What is Capacitors: Definition and 881 Discussions
A capacitor is a device that stores electrical energy in an electric field. It is a passive electronic component with two terminals.
The effect of a capacitor is known as capacitance. While some capacitance exists between any two electrical conductors in proximity in a circuit, a capacitor is a component designed to add capacitance to a circuit. The capacitor was originally known as a condenser or condensator. This name and its cognates are still widely used in many languages, but rarely in English, one notable exception being condenser microphones, also called capacitor microphones.
The physical form and construction of practical capacitors vary widely and many types of capacitor are in common use. Most capacitors contain at least two electrical conductors often in the form of metallic plates or surfaces separated by a dielectric medium. A conductor may be a foil, thin film, sintered bead of metal, or an electrolyte. The nonconducting dielectric acts to increase the capacitor's charge capacity. Materials commonly used as dielectrics include glass, ceramic, plastic film, paper, mica, air, and oxide layers. Capacitors are widely used as parts of electrical circuits in many common electrical devices. Unlike a resistor, an ideal capacitor does not dissipate energy, although real-life capacitors do dissipate a small amount (see Non-ideal behavior). When an electric potential (a voltage) is applied across the terminals of a capacitor, for example when a capacitor is connected across a battery, an electric field develops across the dielectric, causing a net positive charge to collect on one plate and net negative charge to collect on the other plate. No current actually flows through the dielectric. However, there is a flow of charge through the source circuit. If the condition is maintained sufficiently long, the current through the source circuit ceases. If a time-varying voltage is applied across the leads of the capacitor, the source experiences an ongoing current due to the charging and discharging cycles of the capacitor.
The earliest forms of capacitors were created in the 1740s, when European experimenters discovered that electric charge could be stored in water-filled glass jars that came to be known as Leyden jars. Today, capacitors are widely used in electronic circuits for blocking direct current while allowing alternating current to pass. In analog filter networks, they smooth the output of power supplies. In resonant circuits they tune radios to particular frequencies. In electric power transmission systems, they stabilize voltage and power flow. The property of energy storage in capacitors was exploited as dynamic memory in early digital computers, and still is in modern DRAM.
A. Suppose in the figure that C1 = C2 = C3 = 54.2 microfarads and C4 = 68.1 microfarads.
If the charge on C2 is Q2 = 62.4 microfarads determine the charge on each of the other capacitors.
B. charge=voltage*capacitance
series equivalent capacitance=1/c1 + 1/c2 + 1/c3 + ...
Homework Statement
Two capacitors are identical, except that one is empty and the other is filled with a dielectric (κ = 3.20). The empty capacitor is connected to a 11.0-V battery. What must be the potential difference across the plates of the capacitor filled with a dielectric such that it...
Homework Statement
Two identical capacitors are connected in parallel to an ac generator that has a frequency of 660 Hz and produces a voltage of 27 V. The current in the circuit is 0.14 A. What is the capacitance of each capacitor? Note: The ac current and voltage are rms values and power is...
trying to find the potential difference of a spherical capacitor
If the potential difference between the two spheres is 220 V, what is the magnitude of charge on each sphere?
just looking for an equation that i can manipulate thanks all
Homework Statement
Two capacitors, one that has a capacitance of 4.30 µF and one that has a capacitance of 12.1 µF, are connected in parallel. The parallel combination is then connected across the terminals of a 9.0-V battery. Next, they are carefully disconneted so that tehy are not...
This is not so much a homework as just a general question.
I understand the reasoning behind capacitors in a series all of have same charge, which consequently causes each one to have a separate voltage. But why do capacitors in parallel not have the same amount of charge. They all receive...
Homework Statement
Two capacitors of 2.0F and 5.0F are connected in series; the combination is connected to a 1.5 volt battery. What is the charge stored on each capacitor? What is the potential difference across each capacitor?
Homework Equations
C = Q / (Delta)V
The Attempt at a...
Homework Statement
I have two homework problems, both of which require me to solve the equation for the capacitance of a capacitor for the inner radius of the capacitor (one cylindrical, one spherical). This shouldn't be a problem, but I think my algebra is screwy.
a = inner radius
b = outer...
Homework Statement
Three capacitors are connected to a battery as shown. Their capacitances are
c1=3C
c2=C
c3=5C
-------c1----------------------
|......|...|
|......|...|
V......c2-----------c3
|_______________|__________|
Homework Equations
state the ranking of the capacitors...
Say we have a simple circuit with just a battery and two capacitors. Why must the voltage of each capacitor in series add up to the total voltage of the battery? It seems intuitively plausible, I admit. But can someone show how to go about proving this using the laws of electrostatics ( please...
A capacitor of C1 = 10 F is connected to a battery, and a charge of 100 C builds up on the capacitor. Then, the battery is disconnected, the capacitor is discharged, and a second capacitor of capacity C2 = 20 F is connected to it in parallel. Then, the two capacitors are connected to the same...
