Principles of Electric Circuits: Summary: The Capacitor (1 of 5)

Conventional Current Capacitors are one of the fundamental passive

Tenth Edition, Global Edition components. In its most basic form, it is composed of two
plates separated by an insulating material or dielectric.
The ability to store charge is the definition of capacitance.

Chapter 12
Capacitors

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Summary: The Capacitor (2 of 5) Summary: The Capacitor (3 of 5)

The charging process… The charging process…

Initially uncharged Charging

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Summary: The Capacitor (4 of 5) Summary: The Capacitor (5 of 5)
The charging process… The charging process…

Fully charged Source removed

A capacitor with stored charge can act as a temporary

source of electrical energy.
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Summary: Capacitance Capacitance (1 of 3)

Capacitors have a maximum voltage that cannot be Capacitance is the ratio of charge to voltage
exceeded before breakdown. Dielectric strength is
Q
expressed as the maximum voltage per mil that a material C=
can withstand. Some common dielectric materials and their V
dielectric strengths are: Rearranging, the amount of charge on a capacitor is
determined by the size of the capacitor (C) and the voltage
Material Dielectric Strength (V/M I L)
(V).
Air 80
Oil 375 Q = CV
Ceramic 1,000 Example:
Paper (paraffined) 1,200
Teflon® 1,500 If a 22 µF capacitor is connected to a 10 V source, the
Mica 1,500 charge is 220 µC
Glass 2,000

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Capacitance (2 of 3) Capacitance (3 of 3)
An analogy: A capacitor stores energy in the form of an electric field that
is established by the opposite charges on the two plates.
Imagine you store rubber bands in a bottle that is nearly full. The energy of a charged capacitor is given by the equation
You could store more rubber bands (like charge or Q) in a W=
1
CV 2
bigger bottle (capacitance or C) or if you push them in with 2
more force (voltage or V). Thus, where
Q = CV W = the energy in joules
C = the capacitance in farads
V = the voltage in volts
Example
How much energy is stored in a 10,000 µF capacitor
charged to 24 V? 2.88 J
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Summary: Capacitance (1 of 3) Summary: Capacitance (2 of 3)

The capacitance of a capacitor depends on three physical The relative dielectric constant, εr, is also known as relative
characteristics. permittivity. It is a measure of how much a given material
concentrates electric flux relative to a vacuum (εr =1 for a
⎛ εr A ⎞ vacuum).
C = 8.85 × 10 −12 F/m ⎜ ⎟
⎝ d ⎠
Some relative permittivity value are shown in the table:
C is directly proportional to the relative dielectric constant and the plate area.
Material Typical εr Value
Air (vacuum) 1.0
Teflon 2.0
C is inversely proportional to the distance between the Paper (paraffined) 2.5
plates Oil 4.0
Mica 5.0
Glass 7.5
Ceramic 1,200

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Summary: Capacitance (3 of 3) Summary: Capacitor types (1 of 5)
Find the capacitance of a 4.0 cm diameter sensor immersed in oil Mica
if the plates are separated by 0.25 mm.
Mica capacitors are small with high working voltage. The
(ε r = 4.0 for oil ) working voltage is the voltage limit that cannot be
Example exceeded without damaging the capacitor.

⎛ εr A ⎞
C = 8.85 × 10 −12 F/m ⎜ ⎟
⎝ d ⎠

The plate area is A = πr 2 = π (0.02 m 2 ) = 1.26 × 10−3 m 2

The distance between the plates is 0.25 × 10 −3 m

−12
⎛ (4.0 )(1.26 × 10−3 m 2 ) ⎞
C = 8.85 × 10 F/m ⎜ ⎟ = 178 pF
⎜ 0.25 × 10 −3 m ⎟
⎝ ⎠
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Summary: Capacitor types (2 of 5) Summary: Capacitor types (3 of 5)

Ceramic disk Plastic Film

Ceramic disks are small nonpolarized capacitors They have Plastic film capacitors are small and nonpolarized. They
relatively high capacitance due to high εr. have relatively high capacitance due to larger plate area.

