CAPACITOR:A capacitor is a passive two-terminal electronic

component that stores electrical energy in an electric field. The effect of a capacitor is known
as capacitance. While some capacitance exists between any two electrical conductors in
proximity in a circuit, a capacitor is a component designed to add capacitance to a circuit. The
capacitor was originally known as a condenser or condensator.[1] The original name is
still widely used in many languages, but not commonly in English.
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When two conductors experience a potential difference, for example, when a capacitor is
attached across a battery, an electric fielddevelops across the dielectric, causing a net
positive charge to collect on one plate and net negative charge to collect on the other plate. No
current actually flows through the dielectric. However, there is a flow of charge through the
source circuit. If the condition is maintained sufficiently long, the current through the source
circuit ceases. If a time-varying voltage is applied across the leads of the capacitor, the source
experiences an ongoing current due to the charging and discharging cycles of the capacitor.
Capacitance is defined as the ratio of the electric charge on each conductor to the potential
difference between them. The unit of capacitance in the International System of Units (SI) is
the farad (F), defined as one coulomb per volt (1 C/V). Capacitance values of typical capacitors
for use in general electronics range from about 1 picofarad (pF) (10−12 F) to about 1 millifarad
(mF) (10−3 F).
The capacitance of a capacitor is proportional to the surface area of the plates (conductors) and
inversely related to the gap between them. In practice, the dielectric between the plates passes a
small amount of leakage current. It has an electric field strength limit, known as the breakdown
voltage. The conductors and leads introduce an undesired inductanceand resistance.
Capacitors are widely used in electronic circuits for blocking direct current while
allowing alternating current to pass. In analog filter networks, they smooth the output of power
supplies. In resonant circuits they tune radios to particular frequencies. In electric power
transmission systems, they stabilize voltage and power flow.[2] The property of energy storage in
capacitors was exploited as dynamic memory in early digital computers.[3]
A capacitor is a device capable of storing energy in a form of an electric charge.
Compared to a same size battery, a capacitor can store much smaller amount of
energy, around 10 000 times smaller, but useful enough for so many circuit designs.

Capacitor Construction
A capacitor is constructed out of two metal plates, separated by an insulating material
called dielectric. The plates are conductive and they are usually made of aluminum,
tantalum or other metals, while the dielectric can be made out of any kind of insulating
material such as paper, glass, ceramic or anything that obstructs the flow of the current.
The capacitance of a capacitor, measured in farads, is directly proportional to the
surface area of the two plates, as well as the permittivity ε of the dielectric, while the
smaller distance between the plates the greater capacitance. That being said, now let’s
take a look how a capacitor works.

How Capacitor Works

First, we can note that a metal typically has an equal amount of positively and
negatively charged particles, which means it’s electrically neutral.

If we connect a power source or a battery to the metal plates of the capacitor, a current
will try to flow, or the electrons from the plate connected to the positive lead of the
battery will start moving to the plate connected to the negative lead of the battery.
However, because of the dielectric between the plates, the electrons won’t be able to
pass through the capacitor, so they will start accumulating on the plate.

After a certain number of electronics accumulated on the plate, the battery will have
insufficient energy to push any new electronics to enter the plate because of the
repulsion of those electronics which are already there.

At this point, the capacitor is actually fully charged. The first plate has developed a net
negative charge, and the second plate has developed an equal net positive charge,
creating an electric field with an attractive force between them which holds the charge of
the capacitor.

Capacitor Dielectric Working Principle

Let’s take a look how the dielectric can increase the capacitance of the capacitor. A
dielectric contains molecules that are polar which means that they can change their
orientation based on the charges on the two plates. So the molecules align themselves
with the electric field in such a way enabling more electrons to be attracted to the
negative plate, while repelling more electrons out of the positive plate.

So, once the capacitor is fully charged, if we remove the battery, it will hold the electric
charge for a long time, acting as energy storage.

Now, if we shorten the two ends of the capacitor through a load, a current will start
flowing through the load. The accumulated electrons from the first plate will start moving
to the second plate, until both plates become back again electrically neutral.
Charging and Discharging a Capacitor
DC-Circuits > Charging and Discharging a Capacitor

A Capacitor is a passive device that stores energy in its Electric Field and returns energy to the
circuit whenever required. A Capacitor consists of two Conducting Plates separated by an
Insulating Material or Dielectric. Figure 1 and Figure 2 are the basic structure and the schematic
symbol of the Capacitor respectively.

Figure 1: Basic structure of the Capacitor

Figure 2: Schematic symbol of the Capacitor

When a Capacitor is connected to a circuit with Direct Current (DC) source, two processes,
which are called "charging" and "discharging" the Capacitor, will happen in specific conditions.

In Figure 3, the Capacitor is connected to the DC Power Supply and Current flows through the
circuit. Both Plates get the equal and opposite charges and an increasing Potential Difference,
vc, is created while the Capacitor is charging. Once the Voltage at the terminals of the
Capacitor, vc, is equal to the Power Supply Voltage, vc = V, the Capacitor is fully charged and
the Current stops flowing through the circuit, the Charging Phase is over.
 Figure 3: The Capacitor is Charging

A Capacitor is equivalent to an Open-Circuit to Direct Current, R = ∞, because once the

Charging Phase has finished, no more Current flows through it. The Voltage vc on a Capacitor
cannot change abruptly.

When the Capacitor disconnected from the Power Supply, the Capacitor is discharging through
the Resistor RD and the Voltage between the Plates drops down gradually to zero, vc = 0, Figure
4.

Figure 4: The Capacitor is Discharging

In Figures 3 and 4, the Resistances of RC and RD affect the charging rate and the discharging
rate of the Capacitor respectively.
The product of Resistance R and Capacitance C is called the Time Constant τ, which
characterizes the rate of charging and discharging of a Capacitor, Figure 5.

Figure 5: The Voltage vc and the Current iC during the Charging Phase and Discharging Phase

The smaller the Resistance or the Capacitance, the smaller the Time Constant, the faster the
charging and the discharging rate of the Capacitor, and vice versa.

Capacitors are found in almost all electronic circuits. They can be used as a fast battery. For
example, a Capacitor is a storehouse of energy in photoflash unit that releases the energy
quickly during short period of the flash.

DC-Circuits > Charging and Discharging a Capacitor