Week 1 Topic

ENERGY-STORAGE
ELEMENTS - CAPACITOR

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 Outline
 Capacitor
 Energy storage in capacitor
 Series and parallel capacitor
 Current-Voltage Relationship for a Linear Capacitor
 Capacitor i-v relationships according to voltage and
current reference directions
 Stored Energy and Energy Calculation

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 Capacitor
A capacitor consists of two conducting plates separated by an insulator
(or dielectric) material (Figure 1.1a).

(a) (b)
Figure 1.1
Capacitor working principle:
• When a dc voltage source v(t) is connected to the capacitor, as shown in
Figure 1.1b, electrons from the left plate are removed by the source and
deposited onto the right plate. The left plate becomes positively charged and
the right plate becomes negatively charged.
• The capacitor is said to store electric charges.
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 Types of capacitor:
1. Ceramic capacitors
2. Film capacitors
3. Electrolytic capacitors
4. Etc..

Electrolytic
Film capacitors
Ceramic capacitor capacitor

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 • The amount of charge stored by the capacitor is represented by
the positive charge q(t) stored on the left plate.
• The amount of charge stored q(t) is a function of the applied
voltage v(t).
• For a linear capacitor, the amount of charge stored, q(t), is
directly proportional to the applied voltage v(t).
• For a nonlinear capacitor, q(t) is a nonlinear function of the
applied voltage (Figure 1.2).
Linear capacitor
q(t)

Nonlinear capacitor
v(t)

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Figure 1.2. Typical capacitor charge-vs-voltage characteristics.

 • For a linear capacitor, the charge stored, q(t), can be related to the
applied voltage v(t) by the straight line equation

q(t) = Cv(t) (1.1)

where C is a constant of proportionality and is equal to the gradient of

the straight line characteristic.
• The constant C is called the capacitance of the capacitor.
• The MKS unit for C is coulomb/volt.
• The SI unit for C is the farad (symbol : F).

Note: For convenience, the time t is sometimes dropped and Eq.(1.1) is

alternatively written as

q = Cv (1.2)

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 • The capacitance C depends on the physical dimensions of the
capacitor and is a measure of the capacitor’s ability to store charge.
• For a parallel-plate capacitor, the capacitance is given by:

A
C (1.3)
d
where
A = surface area of each plate (m2),
d = distance between the plates (m)
ε = permittivity of dielectric material (F/m)

Figure 1.3

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 • Figure 1.4 below illustrates the circuit symbols for fixed and variable
capacitors.

(a) (b)

Figure 1.4 Circuit symbols for

(a) fixed capacitor
(b) variable capacitor.

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 Series-Connected Capacitors
When capacitors are connected in series, the impressed voltage is
divided among the capacitors and the equivalent capacitance CT is
less than that of the smallest unit. This is indicated in the analysis
that follows.
a a’ b b’ c c’

C1 C2 C3

V1 V2 V3

VT

Figure 1.5. Capacitors in series.

Consider three capacitors connected in series, as in Fig 1.5. The

capacitors are initially uncharged so that when a potential VT is applied
with the indicated polarity, plate a becomes positively charged and plate
c’ becomes negatively charged. As a result of this charging action,
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 plate a’ takes on an equal negative charge, while plate c takes on an
equal positive charge; in similar fashion, plates b and b’ becomes
charged. Thus all plates in a series capacitor circuit acquire exactly
the same charge, QT = Q1 = Q2 = Q3, and so on.
In accordance with Kirchhoff’s voltage law, the total VT is

VT  V1  V2  V3

where, by Eq. 1.2

Q1 Q2 Q3
V1  V2  V3 
C1 C2 C3
Then
QT QT QT QT
VT    
CT C1 C2 C3

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 Dividing this last equation by QT and solving for CT, one obtains

1
CT 
1 1 1
 
C1 C2 C3
Rearranging terms, we can write

1 1 1 1
   (1.4)
CT C1 C2 C3
For two capacitors in series, the total capacitance is found by the
product over the sum relationship:

C1C2
CT 
C1  C2
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 Worked Example 1
Three series capacitors are connected to a 120 V source as depicted
in Figure 1.5. If C1 = 10 μF, C2 = 20 μF, and C3 = 30 μF, what is (a)
the total capacitance and (b) the voltage across each capacitor?

