3/17/2017 Capacitors&CapacitanceCalculationsFormulasEquationsRFCafe

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Capacitors&CapacitanceFormulas

Capacitorsarepassivedevicesusedinelectroniccircuitstostore
energyintheformofanelectricfield.Theyarethecompliment
ofinductors,whichstoreenergyintheformofamagneticfield.
Anidealcapacitoristheequivalentofanopencircuit(infinite
ohms)fordirectcurrents(DC),andpresentsanimpedance
(reactance)toalternatingcurrents(AC)thatdependsonthe
frequencyofthecurrent(orvoltage).Thereactance(opposition
tocurrentflow)ofacapacitorisinverselyproportionaltothe
frequencyoftheofthesignalactingonit.Capacitorswere
originallyreferredtoas"condensers"forareasonthatgoes
backtothedaysoftheLeydenJarwhereelectricchargeswere
thoughttoaccumulateonplatesthroughacondensation
process.
Thepropertyofcapacitancethatopposesachangeinvoltageis
exploitedforthepurposeofconductingsignalswithahigher
frequencycomponentwhilepreventingsignalsoflowerfrequencycomponentsfrompassing.Acommonapplicationofa
capacitorinanRF(radiofrequency)circuitiswherethereisaDCbiasvoltagethatneedstobeblockedfrombeingpresent
inacircuitwhileallowingtheRFsignaltopass.DCpowersuppliesuselargecapacitancevaluesinparallelwiththeoutput
terminalstosmoothoutlowfrequencyripplesduetorectificationand/orswitchingwaveforms.
Whenusedinseries(leftdrawing)orparallel(rightdrawing)withits
circuitcompliment,aninductor,theinductorcapacitorcombination
formsacircuitthatresonatesataparticularfrequencythatdependson
thevaluesofeachcomponent.Intheseriescircuit,theimpedanceto
currentflowattheresonantfrequencyiszerowithidealcomponents.
Intheparallelcircuit(right),impedancetocurrentflowisinfinitewith
idealcomponents.
Realworldcapacitorsmadeofphysicalcomponentsexhibitmorethanjustapurecapacitance
whenpresentinanACcircuit.Acommoncircuit
simulatormodelisshowntotheleft.Itincludestheactualidealcapacitor
withaparallelresistivecomponent('Leakage')thatrespondstoalternating
current.TheequivalentDCresistivecomponent('ESR')isinserieswith
theidealcapacitorandanequivalentseriesinductivecomponent('ESL')is
presentduetometalleads(ifpresent)andcharacteristicsoftheplate
surfaces.Thisinductance,incombinationwiththecapacitance,createsa
resonantfrequencyatwhichpointthecapacitorlookslikeapure
resistance.
Astheoperationalfrequencyisincreasedpastresonance(akaselfresonantfrequency,orSRF),thecircuitbehavesasan
inductanceratherthanacapacitance.Hence,carefulconsiderationoftheSRFisrequiredwhenselectingcapacitors.
SPICEtypesimulatorsusethisoranevenmoresophisticatedmodeltofacilitatemoreaccuratecalculationsoverawide
rangeoffrequencies.
Equationsforcombiningcapacitorsinseriesandparallelaregivenbelow.Additionalequationsaregivenforcapacitorsof
variousconfigurations.Asthesefiguresandformulasindicate,capacitanceisameasureoftheabilityoftwosurfacesto
storeanelectriccharge.Separatedandisolatedbyadielectric(insulator),anetpositivechargeisaccumulatedonone
surfaceandanetnegativechargeisstoredontheothersurface.Inanidealcapacitor,chargewouldbestored
indefinitelyhowever,realworldcapacitorsgraduallylosetheirchargeduetoleakagecurrentsthroughthenonideal
dielectric.

