Farad

The farad (symbol: F) is the SI derived unit of electrical capacitance, the

ability of a body to store an electrical charge. It is named after the English
Farad
physicist Michael Faraday.

Contents
Definition
Equalities
History
Explanation
Informal and deprecated terminology
Related concepts
CGS units
See also
Notes
External links A one farad modern super-capacitor. The scale
behind is in inches (top) and centimetres.
Unit information
Definition Unit system SI derived unit
One farad is defined as the capacitance across which, when charged with Unit of Capacitance
one coulomb, there is a potential difference of one volt.[1] Equally, one Symbol F 
farad can be described as the capacitance which stores a one-coulomb
Named after Michael Faraday
charge across a potential difference of one volt.[2]
In SI base units: s4⋅A2⋅m−2⋅kg−1
The relationship between capacitance, charge and potential difference is
linear. For example, if the potential difference across a capacitor is halved, the quantity of charge stored by that capacitor will also
be halved.

For most applications, the farad is an impractically large unit of capacitance. Most electrical and electronic applications are
covered by the following SI prefixes:

1 mF (millifarad, one thousandth (10−3) of a farad) = 1 000 μF = 1 000 000 nF

1 μF (microfarad, one millionth (10−6) of a farad) = 0.000 001 F = 1 000 nF = 1 000 000 pF
1 nF (nanofarad, one billionth (10−9) of a farad) = 0.001 μF = 1 000 pF
1 pF (picofarad, one trillionth (10−12) of a farad)

Equalities
A farad is represented in terms of SI base units as s4⋅A2⋅m−2⋅kg−1

It can further be expressed as:

where F = farad, A = ampere, V = volt, C = coulomb, J = joule, m = metre, N = newton, s = second, W = watt, kg = kilogram,
Ω = ohm, Hz = hertz, H = henry.

History
The term "farad" was originally coined by Latimer Clark and Charles Bright in 1861,[3] in honor of Michael Faraday, for a unit of
quantity of charge but by 1873, the farad had become a unit of capacitance.[4] In 1881 at the International Congress of Electricians
in Paris, the name farad was officially used for the unit of electrical capacitance.[5][6]

Explanation
A capacitor generally consists of two conducting surfaces, frequently referred to as
plates, separated by an insulating layer usually referred to as a dielectric. The original
capacitor was the Leyden jar developed in the 18th century. It is the accumulation of
electric charge on the plates that results in capacitance. Modern capacitors are
constructed using a range of manufacturing techniques and materials to provide the
extraordinarily wide range of capacitance values used in electronics applications from
femtofarads to farads, with maximum-voltage ratings ranging from a few volts to
Examples of different types of
several kilovolts.
capacitors
Values of capacitors are usually specified in farads (F), microfarads (µF),
nanofarads (nF) and picofarads (pF).[7] The millifarad is rarely used in practice (a
capacitance of 4.7 mF (0.0047 F), for example, is instead written as 4 700 µF), while the nanofarad is uncommon in North
America.[8] The size of commercially available capacitors ranges from around 0.1 pF to 5 000 F (5 kF) supercapacitors. Parasitic
capacitance in high-performance integrated circuits can be measured in femtofarads (1 fF = 0.001 pF = 10−15 F), while high-
performance test equipment can detect changes in capacitance on the order of tens of attofarads (1 aF = 10−18 F).[9]

A value of 0.1 pF is about the smallest available in capacitors for general use in electronic design, since smaller ones would be
dominated by the parasitic capacitances of other components, wiring or printed circuit boards. Capacitance values of 1 pF or lower
can be achieved by twisting two short lengths of insulated wire together.[10][11]

The capacitance of the Earth's ionosphere with respect to the ground is calculated to be about 1 F.[12]

Informal and deprecated terminology

The picofarad is sometimes colloquially pronounced as "puff" or "pic", as in "a ten-puff capacitor".[13] Similarly, "mic"
(pronounced "mike") is sometimes used informally to signify microfarads. If the Greek letter µ is not available, the notation "uF" is
often used as a substitute for "µF" in electronics literature. A "micro-microfarad" (µµF, and confusingly often mmf or MMF), an
obsolete unit sometimes found in older texts, is the equivalent of a picofarad. In texts prior to 1960, and on capacitor packages
even much more recently, "mf" or "MFD" rather than the modern "µF" frequently represented microfarads. Similarly, "mmf" or
"MMFD" represented picofarads.[14]

Related concepts
The reciprocal of capacitance is called electrical elastance, the (non-standard, non-SI) unit of which is the daraf.[15]

CGS units
The abfarad (abbreviated abF) is an obsolete CGS unit of capacitance equal to 109 farads (1 gigafarad, GF).[16]

The statfarad (abbreviated statF) is a rarely used CGS unit equivalent to the capacitance of a capacitor with a charge of 1
statcoulomb across a potential difference of 1 statvolt. It is 1/(10−5c2) farad, approximately 1.1126 picofarads.
See also
Capacitor
Supercapacitor
Orders of magnitude (capacitance)