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Summary: Capacitor types (4 of 5) Summary: Capacitor types (5 of 5)
Electrolytic (two types) Variable

Electrolytic capacitors have very high capacitance but they Variable capacitors typically have small capacitance values
are not as precise as other types and tend to have more and are usually adjusted manually.
leakage current. Electrolytic types are polarized.
A solid-state device that is used as a variable capacitor is the
varactor diode; it is adjusted with an electrical signal.

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Capacitor labeling (1 of 2) Capacitor labeling (2 of 2)

Capacitors use several labeling methods. Small capacitors A label such as 103 or 104 is read as 10x103 (10,000 pF) or
values are frequently stamped on them such as .001 or .01, 10x104 (100,000 pF) respectively. (Third digit is the
which have units of microfarads. multiplier.)

Electrolytic capacitors have larger values, so are read as mF. When values are marked as 330 or 6800, the units are
The unit is usually stamped as mF, but some older ones may picofarads.
be shown as MF or MMF).

Example
a. What is the value of each capacitor? Both are 2200 pF.
b. What is the value of a capacitor marked 682? 6800 pF.
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Summary: Series capacitors (1 of 2) Summary: Series capacitors (2 of 2)
When capacitors are connected in series, the total Example
capacitance is smaller than the smallest one. The general
equation for capacitors in series is: If a 0.001 µF capacitor is connected in series with an 800 pF
capacitor, the total capacitance is 444 pF
1
CT =
1 1 1 1
+ + + ... +
C1 C2 C3 Cn

1
The total capacitance of two series capacitors is: CT =
1 1
+
C1 C2

This reduces to the product-over-sum rule: CT =

C1C2 Follow-up:
C1 + C2
If another 0.001 mF capacitor is connected in series with the
capacitors, the total capacitance is 308 pF

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Summary: Parallel capacitors Summary: Capacitors in dc circuits

When capacitors are connected in parallel, the total
(1 of 2)
capacitance is the sum of the individual capacitors. The
When a capacitor is charged through a series resistor and dc
general equation for capacitors in parallel is
source, the charging curve is exponential.
CT = C1 + C2 + C3 + ...Cn
Example
If a 0.001 µF capacitor is connected in parallel with an 800
pF capacitor, the total capacitance is 1800 pF

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Summary: Capacitors in dc circuits Summary: Capacitors in dc circuits
(2 of 2) The same shape curves are seen if a square wave is used
for the source.
When a capacitor is discharged through a resistor, the
discharge curve is also an exponential. (Note that the current Question
is negative.)
What is the shape of the
current curve?

The current has the same shape as VR.

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Summary: Universal exponential Summary: Universal exponential

curves (1 of 2) curves (2 of 2)
Specific values for current and The universal curves can be applied to general formulas for
voltage can be read from a the voltage (or current) curves for RC circuits. The general
universal curve. For an RC voltage formula is
circuit, the time constant is
v = VF + (Vi − VF )e − t / RC
τ = RC
VF = final value of voltage
For the rising exponential, 5τ is
Vi = initial value of voltage
typically considered to be 100%.
For the falling exponential, 5 τ is v = instantaneous value of voltage
typically considered to be 0%.
The final capacitor voltage is greater than the initial voltage
when the capacitor is charging, or less that the initial voltage
when it is discharging.
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Summary: Capacitive reactance Summary: Capacitive phase shift
Capacitive reactance is the opposition to ac by a capacitor. When a sine wave is applied to a capacitor, the phase shifts
The equation for capacitive reactance is such that the current always leads the voltage by 90°.
π
1
XC =
2 fC

Example

The reactance of a 0.047 µF capacitor when a frequency of

π 2π(15 kHz)(0.047 F)
1 1
15 kHz is applied is XC = = = 226 Ω
2 fC µ

Question
For the 0.047 µF capacitor, at what frequency is the
capacitive reactance = 1.0 kΩ? 3.39 kHz
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Summary: Power in a capacitor Summary: Switched capacitors

