Contents

Introduction to Capacitors ............................................................................................................................ 4 Introduction to Capacitors ........................................................................................................................ 4 Capacitor Construction ......................................................................................................................... 4 Units of Capacitance ............................................................................................................................. 5 Permittivity............................................................................................................................................ 5 Types of Capacitors ....................................................................................................................................... 6 Common Capacitor Types ......................................................................................................................... 6 1. Air-dielectric .......................................................................................................................................... 6 Variable Capacitor Symbols .................................................................................................................. 6 2. Film Capacitors ...................................................................................................................................... 6 Radial Lead Type ................................................................................................................................... 7 Axial Lead Type ..................................................................................................................................... 7 3. Ceramic Capacitors ............................................................................................................................... 8 4. Electrolytic Capacitors........................................................................................................................... 8 Electrolytic Capacitor ............................................................................................................................ 9 1. Aluminium Electrolytic Capacitors .................................................................................................... 9 2. Tantalum Electrolytic Capacitors ...................................................................................................... 9 Aluminium & Tantalum Electrolytic Capacitor.................................................................................... 10 Capacitor Characteristics ............................................................................................................................ 11 Characteristics......................................................................................................................................... 11 1. Working Voltage, (Vn) ..................................................................................................................... 11 2. Tolerance, (%) ............................................................................................................................... 11 3. Leakage Current .............................................................................................................................. 11 4. Working Temperature, (T) .............................................................................................................. 11 5. Temperature Coefficient, (TC) ........................................................................................................ 12 6. Polarisation ..................................................................................................................................... 12 7. Equivalent Series Resistance, (ESR)................................................................................................. 12 Capacitance & Charge ................................................................................................................................. 13 Capacitance and Charge.......................................................................................................................... 13

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Capacitor Charge ................................................................................................................................. 13 Parallel Plate Capacitor ....................................................................................................................... 14 Charging & Discharging a Capacitor ........................................................................................................ 14 Example No1. ...................................................................................................................................... 15 The Farad ................................................................................................................................................ 16 Sub-units of the Farad ......................................................................................................................... 16 Energy ..................................................................................................................................................... 16 Capacitor Colour Codes............................................................................................................................... 18 Capacitor Colour Codes........................................................................................................................... 18 Capacitor Colour Code Table .................................................................................................................. 18 Capacitor Tolerance Letter Codes Table ............................................................................................. 19 Capacitor Letter Codes Table .............................................................................................................. 20 Capacitors in Parallel................................................................................................................................... 21 Capacitors in Parallel............................................................................................................................... 21 Parallel Capacitors Equation ............................................................................................................... 21 Example No1 ....................................................................................................................................... 21 Example No2. ...................................................................................................................................... 22 Capacitors in Series ..................................................................................................................................... 23 Connecting Capacitors in Series .............................................................................................................. 23 Series Capacitors Equation.................................................................................................................. 23 Example No1 ....................................................................................................................................... 23 Example No2. ...................................................................................................................................... 24 Capacitors in AC Circuits ........................................................................................................................ 26 Capacitors in AC Circuits ......................................................................................................................... 26 AC Capacitor Circuit ............................................................................................................................ 26 AC Capacitor Phasor Diagram ............................................................................................................. 27 Capacitive Reactance .............................................................................................................................. 27 Capacitive Reactance .......................................................................................................................... 28 Capacitive Reactance against Frequency ............................................................................................ 28 Example No1. ...................................................................................................................................... 28 Summary of Capacitors ............................................................................................................................... 30 Summary ................................................................................................................................................. 30 Page 2 of 40

The RC Charging Circuit ......................................................................................................................... 31 he Time Constant .................................................................................................................................... 31 RC Charging ............................................................................................................................................. 31 RC Charging Circuit.............................................................................................................................. 31 RC Charging Curves ............................................................................................................................. 32 Example No1. ...................................................................................................................................... 33 The RC Discharging Circuit .................................................................................................................... 34 RC Discharging ........................................................................................................................................ 34 RC Discharging Circuit ......................................................................................................................... 34 RC Discharging Curves......................................................................................................................... 35 Example No1. ...................................................................................................................................... 35 RC Waveforms .......................................................................................................................................... 37 Step Response ......................................................................................................................................... 37 Typical RC Waveform .......................................................................................................................... 37 Square Wave Signal................................................................................................................................. 37 A 5RC Input Waveform ....................................................................................................................... 38 An 8RC Input Waveform ..................................................................................................................... 38 A 4RC Input Waveform ....................................................................................................................... 39 Frequency Response ............................................................................................................................... 39 The Integrator ..................................................................................................................................... 39 The Differentiator ............................................................................................................................... 39 Sine Wave Input Signal........................................................................................................................ 40 Cut-off Frequency ............................................................................................................................... 40

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Introduction to Capacitors
Introduction to Capacitors
Just like the Resistor, the Capacitor or sometimes referred to as a Condenser is a passive device, and one which stores energy in the form of an electrostatic field. In its basic form a capacitor consists of two parallel conductive plates that are not connected but are electrically separated either by air or by an insulating material called the Dielectric. When a voltage is applied to these plates, a current flows charging up the plates with electrons giving one plate a positive charge and the other plate an equal and opposite negative charge. This flow of electrons to the plates is known as the Charging Current and continues to flow until the voltage across the plates (and hence the capacitor) is equal to the applied voltage Vc. At this point the capacitor is said to be fully charged and this is illustrated below.
Capacitor Construction