Solution
(a) The total capacitance is calculated from Eq. 1.4 :

1 1 1 1 1 1 1
     
CT C1 C2 C3 10 F 20 F 30 F

Then

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CT  5.45 F 12
 (b) For the series combination

Q1  Q2  Q3  CTVT

 120(5.45 10 6 )  6.54 10 4 C

Then
Q1 6.54 10 4
V1   6
 65.4V
C1 10 10

Q2 6.54 10 4
V2   6
 32.7V
C2 20 10

Q3 6.54 10 4
V3   6
 21.8V
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C3 30 10 13
 Parallel-Connected Capacitors

When capacitors are connected in parallel, the total charge flowing

into the combination divides among the capacitors and the total
capacitance is the sum of the individual capacitances.
Consider the parallel capacitor circuit of Figure 1.6.

VT C1 C2 C3

Figure 1.6. Capacitors in parallel.

Each capacitor takes a charge given by

Q1  C1V1 Q2  C2V2 Q3  C3V3

where

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VT  V1  V2  V3 14
 The total charge is then

QT  CTVT  Q1  Q2  Q3  C1VT  C2VT  C3VT

Dividing the last equation by VT we obtain an expression for the total

parallel capacitance. This expression is given in general by Eq. 1.5.

CT  C1  C2  C3  .....  Cn (1.5)

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 Worked Example 2
Find (a) the total capacitance, (b) the charge on each capacitor, and
(c) the voltage across each capacitor when 600 V is applied across
the capacitor configuration of Figure 1.7. Here C 1 = 12 μF, C2 = 6 μF,
and C3 = 30 μF.

C1
VT = 600 V

C2 C3

Figure 1.7

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 Solution
C2 // C3  6  30  36 F

(a) CT 
12 36 
 9 F
12  36
(b)  
QT  CT VT  9 10 6 600 
 54 10  4  5.4 mC
But for the series combination,

Q1  QT  Q2  Q3  5.4 10 4  5.4 mC

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 (c) Then the capacitor voltages are

Q1 5.4 10 3
V1   6
 4.5  10 2
 450 V
C1 12 10

V2  V3  600  450  150 V

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 Current-Voltage Relationship for a Linear Capacitor
Consider the situation where a voltage v(t) is applied to a capacitor C.
See Figure 1.8(a).
i(t) q + dq
i
V + dv
v(t) q(t)

(a) (b)

Figure 1.8.

Let current i(t) flowing into the capacitor causes the amount of positive
charge stored on the upper plate to increase from q to (q + dq) in the
time dt, and the voltage across the capacitor to increase from v to (v +
dv). See Figure 1.8(b).

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 For a linear capacitor, we have from Eq.(1.2),
q = Cv (1.2)
Hence, if the voltage increases from v to (v + dv) units, then q increases
from q to (q + dq); that is
q + dq = C(v + dv) (1.7)
Thus, subtracting
. (1.2) from (1.7) we obtain
dq = Cdv (1.8)

The charging current i(t) flowing through the capacitor can be found by
differentiating Eq.(1.8) with respect to time. Thus,

dq dv
i(t )  C (1.9)
dt dt
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 Eq.(1.9) is the fundamental equation relating the charging current to
the voltage across the capacitor.

Fundamental current-voltage relationship for a linear

capacitor:

dv
i(t )  C (1.9)
dt

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 Capacitor i-v relationships according to voltage and current
reference directions
The exact form of Eq.(1.9) to use in circuit analysis will depend on the
reference directions chosen for both the terminal voltage and the
terminal current of the capacitor.
i. Passive sign convention

i(t)

dv
i-v relationship: i (t )  C
v(t) q(t)

dt

ii. Active sign convention

i(t)

dv
Figure 1.9 v(t) q(t) i-v relationship : i (t )  C
dt
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 Worked Example 3

Voltage waveform across a capacitor C = 5 F is as given by

Figure 1.10. Obtain a time plot for the charging current, i(t).

v(t) (V)

24

(t) (ms)
0 6 8

Figure 1.10.