1. The problem statement
The capacitors in the figure are initially uncharged and are connected, as in the diagram, with switch S open. The applied potential difference is Vab = + 210 V.
What is the potential difference Vcd?
Homework Equations
(series) 1/C = 1/c1 + 1/c2 + ...
Homework Statement
An air-filled capacitor consists of a conducting sphere of radius a, surrounded by a concentric conducting spherical surface of radius b. A charge of 2Q is placed on the inner sphere and –Q on the outer surface. Calculate the electric field strengths E(r), (i) between the...
Homework Statement
so, we have a capacitor which has capacitance C1 and charge Q0. This capacitor is connected to a second one (capacitance C2) with initial charge Q=0. The capacitors are in a series fashion with no voltage source. What charge does each carry now? Also find the potential...
Capacitors in "Common Emitter Amplifier" Circuit ?
Should i use Capacitors in "Common Emitter Amplifier" ( CEA ) Circuit ?
As i saw many CEA circuits designed without any capacitors there !
And also hear that it's better to use two capacitors, one after the Voltage Source ( that feeds the...
Homework Statement
The preceding problem was an artificial model for the charging capacitor, designed to avoid complications associated with the current spreading out over the surface of the plates. For a more realistic model, imagine thin wires that connect to the centres of the plates (see...
Homework Statement
Find the steady state expresion for i(t) in the circuit if Vs=750 Cos(5000t) mV
All componets are in series
Resitor = 400 Ohms
Inductor = 40mH
Cap = .4 \muF
Homework Equations
Xc= 1/(j*w*C)
Xl = j*w*L
Xr = R
The Attempt at a Solution
Ok I know...
Homework Statement
Two capacitors, with capacitances of 4.10 uF and 5.90 uF are connected in parallel across a 660-V supply line.
The first questions all relate to finding the charges on each capacitor and the voltage across each one. I can do all of these with no problems.
But then it...
Ok so here is the situation. Let's say I have a circuit like this.
http://img525.imageshack.us/img525/2883/excap1sp8.jpg
The 10 microfarad cap is connected to the 3 volt battery in series. So its charged and has 3 volts. Then we flip the switch. The 10 microfarad is connected to the 20...
Homework Statement
A fat wire, radius a, carries a constant current I, uniformly distributed over its cross section. A narrow gap in the wire, of width w << a, forms a parallel-plate capacitor, as shown in the figure above. Find the magnetic field in the gap, at a distance s < a from the...
A coil, a capacitor and an AC source of RMS voltage 24 V are connected in series. By varying the frequency of the source, a maximun RMS current of 6 A is observed. If this coil is connected to a battery of emf 12 V and internal resistance 4 \Omega, the current through it will be
(a) 2.4 A
(b)...
Note: This is a question about a physics experiment. As such, it does not completely fit into the provided template, but I'll do my best to stick to it anyway.
Homework Statement
The problem is about an experiment about parallel plates capacitors. The experimental setup is the following...
Hi,
If I have two capacitors C_1=1 \mu F ... C_2=2 \mu F,and I start by taking each and connecting it to 5V battery in series, so the first cap has Q_1=C_1 V=5\mu C then seperatley I connect the other cap to another 5V source so it gains charge Q_2=C_2 V=10 \mu C.
Now I remove the...
Homework Statement
Capacitors C1 = 5.95 μF and C2 = 1.90 μF are charged as a parallel combination across a 277 V battery. The capacitors are disconnected from the battery and from each other. They are then connected positive plate to negative plate and negative plate to positive plate...
Homework Statement
Two capacitors, 6uF and 14uF, ae conncted in series across an 18 V battery. They are carefully disconnected so that they are not discharged and they are then reconnected to each other, with postive plate to positive plate and negative plate to negative plate.
Find the...
Homework Statement
Two parallel-plate capacitors A and B are connected in parallel across a 620.0 V battery. Each plate has area 100 cm2 and the plate separations are 4.5 mm. Capacitor A is filled with air; capacitor B is filled with a dielectric of dielectric constant 2.2.
A)Find the...
Capacitors C1 = 10 µF and C2 = 23 µF are each charged to 9 V, then disconnected from the battery without changing the charge on the capacitor plates.
The two capacitors are then connected in parallel, with the positive plate of C1 connected to the negative plate of C2 and vice versa...
Really, after I became an electrical (control) engineer, until now i do not know why capacitors like Electrolytic and Tantalum Ones, have polarity. can anybody answer me please?
Homework Statement
A parallel-plate air capacitor is made by using two plates 10 cm square, spaced 4.7 mm apart. It is connected to a 15 V battery. If the plates remain connected to the battery and the plates are pulled apart to a separation of 9.9 mm.