The parallel plate capacitor is the simplest form of capacitor and its capacitance value is fixed by the equal area of the plates and the distance or separation between them. Altering any two of these values alters the the value of its capacitance and this forms the basis of operation of the variable cpacitors. Also, because capacitors store the energy of the electrons in the form of an electrical charge on the plates the larger the plates and/or smaller their separation the greater will be the charge that the capacitor holds for any given voltage across its plates. By applying a voltage to a capacitor and measuring the charge on the plates, the ratio of the charge Q to the voltage V will give the capacitance value of the capacitor and is therefore given as: C = Q/V this equation can also be re-arranged to give the more familiar formula for the quantity of charge on the plates as: Q = C x V

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The unit of capacitance is the Farad (abbreviated to F) named after the British physicist Michael Faraday and is defined as a capacitor has the capacitance of One Farad when a charge of One Coulomb is stored on the plates by a voltage of One volt. Capacitance, C is always positive and has no negative units. However, the Farad is a very large unit of measurement to use on its own so sub-multiples of the Farad are generally used such as micro-farads, nano-farads and picofarads, for example.
Units of Capacitance

Microfarad (F) 1F = 1/1,000,000 = 0.000001 = 10-6 F Nanofarad (nF) 1nF = 1/1,000,000,000 = 0.000000001 = 10-9 F Picofarad (pF) 1pF = 1/1,000,000,000,000 = 0.000000000001 = 10-12 F

Aswell as the overall size of the conductive plates and their distance or spacing apart from each other, another factor which affects the overall capacitance of the device is the type of dielectric material being used. In other words the "Permittivity" () of the dielectric. The conductive plates are generally made of a metal foil or a metal film deposited on an insulating dielectric material. This dielectric material can be made from a number of insulating materials or combinations of these materials with the most common types used being; paper, plastic, ceramic, glass, oil, or even air. The factor by which the dielectric increases the capacitance compared with air is known as the Dielectric Constant. The permittivity of the dielectric between the plates is then the product of the permittivity of free space (o) and the relative permittivity (r) and is given as:
Permittivity

Typical units of dielectric permittivity, are: Air = 1, Paper = 2.5, Glass = 5, mica = 7, etc. Modern capacitors can be classified according to the characteristics and properties of their insulating dielectric:

Low Loss, High Stability such as Mica, Low-K Ceramic, Polystyrene. Medium Loss, Medium Stability such as Paper, Plastic Film, High-K Ceramic. Polarised Capacitors such as Electrolytics, Tantalums.

There are a large variety of capacitor styles and types, each one having its own particular advantage, disadvantage and characteristics. To include all types would make this tutorial very large so I shall limit them in the next tutorial to the most commonly used types.

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Types of Capacitors
Common Capacitor Types
There are a very large variety of different Capacitor types available in the market place and each one has its own set of characteristics and applications from small delicate trimming capacitors upto large power metal can type capacitors used in high voltage power correction and smoothing circuits. Like resistors, there are also varible types which allow us to vary their capacitance value for use in radio or "frequency tunning" type circuits. Either way, capacitors play an important part in electronic circuits so here are a few of the more "Common" types available.

1. Air-dielectric
Air-dielectric Capacitors are usually of the variable type such as used for tunning transmitters, receivers and transistor radios. They have a set of fixed plates and a set of moving plates that mesh with the fixed plates and the position of the moving plates with respect to the fixed plates determines the overall capacitance. The capacitance is generally at maximium when the plates are fully meshed. High voltage type tunning capacitors have relatively large spacings or air-gaps between the plates with breakdown voltages reaching many thousands of volts.
Variable Capacitor Symbols

As well as the continuously variable types, preset types are also available called Trimmers. These are generally small devices that can be adjusted or "pre-set" to a particular capacitance with the aid of a screwdriver and are available in very small capacitances of 100pF or less and are non-polarised.

2. Film Capacitors
Film Capacitors are the most commonly available of all types of capacitors, consisting of a relatively large family of capacitors with the difference being in their dielectric properties. These include polyester (Mylar), polystyrene, polypropylene, polycarbonate, metallized paper, teflon etc. Film type capacitors are available in capacitance ranges from 5pF to 100uF depending upon the actual type of capacitor and its voltage rating. Film capacitors also come in an assortment of shapes and case styles which include:
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Wrap & Fill (Oval & Round) - where the capacitor is wrapped in a tight plastic tape and have the ends filled with epoxy to seal them. Epoxy Case (Rectangular & Round) - where the capacitor is encased in a moulded plastic shell which is then filled with epoxy. Metal Hermetically Sealed (Rectangular & Round) - where the capacitor is encased in a metal tube or can and again sealed with epoxy.

with all the above case styles available in both Axial and Radial Leads. Examples of film capacitors are the rectangular metallized film and cylindrical film & foil types as shown below.
Radial Lead Type

Axial Lead Type

The film and foil type 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. These film types require a much thicker dielectric film to reduce the risk of
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tears or punctures in the film, and is therefore more suited to lower capacitance values and larger case sizes. Metallized foil capacitors have the conductive film metallized sprayed directly onto each side of the dielectric which gives the capacitor self-healing properties and can therefore use much thinner dielectric films. This allows for higher capacitance values and smaller case sizes for a given capacitance. Film and foil capacitors are generally used for higher power and more precise applications.