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 Solution
We start by using the passive sign convention to define the
reference directions for the terminal voltage and terminal current
of the capacitor.
i(t)

v(t) C = 5 F

Next, we need to find a mathematical expression for the voltage waveform

given in Figure 1.10. From the v(t) graph given in Figure 1.10, we can
write the voltage as a piecewise function


24v / 6ms  4 10 t ,
3
0  t  6ms
vt    (1.10)

(24v /(8  6)ms)  12 10 t  96, 6ms  t  8ms
3

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 (i) For 0  t  6 ms,

it   C
dv
dt
 5 10 6
d
dt
 
4 103 t  20 mA (1.11)

(ii) For 6ms  t  8ms,

it   C
dv
dt
 5 10 6
d
dt
 
 12 103 t  96  60 mA (1.12)

i(t)
Graph of i(t):

20 mA
(t) (ms)
0 6 8

– 60 mA
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Figure 1.11.
 Voltage - Current Relationship for a Linear Capacitor

To find an expression relating the terminal voltage v(t) to the charging

current i(t) we can start by rewriting Eq.(1.9) as

it  dt
1
dv  (1.13)
C
To find the terminal voltage at any time t, we first assume that the current
i(t) starts from 0 at time t = - ∞ and gradually increases in value as time
progresses, as depicted in Figure 1.12.

i(t) 1
Area dv  i(t )dt
C
-∞ t
0
dt

03/03/2020 Figure 1.12 26

 We note from Figure 1.12 that the value of the terminal voltage at time t is
given by the area under the curve from -∞ to t. Hence, to find the value of
the terminal voltage at time t we need to integrate both sides of Eq.(1.13)
with respect to time, from - ∞ to t. Mathematically, we write

t t

C i  d
1
 dv 

where  is a dummy variable

Therefore,
t
v
t
   i d
1
C 
or
v(t) - v(-)   i d
1 t
(1.14)
C 
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 Since physically v(-∞) = 0, we then have

i d
1 t
v(t) 
C  

Eq.(1.15) is the fundamental equation relating the charging current to the

terminal voltage of the capacitor.

Fundamental voltage-current relationship for a linear

capacitor:

i d
1 t

(1.15)
v(t) 
C  

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 We can split the integration limits in Eq.(1.15) into two time intervals,
from -∞ to 0 and from 0 to t. Thus, we can rewrite Eq.(1.15) as

0 t
v(t)   i  d   i ( )d   i ( )d
1 t 1 1
(1.16)
C  C  C0

Term represents capacitor voltage generated by the current flow from time
- until time t = 0. It is thus the initial value of the capacitor voltage at time
t = 0. Hence, it is called the initial voltage and given the label v(0);that is
we write
0
v0   i  d
1
(1.17)
C 
.

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 Equation (1.17) can thus be rewritten as

t
vt   v0    i   d
1
(1.18)
C 0

For the special case where i(t) = 0 for t  0, then v(0) = 0 and the Eq.(1.18)
reduces to the form

t
vt    i   d
1
C 0 (1.19)
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 Capacitor v-i relationships according to voltage and current
reference directions

The exact form of Eq.(1.19) to use in circuit analysis will depend on

the reference directions chosen for both the terminal voltage and the
terminal current of the capacitor.

i. Passive sign convention

i(t)

t
v-i relationship: v t   i   d
1

v(t) q(t)

C 0

ii. Active sign convention

i(t)
t
v-i relationship: vt    i   d
1
Figure 1.20 v(t) q(t)

C 0
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 Worked Example 4

The waveform of charging current i(t) that flows through a 5 μF capacitor

is shown in Figure 1.21. Obtain waveform of v(t). Assume capacitor C is
without charge at time, t = 0.

i(t)

20 mA
(t) (ms)
0 6 8

– 60 mA

Figure 1.21
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 Solution:

Let the chosen reference directions for terminal voltage v(t) and terminal
current i(t) be as shown in Figure 1.20(a).

i(t)

v(t) C = 5 F

Figure 1.20(a)

From the given graph,

20 mA, 0  t  6ms

i t    (1.20)
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 60 mA, 6ms  t  8ms
33
 (i) 0  t  6ms
The terminal voltage of the capacitor is related to its terminal current
via Eq.(1.18):
t t
vt    i  d  v0   i  d
1 1
C  C0
where v(0) = 0 (given that the capacitor is initially uncharged) and
i(t) = 20 mA for 0 < t < 6 ms. Therefore,

 20 10 d

t
 
v t  0
1 3

5 10 6 0

20 10 3 t
 6
 0
5 10
03/03/2020  4 10 3 t 34
(1.21)
 Between 0 < t < 6 ms, voltage v(t) increases linearly from 0 at a rate
of 4  103 V/s.