SeriesConnectedCapacitors ParallelConnectedCapacitors

Totalcapacitanceofseriesconnectedcapacitorsisequaltothe
reciprocalofthesumofthereciprocalsoftheindividual
capacitances.Keepunitsconstant.
ParallelPlateCapacitance
Totalcapacitanceofparallelconnectedcapacitorsis
equaltothesumoftheindividualcapacitances.
Keepunitsconstant.
CapacitanceFormulaConstantsandVariables

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3/17/2017 Capacitors&CapacitanceCalculationsFormulasEquationsRFCafe
Thefollowingphysicalconstantsandmechanical RFCafeSoftware
dimensionalvariablesapplytoequationsonthis
page.Unitsforequationsareshowninsidebrackets
attheendofequationse.g., means
lengthsareininchesandinductanceisinHenries.
Ifnounitsareindicated,thenanymaybeusedso
longastheyareconsistentacrossallentitiesi.e., RFCascadeWorkbook
allmeters,allF,etc. CalculatorWorkbook
C=Capacitance RFWorkbench
L=Inductance SmithChartforVisio
W=Energy SmithChartforExcel
r=Relativepermittivity(dimensionless) RF&EESymbolsWord
Capacitance(C,inFarads)oftwoequalareaparallelplatesis
RFStencilsforVisio
theproductofthearea(A,inmeters)ofoneplate,thedistance 0=8.85x10 12F/m(permittivityoffreespace)
(d,inmeters)separatingtheplates,andthedielectricconstant AboutRFCafe
r=Relativepermeability(dimensionless)
(,inFaradspermeter)ofthespaceseparatingtheplates., Copyright
thetotaldielectricconstant,istheproductofthedielectric 0=4 x10 7H/m(permeabilityoffreespace) 19962016
constantoffreespace,0,andtherelativedielectricconstantof Webmaster:
1meter=3.2808feet<>1foot
thematerial,r.Notethatunitsoflengthandareacanbe KirtBlattenberger,
=0.3048meters
BSEEKB3UON
metricorEnglishsolongastheyareconsistent. 1mm=0.03937inches<>1inch
=25.4mm RFCafebeganlifein1996as
CoaxialCableCapacitance "RFTools"inanAOLscreen
Also,dots(nottobeconfusedwithdecimalpoints) are
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toprovidemewithready
CapacitiveReactance accesstocommonlyneeded
formulasandreference
materialwhileperformingmy
workasanRFsystemand
circuitdesignengineer.The
Capacitivereactance(XC,in)isinversely Internetwasstilllargelyan
proportionaltothefrequency(,inradians/sec,or unknownentityatthetime
f,inHz)andcapacitance(C,inFarads).Pure andnotmuchwasavailable
capacitancehasaphaseangleof90(voltagelags intheformofWYSIWYG...
ParallelLineCapacitance
currentwithaphaseangleof90). Alltrademarks,copyrights,
patents,andotherrightsof
ChargeStoredonaCapacitor
ownershiptoimagesandtext
usedontheRFCafewebsite
areherebyacknowledged.
Charge(Q,incoulombs)onacapacitor'splatesis MyHobbyWebsite:
theproductofthecapacitance(C,inFarads)and AirplanesAndRockets.com
thevoltage(V,involts)acrossthedevice.
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EnergyStoredinaCapacitor toFindWhatYouNeed.
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Energy(W,inJoules)storedinacapacitorishalf
ConcentricSphereCapacitance theproductofthecapacitance(C,inFarads)and
thevoltage(V,involts)acrossthedevice.

CurrentThroughaCapacitor

DissipationFactor&LossTangent
Currentdoesactuallyflow'through'anideal
capacitor.Rather,chargestoredonitsplatesis
givenuptotheconnectedcircuit,thereby
facilitatingcurrentflow.Conversely,anetvoltage
appliedtoitsplatescausesacurrenttoflowinthe
connectedcircuitaschargeaccumulatesonthe
plates.

QualityFactorofaCapacitor
DissipationFactor(DF),akaLoss
Tangent(tan)isinterchangeably
definedasthereciprocalofthe
QualityFactor(QF)ortheratioof
Qualityfactoristhedimensionlessratioof
theequivalentseriesresistance
(ESR)andthecapacitivereactance reactancetoresistanceinacapacitor.
(XC).Itisameasureofthelossrate
ofstoredcharge.DFistypicallyused
inlowfrequencyapplicationswhile
tanismoreoftenusedinhigh
frequencyapplications.

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3/17/2017 Capacitors&CapacitanceCalculationsFormulasEquationsRFCafe
CapacitorVendors
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