How Capacitors Work

When connected to a d.c. supply, electrons are transferred from one plate and
deposited on the opposite plate. This creates a potential difference across the
two plates. This action continues until the capacitor's potential difference is
equal (but opposite) to the potential difference of the d.c. source. If the source is
then removed, the electrons cannot return to the original plate, other than
through the dielectric, so the capacitor will hold that potential difference. By
definition, the charge 'stored' on the capacitor is the amount of negative charge
on the negative plate (not the sum of the charges on the two plates). Leakage
current through the dielectric gradually reduces the potential difference across
the plates.
Dielectrics are insulators, plain and simple. The two words refer to the same
class of materials, but are of different origin and are used preferentially in
different contexts.
Since charges tend not to move easily in nonmetallic solids it's
possible to have "islands" of charge in glass, ceramics, and plastics.
The latin word for island is insula, which is the origin of the word
insulator. In contrast, charges in metallic solids tend to move easily
as if someone or something was leading them. The latin prefix con or
com means "with". A person you have bread with is a companion. (The
latin word for bread is panis.) To take something with you on the road
is to convey it. (The latin word for road is via.) The person you travel
with who leads the way or provides safe passage is a conductor. (The
latin word for leader is ductor.) A material that provides safe passage
for electric charges is a conductor.
Inserting a layer of nonmetallic solid between the plates of a capacitor
increases its capacitance. The greek prefix di or dia means "across". A
line across the angles of a rectangle is a diagonal. (The greek word for
angle is gonia .) The measurement across a circle is a
diameter. (The greek word for measure is metron .) The
material placed across the plates of a capacitor like a little
nonconducting bridge is a dielectric.
The plastic coating on an electrical cord is an insulator. The glass or ceramic
plates used to support power lines and keep them from shorting out to the
ground are insulators. Pretty much anytime a nonmetallic solid is used in an
electrical device it's called an insulator. Perhaps the only time the word
dielectric is used is in reference to the nonconducting layer of a capacitor.
Dielectrics in capacitors serve three purposes:
1. to keep the conducting plates from coming in contact, allowing for
smaller plate separations and therefore higher capacitances;
2. to increase the effective capacitance by reducing the electric field
strength, which means you get the same charge at a lower voltage; and
3. to reduce the possibility of shorting out by sparking (more formally
known as dielectric breakdown) during operation at high voltage.

Capacitors Uses
Capacitors act as stores of charge and energy and have many uses. The flashguns
used in cameras are powered by capacitors. When the camera takes a picture,
the charge flows rapidly through the flashgun, producing a pulse of light. After
each picture is taken the capacitor must be recharged. This takes a few seconds,
which limits the rate at which pictures can be taken.
A similar system operates to power nuclear fusion experiments. Nuclear fusion
experiments use lasers to generate high temperatures, which requires
capacitors to be charged up to thousands of volts so they can store large
amounts of charge and energy. When this is released, hydrogen nuclei are fused
together, releasing energy. The mass ive capacitor in the picture below is part of
the energy supply system for the particle accelerator at Fermilab.
Capacitors are widely used in electronics. They can smooth out peaks in
voltages, making electronics more reliable. They are also used in back up power
supplies, storing enough energy to shit a system down in an orderly way if the
power supply fails. Batteries can also be used for this purpose, but capacitors
can release energy more quickly since the current that can be delivered by a
battery is limited by the internal resistance of the battery. In electric vehicles,
they may one day replace batteries for this reason, but the energy storage
potential of the battery needs to increase substantially.

An electronic component is any basic discrete device or physical entity in an
electronic system used to affect electrons or their associated fields. Electronic
components are mostly industrial products, available in a singular form and are
not to be confused with electrical elements, which are conceptual abstractions
representing idealized electronic components.
An integrated circuit, or IC, is small chip that can function as an amplifier,
oscillator, timer, microprocessor, or even computer memory. An IC is a small
wafer, usually made of silicon, that can hold anywhere from hundreds to
millions of transistors, resistors, and capacitors. These extremely small
electronics can perform calculations and store data using either digital or analog
technology.
Digital ICs use logic gates, which work only with values of ones and zeros. A low
signal sent to to a component on a digital IC will result in a value of 0, while a
high signal creates a value of 1. Digital ICs are the kind you will usually find in
computers, networking equipment, and most consumer electronics.

Logic gates
Digital systems are said to be constructed by using logic gates. These gates are
the AND, OR, NOT, NAND, NOR, EXOR and EXNOR gates. The basic operations
are described below with the aid of truth tables.
AND gate

The AND gate is an electronic circuit that gives a high output (1) only
if all its inputs are high. A dot (.) is used to show the AND operation
i.e. A.B. Bear in mind that this dot is sometimes omitted i.e. AB

OR gate

The OR gate is an electronic circuit that gives a high output (1) if one
or more of its inputs are high. A plus (+) is used to show the OR
operation.

NOT gate

The NOT gate is an electronic circuit that produces an inverted version
of the input at its output. It is also known as an inverter. If the input
variable is A, the inverted output is known as NOT A. This is also
shown as A', or A with a bar over the top, as shown at the outputs. The
diagrams below show two ways that the NAND logic gate can be
configured to produce a NOT gate. It can also be done using NOR logic
gates in the same way.




NAND gate

This is a NOT-AND gate which is equal to an AND gate
followed by a NOT gate. The outputs of all NAND gates are
high if any of the inputs are low. The symbol is an AND gate
with a small circle on the output. The small circle represents
inversion.

NOR gate

This is a NOT-OR gate which is equal to an OR gate followed
by a NOT gate. The outputs of all NOR gates are low if any of
the inputs are high.
The symbol is an OR gate with a small circle on the output.
The small circle represents inversion.