3. Ceramic Capacitors
Ceramic Capacitors or Disc Capacitors as they are generally called, are made by coating two sides of a small porcelain or ceramic disc with silver and are then stacked together to make a capacitor. For very low capacitance values a single ceramic disc of about 3-6mm is used. Ceramic capacitors have a high dielectric constant (High-K) and are available so that relatively high capacitances can be obtained in a small physical size. They exhibit large non-linear changes in capacitance against temperature and as a result are used as de-coupling or by-pass capacitors as they are also non-polarised devices. Ceramic capacitors have values ranging from a few picofarads to one or two microfarads but their voltage ratings are generally quite low. Ceramic capacitors generally have a 3-digit code printed onto their body to identify their capacitance value. For example, 103 would indicate 10 x 103pF which is equivalent to 10,000 pF or 0.01F. Likewise, 104 would indicate 10 x 104pF which is equivalent to 100,000 pF or 0.1F and so on. Letter codes are sometimes used to indicate their tolerance value such as: J = 5%, K = 10% or M = 20% etc.

4. Electrolytic Capacitors
These 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). The dielectric is a very thin layer of oxide which is grown electro-chemically in production with the thickness of the film being less than ten microns. This insulating layer is so thin that it is possible to make large value capacitors of a small size. The majority of electrolytic capacitors are Polarised, that is the voltage applied to the capacitor terminals must be of the correct polarity as an incorrect polarisation will break down the insulating oxide layer and permanent damage may result. Electrolytic Capacitors are generally used in DC power supply circuits to help reduce the ripple voltage or for coupling and decoupling applications. Electrolytics generally come in two basic forms; Aluminum Electrolytic and Tantalum Electrolytic capacitors.

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Electrolytic Capacitor

1. Aluminium Electrolytic Capacitors

There are basically two types of Aluminium Electrolytic Capacitor, the plain foil type and the etched foil type. The thickness of the aluminim oxide film and high breakdown voltage give these capacitors very high capacitance values for their size. The etched foil type differs from the plain foil type in that the aluminium oxide on the anode and cathode foils has been chemically etched to increase its surface area and permittivity. This gives a smaller sized capacitor than a plain foil type of equivalent value but has the disadvantage of not being able to withstand high AC currents compared to the plain type. Also their tolerance range is quite large up to 20%. Etched foil electrolytics are best used in coupling, DC blocking and by-pass circuits while plain foil types are better suited as smoothing capacitors in power supplies. Typical values of capacitance range from 1uF to 47000uF. Aluminium Electrolytics are "polarised" devices so reversing the applied voltage on the leads will cause the insulating layer within the capacitor to be destroyed along with the capacitor, "so be aware".
2. Tantalum Electrolytic Capacitors

Tantalum Electrolytic Capacitors or Tantalum Beads, are available in both wet (foil) and dry (solid) electrolytic types with the dry or solid tantalum being the most common. Solid tantalums use manganese dioxide as their second terminal and are physically smaller than the equivalent aluminium capacitors. The dielectric properties of tantalum oxide is also much better than those of aluminium oxide giving a lower leakage currents and better capacitance stability which makes them suitable for timing applications. Also tantalum capacitors although polarised, can tolerate being conected to a reverse voltage much more esily than the Aluminium types but are rated at much lower working voltages. Typical values of capacitance range from 47nF to 470uF.

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Aluminium & Tantalum Electrolytic Capacitor

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Capacitor Characteristics
Characteristics
There are a bewildering array of characteristics associated with the humble capacitor so here are just a few of the more important ones.
1. Working Voltage, (Vn)

The Working Voltage (Wvdc, Wvac) is the maximum continuous voltage that can be applied to the capacitor without failure during its working life. DC and AC values are usually not the same as the AC value refers to the r.m.s. value. Common working DC voltages are 10V, 16V, 25V, 35V, 63V, 100V, 160V, 250V, 400V and 1000V and are printed onto the body of the capacitor.
2. Tolerance, (%)

As with resistors, Capacitors also have a tolerance rating epressed as a plus-or-minus value either in Picofarads (pF) for low value capacitors generally less than 10pF or as a percentage (%) for higher value capacitors generally higher than 10pF. Capacitors are rated according to how near their actual values are to the rated capacitance with coloured bands or letters used to indicated the actual tolerance. The most common tolerance for capacitors is 5% or 10% but some electrolytic capacitors are rated as high as 20%.
3. Leakage Current

The dielectric used inside the capacitor is not a perfect insulator resulting in a very small current flowing or "leaking" through the dielectric when applied to a constant supply voltage. This small current flow in the region of micro amps (A) is called the Leakage Current. This leakage current is a result of electrons physically making their way through the dielectric medium, around its edges or across the leads. The "leakage current" of a capacitor is sometimes called the "insulation resistance" and can be found using Ohm's law. The film/foil type capacitor has extremely low leakage currents while the leakage current of aluminium electrolytics increases with temperature.
4. Working Temperature, (T)

Changes in temperature around the capacitor affect the value of the capacitance because of changes in the dielectric. If the air or surrounding temperature becomes to hot or to cold the capacitance value of the capacitor may change so much as to affect the correct operation of the circuit. The normal working range for most capacitors is -30C to +125C with nominal voltage ratings given for a working temperature of no more than +70C. Generally electrolytics can not be used below about -10C, as the electrolyte jelly freezes.

