A capacitor is an electronic component, of which the primary purpose is to store an electrical charge electrostatically between two plates. Since a charged capacitor will block the passage of DC, (Direct Current.) capacitors are sometimes used as decoupling components where only the flow of AC (Alternating Current.) electricity is desired.
The many different types of capacitor are named by the type of insulation, known as the dielectric, used between their plates. This insulating material has a large bearing upon the electrical characteristics of the individual type of capacitor.
Electrolytic and tantalum capacitors are types of capacitor known as ‘polarised capacitors’. This means that they have to be connected into a circuit observing the correct polarity. Failure to do so may result in anything from the component’s eventual failure to its explosion.
A capacitor’s capacitance is measured in Farads, or decimal parts thereof, named after the discoverer of electrical capacitance; Michael Faraday:
Microfarad (uF, MFD) = 0.000001 of a Farad or 1 x 10 to the minus six of a Farad.
Nanofarad (nF) = 0.000000001 of a Farad or 1 x 10 to the minus nine of a Farad.
Picofarad (pF) = 0.000000000001 of a Farad or 1 x 10 to the minus twelve of a Farad.
- For example: 1000 pF = 1 nF = 0.001 uF.
If an individual capacitor has a voltage-rating printed on it then this is the maximum in-circuit voltage that it can operate at. Anything greater than that and the capacitor’s dielectric could rupture and become breached by an arc, causing the capacitor to explode in a worst-case scenario.
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What is the capacitor used for?
Heyya Fraud Solicitors. I think we met over on bloggers.com . It’s good to see that you’re reading my blog too.
The capacitor has a wide variety of uses: It can be used as a decoupling component between stages in an electronic circuit, it can be connected in parallel with a resistor to give an AC reactance, it can be used to delay the activation of the base of a transistor as it charges, which can cause an oscillation when it is discharged by some means and begins the process again. (Look up astable multivibrator and bistable multivibrator in Wikipedia.) Also used for smoothing a partially-rectified AC – DC waveform, and many many more uses.
To be honest the wide variety of uses which a capacitor can be put is vast and at times complex; which was why I didn’t say much about it in my article.
I’ll forward this to my son which needs this for a school project. It’s pretty complicated
Nice
Just seeing this has made me remember how tough highschool was…l9l
LOL – innit?
I share the same feeling
Physics was just so tough! I only remember the speed of light and that gravity acceleration is 9.8 m/s2.
It seems like Chinese to me
)
I advise you to stay away from any oriental linguistic career in that case.
Physics was always tough
Chemistry too 
)
‘Great fun though.
All I know about chemistry is that H2CO3 is really good with red wine
)
H2SO4 has a tendency to rot your teeth too – which is why I no longer chew lead-acid batteries. :S
You’ve done a terrific job. You should write more often.
I know – you’re right there, I should write more often. – Thanks for the compliment by the way. – What with making videos and love-life; or lack of it since last week, :*( I’ve been rather busy. Also I’ve been making the most of the relatively-good weather… ‘Sorry; I do like to ramble on.
Are you an engineer or something like that?
As you’ll note from the About page, I’m a qualified electronics technician with City & Guilds qualifications. I’ve been studying electronics most of my life, and have a background in the field . I also advanced into computers as and when they became available.
Do you blog for living?
Fortunately not, as income from this blog has been fairly abysmal this year to date. :S
Are you a chemist too? As I’d like to ask you something. The water in my father’s backyard well has lots of amonium. It seems like most water in that area does. Is that really dangerous?
Sorry, my knowledge of chemistry is fairly limited. I’m unable + not qualified to answer your question.
I liked music better than Physics when being a teenager
I was the opposite as a teenager. Now I love both music and physics: Have u ever studied the harmonic responses of combinations of instruments using an oscilloscope?