At t = 6 ms,


v6 ms  4  10 3 6  10 3  24 V
Graph of v(t) between 0 and 6 ms:

v(t)

24 4  103 V/s

(t) (ms)
0 6

Figure 1.22
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 (ii) 6ms  t  8ms
Since v(0) = 0, then
t t
vt   v0   i  d   i  d
1 1
C0 C0
Since the current varies at different rates for 0< t< 6 ms and
for 6 ms < t < 8 ms, we need to split the integration into two
time intervals as follows:
t
vt    i  d
1
C0
6 ms t

0 i  d  C 6msi  d
1 1
 (1.22)
C
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 Furthermore, since
6 ms

 i  d  24 V
1
C 0

then,

  60 10 d
t
1 3
v(t )  24 
5 10 6 6 ms
t
 24  12 10 3 
6 ms
d

 24  12 10 3  6 ms
t

 24  12 10 3 t  72
 96  12 10 3 t

(1.23)
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 At t = 6 ms, v(t) in Eq.(1.21) takes the value

 
v6 ms  4  10 3 6  10 3  24 V

At t = 8 ms, v(t) in Eq.(1.23) takes the value


v8 ms  96  12  10 3 8  10 3  0 V 
Graph of v(t),
v(t) (V)

24

(t) (ms)
0 6 8

Figure 1.23

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 Stored Energy and Energy Calculation

In the passive sign convention, power supplied to capacitor at

time t is given by
p(t) = v(t)  i(t)

 dv 
t
  C    v  d
i(t)
 
d 
t
Figure 1.24 v(t) C
 C  v  dv

0 t
Energy stored in capacitor from -  C  v  dv  C  v  dv
to t is  0
t
et    p  d

1
2
2

 0  C v   0
t

 
t
 C  v t   C  v 2 0 
1 1
  i   v  d
2

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
2 2 39
 For the special case where the capacitor is initially uncharged,
then
1
2
 
C  v 2 0  0

and thus, the energy stored by a capacitor at any time t is given by

et   C  v 2 t 
1
2

Energy stored by a capacitor at any time t is

et   C  v 2 t 
1
(1.24)
2

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 Worked Example 5

The waveform of the current i(t) flowing through a 0.1 μF

capacitor is as given in Figure 1.24 Obtain time plots for v(t),
p(t) and e(t). Assume that the capacitor is initially uncharged.

i(t)
i(t)

4 μA v(t) C = 0.1 μF

t
0 0.5 s

Figure 1.24

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 Solution
From the given current waveform, we obtain a piecewise function
for current i(t):

4 A 0  t  0.5 s

i(t )  
 t  0.5
 0

Eq.(1.18) allows an expression for the terminal voltage to be found

when given the terminal current i(t). Thus, using Eq.(1.18), we obtain
the expression
t
1
v(t )  v(0)   i ( )d
C0

 4  10 d
t
1 6
 0
0.1  10 6 0
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 Thus, for 0 < t< 0.5 μs, we have

v(t )  40 0  40t

t

Eq.(1.25) shows that the voltage rises linearly with time at a rate of 40 A/s.
At the end of the charging period (at t = 0.5 s), the voltage across the
capacitor is i(t)

v(0.5)  40  0.5  20 V 4 μA

t
0 0.5 s

v(t)

20 V

t
03/03/2020 0 0.5 s 43

Figure 1.25
 The power supplied to the capacitor at time t is given by

p(t) = v(t). i(t)

where
40 A 0  t  0.5 s

i(t )  
 t  0.5
 0

and
40t V 0  t  0.5 s

v(t )  
 20 V t  0.5


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 Hence,
1600 10 6 t W 0  t  0.5 s

p(t )  v(t ).i(t )  
 0 t  0.5


i(t)

Thus, during the charging interval the 4 μA

power supplied to the capacitor

increases linearly with time at a rate of t
0 0.5 s
1600 x10-6 W per second.
p(t)
At t = 0.5 s,

p (0.5)  1600 10 6  0.5 80 μW

 800 W t
0 0.5 s

03/03/2020 45

Figure 1.26
 The energy stored in the capacitor
1
e(t )  Cv(t ) 2
2
  0.1  10 6  40t 
1 2

2
 80  10 -6 t 2 joules

i(t)

This result shows that the energy stored 4 μA

in the capacitor increases as a square of
the charging time t. t
0 0.5 s

At t = 0.5 s, e(t)

e(t )  80 10 -6 t 2 20 μJ

 80  10 -6  (0.5) 2 t
0
 20 J
0.5 s

03/03/2020 46
Figure 1.27