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5. Temperature Coefficient, (TC)

The Temperature Coefficient of a capacitor is the change in its capacitance with temperature expressed linearly as parts per million per degree centigrade (PPM/C), or as a percent change over a specified temperature range. Some capacitors are non linear and increase their value as the temperature rises giving a temperature coefficient that is expressed as a positive (p.t.c.). Some capacitors decrease their value as the temperature rises giving a temperature coefficient that is expressed as a negative (n.t.c.). For example 10%, or +80% / -20% etc. However, some capacitors do not change their value and remain constant over a certain temperature range, such capacitors have a zero temperature coefficient. It is also possible to connect a capacitor with a positive temperature coefficient in series or parallel with a capacitor having a negative temperature coefficient the net result being that the two opposite effects will cancel each other out over a certain range of temperatures. Another useful application of temperature coefficient capacitors is to use them to cancel out the effect of temperature on other components within a circuit, such as inductors or resistors etc.
6. Polarisation

Polarisation generally refers to the Electrolytic type capacitors but mainly the Aluminium Electrolytics, with regards to their connection. The majority are polarised types, that is the voltage connected to the capacitor terminals must have the correct polarity, i.e. +ve to +ve and ve to -ve. Incorrect polarisation can cause the oxide layer inside the capacitor to break down resulting in very large currents flowing through the device. The majority of electrolytic capacitors have their -ve terminal clearly marked with a black stripe or black arrows down the side to prevent any incorrect connection. Some electrolytics have their metal can connected to the negative terminal but high voltage types have their can insulated with the electrodes being brought out to separate spade or screw terminals for safety. Also, when using electrolytics in power supply smoothing circuits care should be taken to prevent the sum of the peak DC value and AC ripple voltage from becoming a reverse voltage.
7. Equivalent Series Resistance, (ESR)

The Equivalent Series Resistance is the AC impeadance of the capacitor when used at high frequencies and includes the resistance of the dielectric, plate and terminal leads. ESR acts like a resistor (less than 0.1) in series with the capacitor (hence the name Equivalent Series Resistance), and is frequency dependant. The ESR of electrolytic capacitors increase over time as their electrolyte dries out. Capacitors with very low ESR ratings are available.

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Capacitance & Charge

Capacitance and Charge
We saw in the previous tutorials that a Capacitor consists of two parallel conductive plates (usually a metal) which are prevented from touching each other (seperated) by an insulating material called the "dielectric". We also saw that when a voltage is applied to these plates an electrical current flows charging up one plate with a positive charge with respect to the supply voltage and the other plate with an equal and opposite negative charge. Then, a capacitor has the ability of being able to store an electrical charge Q (units in Coulombs) of electrons. When a capacitor is charged there is a potential difference between its plates, and the larger the area of the plates and/or the smaller the distance between them (known as separation) the greater will be the charge that the capacitor can hold. The Capacitors ability to store this electrical charge (Q) between its plates is proportional to the applied voltage, V for a capacitor of known capacitance in Farads, capacitance C is always positive. The greater the applied voltage the greater will be the charge on the plates. Likewise, the smaller the applied voltage the smaller the charge. Therefore, the actual charge Q on the plates of the capacitor can be calculated as:
Capacitor Charge

Units: Q measured in Coulombs, V in volts and C in Farads. The ability of a capacitor to store a charge gives it its capacitance value. Capacitance can also be determined from the dimensions of the plates and the properties of the dielectric. So another way of expressing the capacitance of a capacitor is;

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where A is the area of the plates in square metres, d is the distance between them and (epsilon) is the value of the dielectric constant.
Parallel Plate Capacitor

The capacitance of a parallel plate capacitor is proportional to the area A and inversely proportional to the distance, d between the plates. The capacitance can be increased by inserting a dielectric which has a relative permittivity or dielectric constant greater than that of air with typical values of epsilon being: Air = 1, Paper = 2.5, Glass = 5, Mica = 7 etc.

Charging & Discharging a Capacitor

Consider the following circuit.

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Assume that the capacitor is fully discharged and the switch connected to the capacitor has just been moved to position A. The voltage across the 100uf capacitor is zero at this point and a charging current i begins to flow charging up the capacitor until the voltage across the plates is equal to the 12v supply voltage. The charging current stops flowing and the capacitor is said to be "fully-charged". Then, Vc = Vs = 12v. Once the capacitor is "fully-charged" in theory it will maintain its state of voltage charge even when the supply voltage has been disconnected as they act as a sort of temporary storage device. However, while this may be true of an "ideal" capacitor, a real capacitor will slowly discharge itself over a long period of time due to the internal leakage currents flowing through the dielectric. This is an important point to remember as large value capacitors connected across high voltage supplies can still maintain a significant amount of charge even when the supply voltage is switched ofF. If the switch was disconnected at this point, the capacitor would maintain its charge indefinately, but due to internal leakage currents flowing across its dielectric the capacitor would very slowly begin to discharge itself as the electrons passed through the dielectric. The time taken for the capacitor to discharge down to 37% of its supply voltage is known as its Time Constant. If the switch is now moved from position A to position B, the fully charged capacitor would start to discharge through the lamp now connected across it, illuminating the lamp until the capacitor was fully discharged as the element of the lamp has a resistive value. The brightness of the lamp and the duration of illumination would ultimately depend upon the capacitance value of the capacitor and the resistance of the lamp (t = CxR). The larger the value of the capacitor the brighter and longer will be the illumination of the lamp as it could store more charge.
Example No1.

Calculate the charge in the above capacitor circuit.

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then the charge on the capacitor is 1.2 milli-coulombs.

