit and the release of the charge
!discharge energ"# is used for triggering, ignition, and in high scale as a power source.
>" <ass capacitor* The reactance of capacitor decreases as the frequenc" increases. Therefore
in certain application it is used in parallel with other components to b"pass it at a specified
frequenc".

&oupling capacitor* The abilit" of capacitor to pass 8& signal, allows it to couple a section of an
electronic circuit to another circuit.
+ecoupling capacitor* In high speed electronic logic switching causes draw of
significant amount of current which in turn would cause disturbance in the logic
voltage level. +ecoupling capacitor is t"picall" located ver" close to the I& output and serves as
a local energ" source to provide the needed e/tra current and therefore minimi;es the noise
and disturbances to the logic signal.
%nubber capacitorB &n some application, relays or %!I (%ilicon controlled rectifier) are to drive a
high inductance loads. &n these circumstances, when the relay or the %!I opens, a ma0or
transient voltage could be induced in the contact of the relay or across the 0unction of %!I,
which in turn either shows as an arc on the relay contacts or may damage the internal %!I
0unction. Therefore snubber capacitor is used to limit the high voltage transient across the circuit.
*nergy -torage
A capacitor can store electric energy when disconnected from its charging circuit, so it can be
used like a temporary battery, or like other types of rechargeable energy storage system.
;@=<
!apacitors are commonly used in electronic devices to maintain power supply while batteries
are being changed. (This prevents loss of information in volatile memory.)
!onventional capacitors provide less than FJ> 0oules per kilogram of energy density, whereas a
conventional alkaline battery has a density of ,=> kKLkg.
&n car audio systems, large capacitors store energy for the amplifier to use on demand. Also for
a flash tube a capacitor is used to hold the high voltage.
Pulsed power and weapons
-roups of large, specially constructed, low-inductance high-voltage capacitors (capacitor banks)
are used to supply huge pulses of current for many pulsed power applications. These
include electromagnetic forming, 4ar generators, pulsed lasers (especially T#A lasers), pulse
forming networks, radar, fusion research, and particle accelerators.
5arge capacitor banks (reservoir) are used as energy sources for the eploding-bridgewire
detonators or slapper detonators in nuclear weapons and other specialty weapons. #perimental
work is under way using banks of capacitors as power sources for electromagneticarmour and
electromagnetic railguns and coilguns.
Power Conditioning
Ieservoir capacitors are used in power supplies where they smooth the output of a full or half
wave rectifier. They can also be used incharge pump circuits as the energy storage element in the
generation of higher voltages than the input voltage.
!apacitors are connected in parallel with the power circuits of most electronic devices and larger
systems (such as factories) to shunt away and conceal current fluctuations from the primary
power source to provide a 8clean8 power supply for signal or control circuits. Audio e'uipment,
for eample, uses several capacitors in this way, to shunt away power line hum before it gets into
the signal circuitry. The capacitors act as a local reserve for the 3! power source, and bypass
A! currents from the power supply. This is used in car audio applications, when a stiffening
capacitor compensates for the inductance and resistance of the leads to the lead-acid car battery.
Power factor correction
In electric power distribution, capacitors are used for power factor correction. Such capacitors
often come as three capacitors connected as a three phase load. @suall", the values of these
capacitors are given not in farads but rather as a reactive power in volt9amperes reactive !var#.
The purpose is to counteract inductive loading from devices li,e electric
motors and transmission lines to ma,e the load appear to be mostl" resistive. Individual motor
or lamp loads ma" have capacitors for power factor correction, or larger sets of capacitors
!usuall" with automatic switching devices# ma" be installed at a load center within a building or
in a large utilit" substation.
#oise filter and snu$$ers
"hen an inductive circuit is opened, the current through the inductance collapses 'uickly,
creating a large voltage across the open circuit of the switch or relay. &f the inductance is large
enough, the energy will generate a spark, causing the contact points to oidi$e, deteriorate, or
sometimes weld together, or destroying a solid-state switch. A snubbercapacitor across the newly
opened circuit creates a path for this impulse to bypass the contact points, thereby preserving
their life; these were commonly found in contact breakerignition systems, for instance. %imilarly,
in smaller scale circuits, the spark may not be enough to damage the switch but will
still radiate undesirable radio fre'uency interference(I9&), which a filter capacitor absorbs.
