'puff' capacitor??

**lennybogzy** · Nov25-09, 11:18 AM

I work with a bunch of engineers/techs and they refer to (for example) a 100pF cap as a "100 puff" cap. What the hell are they talking about? Is this slang

**berkeman** · Nov25-09, 01:57 PM

Originally Posted by lennybogzy

I work with a bunch of engineers/techs and they refer to (for example) a 100pF cap as a "100 puff" cap. What the hell are they talking about? Is this slang

LOL. It's verbal shorthand for a picofarad, 10^-12 Farads.

**crx** · Nov26-09, 09:31 PM

Puff the magic dragon ?

**berkeman** · Nov26-09, 09:46 PM

Originally Posted by crx

Puff the magic dragon ?

No, silly. pF the magic dragon.

Now, is it pronounced GigaWatts, or JigaWatts? That's a much more important question.

**uart** · Nov27-09, 03:19 AM

Originally Posted by crx

Puff the magic dragon ?

Code:

Puff the magic capacitor lived by the inductor,
And wallowed in the coulomb charge in a land called resonance.

Little Jackie paper was a dielectric,
Not as good as polypropylene or other fancy polymers. Oh
....

**lennybogzy** · Nov27-09, 05:22 PM

Great thanks for the replies thAt's what I figured. I used the term picofarad and they looked at me all wierd. I gotta be cool, start sayin puff. "yeH man just pop a 10 puff cap up in here an let's hit the club"