The Farad
We now know that the ability of a capacitor to store a charge gives it its capacitance value C, which has the unit of the Farad, F. But the farad is a extremely large unit on its own making it impractical to use so submultiples or fractions of the standard Farad unit are used instead. The prefixes used in electronic formulas and component values are the micro (), nano (n) and the pico (p). For example;
Sub-units of the Farad

Convert the following capacitances a) 22nF to uF, b) 0.2uF to nF, c) 550pF to uF. a) 22nF = 0.022uF b) 0.2uF = 200nF c) 550pF = 0.00055uF

Energy
When a capacitor charges up from the power supply connected to it, energy in Joules is stored in the capacitor and is given by the formula;
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so the energy stored in the capacitor circuit above is;

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Capacitor Colour Codes

Capacitor Colour Codes
Generally, the values of Capacitance, Voltage or Tolerance are marked onto the body of the capacitors. However, when the value of the capaciance is of a decimal value problems arise with the marking of a "Decimal Point" as it could easily no be noticed resulting in a mis-reading of the actual value. Instead letters such as p (pico) or n (nano) are used in place of the decimal point to identify its position. For example, a capacitor can be labelled as, n47 = 0.47nF, 4n7 = 4.7nF or 47n = 47nF. To reduce the confusion regarding letter, numbers and decimal points, an International colour coding scheme was developed many years ago as a simple way of identifying capacitor values and tolerances. It consists of coloured bands (in spectral order) whose meanings are illustrated below:

Capacitor Colour Code Table

Colour Digit A Digit B Multiplier D Tolerance T > 10pf Tolerance T < 10pf Temperature Coefficient TC Working voltage V

Black Brown Red Orange Yellow Green Blue Violet Grey White

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

x1 x10 x100 x1000 x10k x100k x1m

20% 1% 2% 3% +100%,-0% 5%

2.0pF 0.1pF 0.25pF -33x10-6 -75x10-6 -150x10-6 -220x10-6 0.5pF -330x10-6 -470x10-6 -750x10-6 400v 100v 630v 250v

x0.01 x0.1

+80%,-20% 10%

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Like resistors, small capacitors such as film or disk types conform to the BS1852 Standard where the colours are replaced by a letter or number coded system. The code consists of 2 or 3 numbers and an optional tolerance letter code. Where a two number code is used the value of the capacitor only is given in picofarads (ie. 47 = 47 pF). A three letter code consists of the two value digits and a multiplier much like a resistor color code (ie. 471 = 47*10 = 470pF). Three digit codes are often accompanied by an additional tolerance letter code as given below.
Capacitor Tolerance Letter Codes Table Letter B C C <10pF pF Tolerance C >10pF % 0.5 1 2 5 10 20 +80-20 0.1

F 1

G 2

0.25 0.5

Consider the capacitor below:

The capacitor on the left is of a ceramic disc type capacitor that has the code 473J printed onto its body. This translates to: 47pF * 1,000 (3 zero's) = 47,000 pF , 47nF or 0.047 uF the J indicates a tolerance of +/- 5%

Then just by using number and Letter codes on the body of the capacitor we can easily determine the value of its capacitance either in PicoFarads, NanoFarads or Microfarads and these codes are given in the following table along with the equivalent capacitances.

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Capacitor Letter Codes Table PicoFarad NanoFarad MicroFarad Code (pF) (nF) (uF) 10 15 22 33 47 100 120 130 150 180 220 330 470 560 680 750 820 1000 1500 2000 2200 0.01 0.015 0.022 0.033 0.047 0.1 0.12 0.13 0.15 0.18 0.22 0.33 0.47 0.56 0.68 0.75 0.82 1.0 1.5 2.0 2.2 0.00001 0.000015 0.000022 0.000033 0.000047 0.0001 0.00012 0.00013 0.00015 0.00018 0.00022 0.00033 0.00047 0.00056 0.00068 0.00075 0.00082 0.001 0.0015 0.002 0.0022 100 150 220 330 470 101 121 131 151 181 221 331 471 561 681 751 821 102 152 202 222

PicoFarad NanoFarad MicroFarad Code (pF) (nF) (uF) 4700 5000 5600 6800 10000 15000 22000 33000 47000 68000 100000 150000 200000 220000 330000 470000 680000 1000000 1500000 2000000 2200000 4.7 5.0 5.6 6.8 10 15 22 33 47 68 100 150 200 220 330 470 680 1000 1500 2000 2200 0.0047 0.005 0.0056 0.0068 0.01 0.015 0.022 0.033 0.047 0.068 0.1 0.15 0.2 0.22 0.33 0.47 0.68 1.0 1.5 2.0 2.2 472 502 562 682 103 153 223 333 473 683 104 154 254 224 334 474 684 105 155 205 225

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Capacitors in Parallel
Capacitors in Parallel
Capacitors are said to be connected "in parallel" when both of their terminals are respectively connected to each terminal of the other capacitor or capacitors. The voltage (Vc) across all the capacitors connected in parallel is THE SAME. Then, parallel capacitors have a Common Voltage supply across them and: VC1 = VC2 = VC3 = VAB = 12V In the following circuit capacitor, C1 and capacitor, C2 are connected in parallel between points A and B.

When capacitors are connected in parallel the total capacitance in the circuit is equal to the sum of all the individual capacitors added together. That is:
Parallel Capacitors Equation

Where all the capacitors are given in the same capacitance units, either uF, nF or pF.
Example No1

Taking the three capacitor values from the above, we can calculate the total circuit capacitance as: CT = C1 + C2 + C3 = 0.1uF + 0.2uF + 0.3uF = 0.6uF
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One important point to remember about parallel connected capacitor circuits, the total capacitance (CT) of any two or more capacitors connected together in parallel will always be GREATER than the value of the largest capacitor in the chain and in our example above CT = 0.6uF were as the largest value capacitor is only 0.3uF. When 4, 5, 6 or even more capacitors are connected together the total capacitance of the circuit CT would still be the sum of all the individual capacitors added together and the total capacitance of a parallel circuit is always greater than the highest value capacitor. The total charge stored by the circuit is also the sum of the individual values and is given as: QT = Q1 + Q2 + Q3 + etc.... Where; Q = CV , Capacitance x Voltage. Also the total current flowing the circuit is also the sum of the individual currents and is given as: IT = I1 + I2 + I3 + etc....
Example No2.