Energy is stored by the capacitor during a portion of the ac Switched capacitors move charge in a specific time interval
cycle and returned to the source during another portion of between two points that are different voltages. The switched
the cycle. capacitors effectively limit current, hence they emulate a
resistor with a value of R=1/(fC). Switched capacitors are
Voltage and current are always 90o out of phase. For this widely used in certain types of integrated circuits because
reason, no true power is dissipated by a capacitor, because they can be made very small, have virtually no drift, and do
stored energy is returned to the circuit. not dissipate heat.
The rate at which a capacitor stores or returns energy is
called reactive power. The unit for reactive power is the
VAR (volt-ampere reactive).

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Selected Key Terms (1 of 2) Selected Key Terms (2 of 2)
Capacitor An electrical device consisting of two Capacitive The opposition of a capacitor to sinusoidal
conductive plates separated by an reactance current. The unit is the ohm.
insulating material and possessing the
Instantaneous The value of power in a circuit at a given
property of capacitance.
power (p) instant of time.
Dielectric The insulating material between the
True power The power that is dissipated in a circuit
conductive plates of a capacitor.
(Ptrue) usually in the form of heat.
Farad The unit of capacitance.
Reactive The rate at which energy is alternately
RC time A fixed time interval set by the R and C power (Pr ) stored and returned to the source by a
constant values, that determine the time response of capacitor. The unit is the VAR.
a series RC circuit. It equals the product of
the resistance and the capacitance. VAR (volt- The unit of reactive power.
ampere
reactive)
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Quiz (1 of 11) Quiz (2 of 11)

1. The capacitance of a capacitor will be larger if 2. The major advantage of a mica capacitor over other
types is
a. the spacing between the plates is increased
b. air replaces oil as the dielectric a. they have the largest available capacitances
c. the area of the plates is increased b. their voltage rating is very high
d. all of the above c. they are polarized
d. all of the above

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Quiz (3 of 11) Quiz (4 of 11)
3. Electrolytic capacitors are useful in applications where 4. If a 0.015 µF capacitor is in series with a 6800 pF
a. a precise value of capacitance is required capacitor, the total capacitance is
b. low leakage current is required a. 1568 pF
c. large capacitance is required b. 4678 pF
d. all of the above c. 6815 pF
d. 0.022 µF

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Quiz (5 of 11) Quiz (6 of 11)

5. Two capacitors that are initially uncharged are connected 6. When a capacitor is connected through a resistor to a dc
in series with a dc source. Compared to the larger voltage source, the charge on the capacitor will reach
capacitor, the smaller capacitor will have 50% of its final charge in
a. the same charge a. less than one time constant
b. more charge b. exactly one time constant
c. less voltage c. greater than one time constant
d. the same voltage d. answer depends on the amount of voltage

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Quiz (7 of 11) Quiz (8 of 11)
7. When a uncharged capacitor is connected through a 8. The capacitive reactance of a 100 µF capacitor at 60 Hz
series resistor and switch to a dc voltage source, the is
voltage across the resistor after the switch is closed has
a. 6.14 kΩ
the shape of
b. 265 Ω
a. a straight line c. 37.7 Ω
b. a rising exponential d. 26.5 Ω
c. a falling exponential
d. none of the above

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Quiz (9 of 11) Quiz (10 of 11)

9. If an sine wave from a function generator is applied to a 10. A switched capacitor emulates a
capacitor, the current will
a. smaller capacitor
a. lag voltage by 90° b. larger capacitor
b. lag voltage by 45° c. battery
c. be in phase with the voltage d. resistor
d. none of the above

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Quiz (11 of 11)
Answers:
1. c
2. b
3. c
4. b
5. a
6. a
7. c
8. d
9. d
10. d
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