%nubber capacitors are usually employed with a low-value resistor in series, to dissipate energy
and minimi$e I9&. %uch resistor-capacitor combinations are available in a single package.
!apacitors are also used in parallel to interrupt units of a high-voltage circuit breaker in order to
e'ually distribute the voltage between these units. &n this case they are called grading capacitors.
&n schematic diagrams, a capacitor used primarily for 3! charge storage is often drawn
vertically in circuit diagrams with the lower, more negative, plate drawn as an arc. The straight
plate indicates the positive terminal of the device, if it is polari$ed (see electrolytic capacitor).
%otor starters
&n single phase s'uirrel cage motors, the primary winding within the motor housing is not
capable of starting a rotational motion on the rotor, but is capable of sustaining one. To start the
motor, a secondary 8start8 winding has a series non-polari$ed starting capacitor to introduce a
lead in the sinusoidal current. "hen the secondary (start) winding is placed at an angle with
respect to the primary (run) winding, a rotating electric field is created. The force of the
rotational field is not constant, but is sufficient to start the rotor spinning. "hen the rotor comes
close to operating speed, a centrifugal switch (or current-sensitive relay in series with the main
winding) disconnects the capacitor. The start capacitor is typically mounted to the side of the
motor housing. These are called capacitor-start motors, that have relatively high starting tor'ue.
Typically they can have up-to four times as much starting tor'ue than a split-phase motor and are
used on applications such as compressors, pressure washers and any small device re'uiring high
starting tor'ues.
!apacitor-run induction motors have a permanently connected phase-shifting capacitor in series
with a second winding. The motor is much like a two-phase induction motor.
4otor-starting capacitors are typically non-polari$ed electrolytic types, while running capacitors
are conventional paper or plastic film dielectric types.
Signal Processing
The energ" stored in a capacitor can be used to represent information, either in binar" form, as
in +A8Bs, or in analogue form, as in analog sampled filters and &&+s. &apacitors can be used
in analog circuits as components of integrators or more comple/ filters and in negative
feedbac, loop stabili;ation. Signal processing circuits also use capacitors tointegrate a current
signal.
Tuned Circuits
&apacitors and inductors are applied together in tuned circuits to select information in particular
frequenc" bands. 7or e/ample, radio receivers rel" on variable capacitors to tune the station
frequenc". Spea,ers use passive analog crossovers, and analog equali;ers use capacitors to
select different audio bands.
The resonant frequenc" f of a tuned circuit is a function of the inductance !L# and capacitance
!C# in series, and is given b"*
where L is in henries and C is in farads.
Sensing
Bost capacitors are designed to maintain a fi/ed ph"sical structure. :owever, various factors
can change the structure of the capacitor, and the resulting change in capacitance can be used
to sense those factors.
&hanging the dielectric*
The effects of var"ing the characteristics of the dielectric can be used for sensing
purposes. &apacitors with an e/posed and porous dielectric can be used to measure
humidit" in air. &apacitors are used to accuratel" measure the fuel level in airplanesC as
the fuel covers more of a pair of plates, the circuit capacitance increases.
&hanging the distance between the plates*
&apacitors with a fle/ible plate can be used to measure strain or pressure. Industrial
pressure transmitters used for process control use pressure9sensing diaphragms, which
form a capacitor plate of an oscillator circuit. &apacitors are used as
the sensor in condenser microphones, where one plate is moved b" air pressure,
relative to the fi/ed position of the other plate.
Some accelerometers use B)BS capacitors etched on a chip to measure the magnitude
and direction of the acceleration vector. The" are used to detect changes in
acceleration, in tilt sensors, or to detect free fall, as sensors
triggering airbag deplo"ment, and in man" other applications. Some fingerprint
sensors use capacitors. 8dditionall", a user can ad?ust the pitch of a theremin musical
instrument b" moving his hand since this changes the effective capacitance between the
userDs hand and the antenna.
&hanging the effective area of the plates*
&apacitive touch switches are now used on man" consumer electronic products.