Calculate the combined capacitance of the following capacitors when they are connected together in parallel combination: a) 2 capacitors, each of 47nF and b) A capacitor of 470nF connected to a capacitor of 1uF.
a) Total Capacitance,

CT = C1 + C2 = 47nF + 47nF = 94nF or 0.094uF

b) Total Capacitance,

CT = C1 + C2 = 470nF + 1uF therefore, CT = 470nF + 1000nF = 1470nF or 1.47uF

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Capacitors in Series
Connecting Capacitors in Series
Capacitors are said to be connected in series when they are efectively "daisy chained" together in a single line. The charging current (Ic) flowing through the capacitors is THE SAME for the same amount of time so each capacitor stores the same amount of charge regardless of its capacitance and: QT = Q1 = Q2 = Q3 etc..... In the following circuit, capacitors, C1, C2 and C3 are connected together in series between points A and B.

In the parallel circuit we saw that the total capacitance, CT of the circuit was equal to the sum of all the individual capacitors added together. In a series connected circuit the equivalent capacitance CT is calculated differently. Here, the reciprocal (1/C) of the individual capacitors are added together (just like resistors in parallel) instead of the capacitors themselves, for example.
Series Capacitors Equation

Example No1

Taking the three capacitor values from the above, we can calculate the total circuit capacitance as:
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One important point to remember about series connected capacitor circuits, is that the total circuit capacitance (CT) of any capacitors connected together in series will always be LESS than the value of the smallest capacitor and in our example above CT = 0.055uF were as the value of the smallest capacitor is only 0.1uF. This reciprical method of calculation can be used for calculating any number of capacitors connected together in a single series network. If however, there are only two capacitors connected together in series, then a much simpler and quicker formula can be used and is given as:

In the above series circuit the DC supply voltage, VT between points A and B is divided between all three capacitors with the smaller capacitor having the largest voltage drop across it and vice versa. The voltage across the capacitors, V1, V2 and V3 is inversely proportional to its capacitance and for the three capacitors in our example above is given as:

Where QT is the total charge across the circuit and is given as: CT x VT, (which for above is 0.66 micro-coulombs).
Example No2.

Find the overall capacitance and the individual voltages of two capacitors connected together in series when connected to a 12V d.c. supply. a) 2 capacitors, each of 47nF. b) A capacitor of 470nF and a capacitor of 1uF.

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a) Total Capacitance,

Voltage across Capacitors,

b) Total Capacitance,

Voltage across Capacitors,

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Capacitors in AC Circuits
Capacitors in AC Circuits
When capacitors are connected across a direct current DC supply voltage they become charged to the value of the applied voltage, acting like tempory storage devices and maintain or hold this charge indefinately as long as the supply voltage is present. During this charging process, a charging current, I will flow into the capacitor opposing any changes to the voltage at a rate that is equal to the rate of change of the electrical charge on the plates. This charging current can be defined as: I = CdV/dt. Once the capcitor is "fully-charged" the capacitor blocks the flow of any more electrons onto its plates as they have become saturated. However, if we apply an alternating current or AC supply, the capacitor will alternately charge and discharge at a rate determined by the frequency of the supply. We know that the flow of electrons through the capacitor is directly proportional to the rate of change of the voltage across the plates. Then, we can see that a capacitor likes to pass current when the voltage across its plates is constantly changing with respect to time such as in AC signals, but it does not like to pass current when the applied voltage is of a constant value such as in DC signals. Consider the circuit below.
AC Capacitor Circuit

In the purely capacitive circuit above, the capacitor is connected directly across the AC supply voltage. As the supply voltage increases and decreases, the capacitor charges and discharges with respect to this change. We know that the charging current is directly proportional to the rate of change of the voltage across the plates with this rate of change at its greatest as the supply voltage crosses over from its positive half cycle to its negative half cycle or vice versa at points, 0o and 180o along the sine wave. Consequently, the least voltage change occurs when the AC sine wave crosses over at its maximum or minimum peak voltage level, (Vm). At these positions in the cycle the maximum or minimum currents are flowing through the capacitor circuit and this is shown below.

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AC Capacitor Phasor Diagram

At 0o the rate of change of the supply voltage is increasing in a positive direction resulting in a maximum charging current at that instant in time. As the applied voltage reaches its maximum peak value at 90o for a very brief instant in time the supply voltage is neither increasing or decreasing so there is no current flowing through the circuit. As the applied voltage begins to decrease to zero at 180o, the slope of the voltage is negative so the capacitor discharges in the negative direction. At the 180o point along the line the rate of change of the voltage is at its maximum again so maximum current flows at that instant and so on. Then we can say that the instantaneous current is at its minimum or zero whenever the applied voltage is at its maximum and likewise the instantaneous value of the current is at its maximum or peak value when the applied voltage is at its minimum or zero. From the waveform above, we can see that the current is leading the voltage by 1/4 cycle or 90o as shown by the vector diagram. Then we can say that in a purely capacitive circuit the alternating voltage lags the current by 90o. We know that the current flowing through the capacitor is in opposition to the rate of change of the applied voltage but just like resistors, capacitors also offer some form of resistance against the flow of current through the circuit, but in AC circuits this AC resistance is known as Reactance or more commonly in capacitor circuits, Capacitive Reactance.