Notes
1. The International System of Units (SI) (http://www.bipm.org/utils/common/pdf/si_brochure_8_en.pdf) (PDF) (8th ed.). Bureau
International des Poids et Mesures (International Committee for Weights and Measures). 2006. p. 144.
2. Peter M B Walker, ed. (1995). Dictionary of Science and Technology. Larousse. ISBN 0752300105.
3. As names for units of various electrical quantities, Bright and Clark suggested "ohma" for voltage, "farad" for charge, "galvat"
for current, and "volt" for resistance. See:
Latimer Clark and Sir Charles Bright (1861) "On the formation of standards of electrical quantity and resistance," (https://w
ww.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/93052#page/483/mode/1up) Report of the Thirty-first Meeting of the British Association for
the Advancement of Science (Manchester, England: September 1861), section: Mathematics and Physics, pp. 37-38.
Latimer Clark and Sir Charles Bright (November 9, 1861) "Measurement of electrical quantities and resistance," (https://ba
bel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=nyp.33433090837166;view=1up;seq=15) The Electrician, 1 (1) : 3–4.
4. Sir W. Thomson, etc. (1873) "First report of the Committee for the Selection and Nomenclature of Dynamical and Electrical
Units," (https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/29853513#page/324/mode/1up) Report of the 43rd Meeting of the British
Association for the Advancement of Science (Bradford, September 1873), pp. 222-225. From p. 223: "The "ohm," as
represented by the original standard coil, is approximately 109 C.G.S. units of resistance ; the "volt" is approximately 108
C.G.S. units of electromotive force ; and the "farad" is approximately 1/109 of the C.G.S. unit of capacity."
5. (Anon.) (September 24, 1881) "The Electrical Congress," (https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=nyp.33433090837489;view=1u
p;seq=309) The Electrician, 7 : 297. From p. 297: "7. The name farad will be given to the capacity defined by the condition
that a coulomb in a farad gives a volt."
6. Tunbridge, Paul (1992). Lord Kelvin : his influence on electrical measurements and units (https://books.google.co.uk/books?id
=bZUK624LZBMC). London: Peregrinus. pp. 26, 39–40. ISBN 9780863412370. Retrieved 5 May 2015.
7. Braga, Newton C. (2002). Robotics, Mechatronics, and Artificial Intelligence (https://books.google.com/books?id=yqb-f-HKem
0C&pg=PA21&q=microfarad+common+measurement). Newnes. p. 21. ISBN 0-7506-7389-3. Retrieved 2008-09-17.
"Common measurement units are the microfarad (μF), representing 0.000,001 F; the nanofarad (nF), representing
0.000,000,001 F; and the picofarad (pF), representing 0.000,000,000,001 F."
8. Platt, Charles (2009). Make: Electronics: Learning Through Discovery (https://books.google.com/books?id=PQzYdC3BtQkC&
pg=PA61&dq=nanofarad). O'Reilly Media. p. 61. ISBN 9781449388799. Retrieved 2014-07-22. "Nanofarads are also used,
more often in Europe than in the United States."
9. Gregorian, Roubik (1976). Analog MOS Integrated Circuits for Signal Processing. John Wiley & Sons. p. 78.
10. Pease, Bob (2 September 1993). "What's All This Femtoampere Stuff, Anyhow?" (http://electronicdesign.com/test-amp-meas
urement/whats-all-femtoampere-stuff-anyhow). Electronic Design. Retrieved 2013-03-09.
11. Pease, Bob (1 December 2006). "What's All This Best Stuff, Anyhow?" (http://electronicdesign.com/analog/whats-all-best-stuff
-anyhow). Electronic Design. Retrieved 2013-03-09.
12. Williams, L. L. (January 1999). "Electrical Properties of the Fair-Weather Atmosphere and the Possibility of Observable
Discharge on Moving Objects" (http://konfluence.org/efield.pdf) (PDF). Retrieved 2012-08-13.
13. "Puff" (http://scienceworld.wolfram.com/physics/Puff.html). Wolfram Research. Retrieved 2009-06-09.
14. "1940 Catalog - Page 54 - Capacitors (Condensers)" (https://web.archive.org/web/20170711160428/http://www.radioshackcat
alogs.com/html/1940/hr054.html). RadioShack. Archived from the original (http://www.radioshackcatalogs.com/html/1940/hr05
4.html) on 11 July 2017. Retrieved 11 July 2017.
15. "Daraf" (https://web.archive.org/web/20111004054525/http://www.websters-dictionary-online.com/definitions/daraf). Webster's
Online Dictionary. Archived from the original (http://www.websters-dictionary-online.com/definitions/daraf) on 2011-10-04.
Retrieved 2009-06-19.
16. Graf, Rudolf F. (1999). Modern Dictionary of Electronics (https://books.google.com/books?id=AYEKAQAAQBAJ). Newnes.
p. 1. ISBN 9780080511986. Retrieved 2016-04-15.

External links
 Farad unit conversion tool (http://www.translatorscafe.com/cafe/units-converter/electrostatic-capacitance/c/)

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