CAPACITORS

BY:
Janaki G. Nair
Abhishek Gautam
Capacitor :
A device used to store an electric charge, consisting of one or more pairs of
conductors separated by an insulator.the capacitor is one of the most used
components in electrical and electronic circuit design. Sometimes capacitor is
referred as a condenser.
 PRINCIPLE OF
CAPACITORS :
Charge separation in a
parallel-plate capacitor causes
an internal electric field. A
dielectric (orange) reduces the
field and increases the
capacitance. A simple
demonstration capacitor made of
two parallel metal plates, using an
air gap as the dielectric.
WORKING OF CAPACITORS
A capacitor consists of two conductors separated by a
non-conductive region. The non-conductive region can either
be a vacuum or an electrical insulator material known as a
dielectric. Examples of dielectric media are glass, air, paper,
and even a semiconductor depletion region chemically
identical to the conductors. A capacitor is assumed to be
self-contained and isolated, with no net electric charge and
no influence from any external electric field.
The conductors thus hold equal and opposite charges on
their facing surfaces, and the dielectric develops an electric
field. In SI units, a capacitance of one farad means that one
coulomb of charge on each conductor causes a voltage of
one volt across the device.
 TYPES OF CAPACITOR
Dielectric Capacitor:
Dielectric Capacitors are usually of the
variable type were a continuous variation of
capacitance is required for tuning
transmitters, receivers and transistor radios.
Variable Capacitor
These are generally small devices that can
be adjusted or “pre-set” to a particular
capacitance value with the aid of a small
screwdriver and are available in very small
capacitance’s of 500pF or less and are
non-polarized.
Film Capacitor Radial Lead Type
Film Capacitors are the most commonly
These capacitors are suitable for
available of all types of capacitors,
switching mode adapters, line noise
consisting of a relatively large family of
removal and other products with long
capacitors with the difference being in
lifetime requirements.
their dielectric properties.
Axial Lead Type
The film and foil types of capacitors are
made from long thin strips of thin metal
foil with the dielectric material
sandwiched together which are wound
into a tight roll and then sealed in paper
or metal tubes.
Electrolytic Capacitor
Electrolytic Capacitors are generally used
when very large capacitance values are
required. Here instead of using a very thin
metallic film layer for one of the electrodes,
a semi-liquid electrolyte solution in the
form of a jelly or paste is used which serves
as the second electrode (usually the
cathode).
CONSTRUCTION OF A CAPACITOR
The simplest form of a capacitor is “ parallel plate capacitor” and its construction can be
done by two metal plates that are placed parallel to each other at some distance.

If a voltage source is connected across a capacitor where the +Ve (positive terminal) is
connected to the positive terminal of a capacitor and negative terminal is connected to
–Ve (negative terminal) of the capacitor. Then, the energy which is stored in the
capacitor is directly proportional to the applied voltage.
 Q= CV

Where ’C’ is a proportionality constant, which is familiar as the capacitance of the

capacitor. The unit capacitance of the capacitor is the Farad. According to the
equation Q=CV, 1 F = coulomb/ volt. From the above equation, we can conclude
that capacitance depends on voltage and charge, but this is not true. The
capacitance of the capacitor mainly depends on the sizes of the plates and
dielectric among two plates.

C= ε A/ d

The capacitance of the capacitor mainly depends upon the surface area of each
plate, the distance between two plates and the permitivity of the material between
the two plates.
 COMBINATION OF CAPACITORS
Capacitor Connected in Parallel Capacitors Connected in Series
1/Ctotal = 1/ C1 + 1/ C2+…………..+1/Cn Ctotal = C1 + C2+…………..+ Cn

When the capacitors C1 and C2 are When the capacitors C1 and C2 are
connected in parallel, then the voltage connected in series, then the voltage from
from the voltage source will be the same the voltage source is divided into V1 and
across the capacitors. V2 across the capacitors.

C1 = Q1/V and C2= Q2/ V V= V1 + V2

APPLICATION OF CAPACITORS

Energy storage
A capacitor can store electric energy when it is connected to its charging circuit. And
when it is disconnected from its charging circuit, it can dissipate that stored energy, so
it can be used like a temporary battery.

Capacitor used in camera flash

Pulsed power and weapons
Groups of large, specially constructed, low-inductance high-voltage capacitors are used
to supply huge pulses of current for many pulsed power applications. These include
electromagnetic forming, Marx generators, pulsed lasers, pulse forming networks,
fusion research, and particle accelerators.

Power conditioning
Reservoir capacitors are used in power supplies where they smooth the output of a full
or half wave rectifier. They can also be used in charge pump circuits as the energy
storage element in the generation of higher voltages than the input voltage.
THANK YOU!!!