Capacitive Reactance
Capacitive Reactance in a purely capacitive circuit is the opposition to current flow in AC circuits only. Like resistance, reactance is also measured in Ohm's but is given the symbol X to distinguish it from a purely resistive value. As reactance can also be applied to Inductors as well as Capacitors it is more commonly known as Capacitive Reactance in capacitor circuits and is given the symbol Xc so we can actually say that Capacitive Reactance is Resistance that varies with frequency. Also, capacitive reactance depends on the value of the capacitor in Farads as well as the frequency of the AC waveform and the formula used to define Capacitive Reactance is given as:

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Capacitive Reactance

Where: F is in Hertz and C is in Farads. 2F can also be expressed collectively as the Greek letter Omega, to denote an angular frequency. From the capacitive reactance formula above, it can be seen that if either of the Frequency or Capacitance where to be increased the overall capacitive reactance would decrease. As the frequency approaches infinity the capacitors reactance would reduce to zero acting like a perfect conductor. However, as the frequency approaches zero or DC, the capacitors reactance would increase up to infinity, acting like a very large resistance. This means then that capacitive reactance is "Inversely proportional" to frequency for any given value of Capacitance and this shown below:
Capacitive Reactance against Frequency

The Reactance value of a Capacitor decreases as the Frequency across it increases.

Example No1.

Find the current flowing in a circuit when a 4uF capacitor is connected across a 880v, 60Hz supply.

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Summary of Capacitors
Summary
A Capacitor consists of two metal plates separated by a dielectric. The dielectric can be made of many insulating materials such as air, glass, paper, plastic etc. A Capacitor is capable of storing electrical charge and energy. The higher the value of capacitance, the more charge the Capacitor can store. The larger the area of the plates or the smaller their separation the more charge the Capacitor

can store.
A Capacitor is said to be Fully Charged when the voltage across its plates equals the supply

voltage.
The symbol for electrical charge is Q and its unit is the Coulomb. Electrolytic Capacitors are polarised. They have a +ve and a -ve terminal. Capacitance is measured in Farads, which is a very large unit so Microfarad (uF), Nanofarad

(nF) and Picofarad (pF) are generally used.

Capacitors that are daisy chained together in a line are said to be connected in Series. Capacitors that have both of their respective terminals connected to each terminal of another

capacitor are said to be connected in Parallel.

Parallel connected Capacitors have a common supply voltage across them. Series connected Capacitors have a common current flowing through them. Capacitive reactance is the opposition to current flow in AC circuits. In AC capacitive circuits the voltage "lags" the current by 90 .
o

The basic construction and symbol for a parallel plate capacitor is given as:

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The RC Charging Circuit

he Time Constant
All Electrical or Electronic circuits or systems suffer from some form of time-delay between its input and output, when a signal or voltage, either continuos, (d.c.) or alternating (a.c.) is firstly applied to it. This delay is generally known as the time delay or time constant of the circuit and it is the time response of the circuit when a step voltage or signal is applied. The resultant time constant of any circuit or system will mainly depend upon the reactive components either capacitive or inductive connected to it and is a measurement of time with units of, Tau - When an increasing d.c. voltage is applied to a Capacitor the capacitor draws a charging current, and when the voltage is reduced, the capacitor discharges. Because capacitors store electrical energy they act like small batteries and are able to store or release the energy as required. This charging (storage) and discharging (release) of a capacitor is never instant but takes a certain amount of time to occur with the time taken for the capacitor to charge or discharge to within a certain percentage of its maximum supply value being known as its Time Constant (). If a resistor is connected in series with the capacitor (RC Circuit), the capacitor will then charge up gradually through the resistor until the voltage across the capacitor reaches that of the supply voltage. The time required for this to occur is equivalent to about 5 time constants or 5. This time constant T, is measured by = R x C, in seconds, where R is the value of the resistor in ohms and C is the value of the capacitor in Farads. Then this 5 can also be thought of as "5 x RC".

RC Charging
The figure below shows a Capacitor, (C) in series with a Resistor, (R) connected across a d.c battery supply (Vs) via a mechanical switch. When the switch is closed, the capacitor will gradually charge up through the resistor until the voltage across it reaches the supply voltage of the battery. The manner in which the capacitor charges up is also shown below.
RC Charging Circuit

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RC Charging Curves

Let us assume that the Capacitor, C is fully "discharged" and the switch is open. When the switch is closed the time begins at t = 0 and current begins to flow into the capacitor via the resistor. Since the initial voltage across the capacitor is zero, (Vc = 0) the capacitor appears to be a short circuit and the maximum current flows through the circuit restricted by resistor R. This current is called the Charging Current and is found by using the formula: i = Vs/R. The capacitor now starts to charge up with the actual time taken for the charge on the capacitor to reach 63% of its maximum possible voltage, in our curve 0.63Vs is known as the Time Constant, () of the circuit and is given the abbreviation of 1.

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After a period equivalent to 4 time constants, (4) the capacitor is virtually fully charged and the voltage across the capacitor is now approx 99% of its maximum value, 0.99Vs. The time period taken for the capacitor to reach this 4T point is known as the Transient Period. After a time of 5 the capacitor is now fully charged and the voltage accross the capacitor, (VC) is equal to the supply voltage, (Vs). As the capacitor is fully charged no more current flows in the circuit. The time period after this 5T point is known as the Steady State Period. As the voltage across the capacitor Vc changes with time, and is a different value at each time constant up to 5, we can calculate this value of capacitor voltage, Vc at any given point, for example.
Example No1. Calculate the time constant of the following circuit. The time constant is found using the formula T = R x C in seconds. Therefore the time constant is: T = R x C = 47k x 1000uF = 47 Secs

a) What value will be the voltage across the capacitor at 0.7 time constants?

At 0.7 time constants (0.7T) Vc = 0.5Vs. Therefore, Vc = 0.5 x 5V = 2.5V

b) What value will be the voltage across the capacitor at 1 time constant?