What is the new capacitance? What is...
Homework Statement
Two capacitors are connected parallel to each other and connected to the battery with voltage 30 V. Let C1 = 9.8 micro F,C2 = 4.0 micro F be their capacitances. Suppose the charged capacitors are disconnected from the source and from each other, and then reconnected to each...
Homework Statement
The sketch below is a side view of two capacitors consisting of parallel plates in air. The capacitor plates are equal in area but the plate separation differs as shown. Individual capacitors are specified with two letters, for example RS is a single capacitor. The charge on...
Hey all, I have a diode clamper (1 diode) and I had to use a capacitor in lab to smooth out the output (the input was a triangle wave - without the capacitor the output was still a bit triangular at the tips). This is just curiosity - can anyone explain to me how the capacitor managed to smooth...
I seems very simple, and I'm sure I understood it before, but for some reason I suddenly started to get confused with it
when we want to know the capacitance of 2 capacitors in series, we assume they both have the same charge on them, so I just want an explanation to why does it have to be...
If two dielectric materials with dielectric constants k1 and k2 and thickness d1 and d2 are within two copper plates, how do you obtain a capacitance given that the cross sectional areas are all the same?
A 2.41microF and a 7.38microF capacitor are connected in series across a 30.0-V battery. A 10.3microF capacitor is then connected in parallel across the 2.41-microF capacitor. Determine the voltage across the 10.3-microF capacitor.
How do i approach this question. do i start by finding the...
A 2.41microF and a 7.38microF capacitor are connected in series across a 30.0-V battery. A 10.3microF capacitor is then connected in parallel across the 2.41-microF capacitor. Determine the voltage across the 10.3-F capacitor.
How do i approach this question. do i start by finding the total...
Okey guys, here's another difficult capacitor circuit... :yuck:
Homework Statement
Find the proportions (the quotient) between the energies in the two capacitors when the switch is closed in the circuit below.
Homework Equations
(1) C = Q / V
(2) W = CV^2
(3) Current division (maybe?): I2 =...
Hi Guys,
I hope you can help :biggrin:
A friend and I are having a debate about capcitors and now we are both a bit confused!
So I have a few questions.
Firstly, if you take for example a 10,000uf capacitor charged to 12v, then connect it in parellel with an uncharged capacitor that...
Homework Statement
See capacitor design in attachment.
Calculate the equivalent capacitance of the circuit shown in the diagram above; where C1 = 4.30 uF, C2 = 7.15 uF, C3 = 2.25 uF, and C4 = 3.75 uF.
How much charge is drawn from the battery?
Homework Equations
Parallel C = c1...
A friend asked me this question:
There is a capacitor with capacitance C, charge Q on either plate and an electric field E between the plates. The energy stored in the capacitor is then given by (C.V^2)/2, where V is E.(distance between plates).
Now, take another similar capacitor, and...
You have a plate capacitor which is grounded on the bottom and is held at a potential V which is then set to 0. You are given the length of the plates and the distances between them. A test charge is brought in with the charge and mass given along with its velocity. For a vanishing magnetic...
Homework Statement
a 5 microfarad capactior and a 10 microfarad capacitor are connected in parallel across a 50 volt battery as shown. the battery is disconnected and the two capacitors are separated from one another without altering the charge on either one. oil with a dielectric constant of...
I'm reading about electrochemical capacitors here:
httpCOLON//electrochemDOTcwruDOTedu/ed/encycl/art-c03-elchem-cap.htm (Website won't let me post a URL until I've made 15 posts...)
Do electro chemical capacitors actually store charge indefinitely ? Or do they deplete as soon as the charging...
[SOLVED] Capacitors with partial dielectrics
Homework Statement
Consider two parallel-plate capacitors identical in shape, one aligned so that the plates are horizontal, and the other with the plates vertical
horizontal:
vertical:
The horizontal capacitor is filled halfway...
[SOLVED] Capacitors: Explain result from experiment
Homework Statement
I made an experiment today at school with a parallel plate capacitor. I induced 100 V and increased the distance between the plates. I measured the charge and calculated the capacitance of the capacitor, which of course...
Homework Statement
The sketch below is a side view of two capacitors consisting of parallel plates in air. The capacitor plates are equal in area but the plate separation differs as shown. Individual capacitors are specified with two letters, for example WX is a single capacitor. The charge on...
It's a problem were we are given the usual - 2 plates separated in air, distance D apart, each of length L, one excess +ve charge the other exces -ve charge
The question then states:
the magnitude between the e-field plates is: E = q/EoL, calculate the potential (blah blah..)
My question...
Homework Statement
Q17. Capacitors C1 and C2 are connected in series and a potential difference is applied to the combination. If the capacitor that is equivalent to the combination has the same potential difference, then the charge on the equivalent capacitor is the same as:
A. the charge...