LECTURE 8

Capacitors
The function of a capacitor is to store electric charge. Capacitors vary in shape,
size and design depending on intended use. Capacitors are generally classified into two
types.
i. Variable capacitors
ii. Fixed capacitors
Variable capacitors
Variable capacitors are so named because of their ability to vary their capacitance
values. The different types of variable capacitors are
i. Trimmer capacitors and padders
ii. General purpose variable capacitors
iii. Precision type variable capacitors
Trimmer capacitors and padders
Trimmer capacitors are small variable units consisting of two metal plates usually
separated by a thin piece of mica. The capacitance is changed by means of a small screw
that brings the plates closer to each other. Trimmer capacitors are used in receivers and
other equipments for the fine adjustment of capacity of the tuned circuit for accurate
alignment. Padders are similar to Trimmers but larger in size. They have additional plates
when compared to trimmers and their value ranges from 10 p.f. to 500 p.f.
General purpose variable capacitor
A variable capacitor is a capacitor whose capacitance may be intentionally and
repeatedly changed mechanically or electronically. The rotor stator capacitor comes
under this type. It consists of two sets of metal plates. The fixed plates are connected
together and form the stator. The movable plates are connected together to the shaft and
form the stator. The capacitance is varied by rotating the shaft in such a way that the rotor
plates mesh with the stator plates. There is no electric contact between the two sets of
plates; air is the dielectric medium. When the plates are fully meshed, the effective plate
area is at its greatest and hence maximum capacitance results. Conversely, when the
plates are out of mesh, the effective plate area is greatly reduced., and the minimum

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capacitance results. Theoretically, an infinite number of continuous variable capacitances
can be realized between the limits of maximum and minimum capacitances.
Precision variable capacitor
The precision variable capacitor comprising a stator and a rotor with aluminium
plates. Quartz is used to insulate the light alloy and plates which are mounted on a
duralium shaft. The capacitance value ranges from 40 pico farads to 1000 pico farads.
The drive to moving assembly is provided by a spring loaded worm wheel.
Fixed capacitors
Fixed capacitors manufactured according to specific values which cannot be
changed. Most capacitors used in industries are of this type. Thay are made in different
shapes and sizes depending on the required capacity, voltage rating and mounting
requirements. Customarily, they are named according to the type of dielectric used. The
most common kinds are described below with emphasis on their salient characteristics.
The most commonly used fixed capacitors are
i. Paper capacitors
ii. Mica capacitors
iii. Ceramic capacitors
iv. Plastic capacitors
v. Electrolytic capacitors
Paper capacitors
Paper capacitors are the least expensive and therefore, most widely used fixed
capacitors. The dielectric is kraft paper, a relatively heavy, high strength sulphate paper,
inserted between thin aluminum foil plates, rolled together and impregnated with resin.
The entire unit is encapsulated in a tubular plastic or metal sheath to make it impervious
to moisture and contaminants. Axial leads are usually brought out of each end. Typical
capacities range from about 0.0001 to 2 µf with voltage ratings ranging from 200 V to
600 V.

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Mica capacitors
Mica capacitors find application when capacitors of high voltage ratings are
required. As mica is one of the best insulators with low loss, radio transmitters use these
capacitors since the voltage rating and current may go as high as 30 kV and 100 A. These
units are structurally quite large and capacities in excess of 0.05 µf are uncommon. A
variation of this kind of capacitor is the silver mica capacitor. A thin layer of silver is
deposited on the surface of the mica, and the resulting capacitor has excellent stability
and tolerance properties.
Ceramic capacitors
Ceramic capacitors consist of a ceramic disc with silver electrodes (plates)
attached to each flat surface. Leads are bonded to these electrodes to provide connection
to the unit. Ceramic capacitors are used in applications with requirements ranging from
low frequency audio to high, very high and ultra high frequency, through 1000 MHz.
Dielectric materials for ceramic capacitors are made from mixtures of barium and
strontium titanates, blended with rare earth and other additives for improving electrical
characteristics.
Plastic capacitors
Plastic films such as polystyrene or Mylar have largely replaced paper as a
dielectric for general purpose capacitor. Plastic is much denser than paper and
contamination due to foreign particles is absent. Plastic can withstand higher
temperatures and is more stable than paper. Plastic film and paper capacitors are
generally constructed in same manner. Aluminum electrolytic capacitors are used when a
large amount of capacitance is needed, and the leakage current is not critical. Their
capacities range from a few microfarads to hundreds of thousands of farads. The voltage
rating tends to decrease as the capacitance increase because thinner dielectrics are used in
larger capacitances.
The electrolytic capacitors are constructed similar to paper capacitors. The
electrolytic capacitor consists of a roll of an aluminium foil coated on one side with
aluminium oxide, the aluminium being the positive plate and the oxide the dielectric. A
layer of porous paper saturated with an electrolyte is placed over the aluminium oxide.
Another layer if aluminum without the oxide coating is then packed over this layer which

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serves as the negative plate. In most cases, the negative plate is connected directly to the
aluminum container. Since the dielectric film is extremely thin, very larger capacitors are
possible.
In electrolytic capacitors, tantalum is used in place of aluminium when the size of
the capacitor is a consideration. In tantalum capacitors, a dielectric oxide film – tantalum
pentoxiode can be electrolytically formed on a tantalum metal. These capacitors are
superior to aluminium capacitors.
Inductors
An inductor is a passive component that is capable of storing energy. It always
opposes the change in the current flowing through it by producing a self-induced emf.
There two types of inductors.
i. Fixed type
ii. Variable type
Fixed inductors
In fixed inductors, the inductance value remains unchanged. They are further
classified as
i. Air core inductors
ii. Iron core inductor
iii. Ferrite core inductors
Air core inductors
Air core inductors are most widely used in communication circuits. Since, only air
is present within the coils, they have very low values of inductance ranging from a
fraction of µH to a few µH. Sometimes, the coil of wire is wound over non- magnetic
materials like ceramic rods and plastics which also come under the category of Air core
inductors. They are used at frequencies upto 200MHz. They are employed mainly in
radio and TV equipments.
Iron core inductors
When a coil is wound over a solid or laminated iron core, an iron cored inductor
is obtained. Usually, the iron core is laminated by pressing together thin laminated sheets
to reduce eddy current loss. Iron core inductors are used in low frequency circuits such a
filter circuits in power supplies, chokes in fluorescent tubes.

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Ferrite core inductors
An iron core inductors is not suitable for high frequency applications. This
difficulty is overcome by using ferrite materials as core. A ferrite is basically an insulator
having a very high permeability. Ferrites are non-metallic compounds. The values of
ferrite inductors range from a few micro henry to few milli henry.
Variable inductor
Variable inductors are those inductors whose inductance can be varied to a
desired value. This can be made either by moving the coil in and out of the core or by
varying the air gap in the core. It can also be done by varying the number of turns of coil
used in the inductors.
Chokes
A choke is an inductance coil to restrict the flow of alternating current. Chokes
may be classified as:
i. Filter choke
ii. Audio frequency choke
iii. Radio frequency choke
Filter choke
They are usually laminated iron core inductors. These are used for smoothing
pulsating current output from a rectifier.
Audio frequency choke
These are used to provide high impedance to audio frequencies. Their size and
inductance values are less than that of filter choke.
Radio frequency choke
Chokes having still lesser inductance value are used as radio frequency chokes to
block the radio frequency.