At 1 time constant (1T) Vc = 0.63Vs. Therefore, Vc = 0.63 x 5V = 3.15V

c) How long will it take to "fully charge" the capacitor?

The capacitor will be fully charged at 5 time constants. 1 time constant (1T) = 47 seconds, (from above). Therefore, 5T = 5 x 47 = 235 secs

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The RC Discharging Circuit

RC Discharging
In the previous RC Charging section we saw how a Capacitor, C charges up through the resistor until it reaches an amount of time equal to 5 time constants or 5 and then remains fully charged. If this fully charged capacitor was now disconnected from its d.c. battery supply voltage it would store its energy built up during the charging process indefinately (ignoring any internal losses), keeping the voltage across its terminals constant. If the battery was now removed and replaced by a short circuit, when the switch was closed the capacitor would discharge itself back through the Resistor, R. As the capacitor discharges its current through the series resistor the stored energy inside the capacitor is extracted with the voltage Vc across the capacitor decaying to zero as shown below.
RC Discharging Circuit

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RC Discharging Curves

The time constant (T) of the discharging circuit is now given as the time taken for the capacitor to discharge to within 37% of its fully discharged value (zero volts), and in our curve this is 0.37Vc. As with the previous charging circuit the voltage across the Capacitor, C is equal to 0.5Vc at 0.7T with the steady state value (fully discharged) being finally reached at 5T.
Example No1. Calculate the time constant of the following circuit. The time constant, T of the circuit is found using the following formula T = R x C given in seconds.

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Therefore, the RC circuits time constant T is: T = R x C = 100k x 22uF = 2.2 Seconds

a) What value will be the voltage across the capacitor at 0.7 time constants?

At 0.7 time constants (0.7T) Vc = 0.5Vc. Therefore, Vc = 0.5 x 10V = 5V

b) What value will be the voltage across the capacitor after 1 time constant?

At 1 time constant (1T) Vc = 0.37Vc. Therefore, Vc = 0.37 x 10V = 3.7V

c) How long will it take for the capacitor to "fully discharge" itself (5 time constants)?

1 time constant (1T) = 2.2 seconds. Therefore, 5T = 5 x 2.2 = 11 Seconds

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RC Waveforms
Step Response
In the previous RC Charging and RC Discharging sections we saw how a Capacitor, C both charges-up and also discharges itself through the series Resistor, R at an amount of time equal to 5 time constants or 5T when a constant d.c. voltage is either applied or removed. But what would happen if we changed this constant d.c. supply to an a.c. waveform that constantly changes from a maximum value to a minimum value at a rate determined by its frequency. How would this affect our RC time constant value?. We saw previously that the capacitor charges up to 5T when a voltage is applied and discharges down to 5T when it is removed. This 5T time constant value always remains true as it is fixed by the Resistor/Capacitor combination. Then the actual time required to fully charge or discharge the capacitor can only be changed by changing the value of either the capacitor itself or the resistor in the circuit and this is shown below.
Typical RC Waveform

Square Wave Signal

If we apply a Square Wave voltage to the RC circuit whose frequency matches that exactly of the 5RC time constant then the voltage across the capacitor would look something like this:

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A 5RC Input Waveform

The voltage drop across the capacitor alternates between charging up to Vc and discharging down to zero according to the input voltage. Here in this example, the frequency (and therefore the time period, =1/T) of the input square wave voltage exactly matches that of the RC time constant, =1/RC, and the capacitor is allowed to fully charge and fully discharge on every cycle. If the time period of the input waveform is made longer (lower frequency, <1/RC) for example a time period equivalent to say "8RC", the capacitor would then stay fully charged longer and also stay fully discharged longer. If however we reduced the time period of the input waveform (higher frequency, >1/RC), to "4RC" the capacitor would not have sufficient time to either fully charge or discharge and the resultant voltage drop across the capacitor, Vc will be less than its maximum input voltage as shown below.
An 8RC Input Waveform

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A 4RC Input Waveform

Frequency Response
The Integrator

The Integrator is a type of Low Pass Filter circuit that converts a square wave input signal into a triangular waveform output. As seen above, if the RC time constant is long compared to the time period of the input waveform the resultant output will be triangular in shape and the higher the input frequency the lower will be the output amplitude compared to that of the input.

The Differentiator

The Differentiator is a High Pass Filter type circuit that converts a square wave input signal into high frequency spikes at its output. If the RC time constant is short compared to the time period of the input waveform the capacitor will become fully charged quickly before the next change in the cycle. When the capacitor is fully charged the output voltage across the resistor is zero. The arrival of the falling edge of the input waveform causes the capacitor to reverse charge giving a negative output spike, then as the square wave input changes during each cycle the output spike changes from a positve value to a negative value.

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Sine Wave Input Signal

If we now change the input waveform of these RC circuits to that of a sinusoidal Sine Wave voltage signal the resultant output waveform will remain unchanged and only its amplitude will be affected. By changing the positions of the Resistor, R or the Capacitor, C a simple first order Low Pass or a High Pass filters can be made with the frequency response of these two circuits dependant upon the input frequency value. Low-frequency signals are passed from the input to the output with little or no attenuation, while high-frequency signals are attenuated significantly to almost zero. The opposite is also true for a High Pass filter circuit. Normally, the point at which the response has fallen 3dB (cut-off frequency, c) is used to define the filters bandwidth and a loss of 3dB corresponds to a reduction in output voltage to 70.7 percent of the original value.
Cut-off Frequency

where RC is the time constant of the circuit previously defined and can be repaced by tau, T. This is another example of how the Time Domain and the Frequency Domain concepts are related.

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