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Lecture Slides 7 Capacitor

A capacitor is an electrical component that can store energy in the form of an electrical charge by creating a potential difference between its conductive plates, similar to a rechargeable battery. A capacitor consists of two parallel conductive plates separated by an insulating material. Unlike a battery, a capacitor does not produce electrons but stores them by blocking DC current flow while allowing a voltage to build up across its plates. A capacitor's capacitance value is determined by the charge stored on its plates divided by the voltage and can be increased by enlarging the plates or reducing the distance between them.

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50 views79 pages

Lecture Slides 7 Capacitor

A capacitor is an electrical component that can store energy in the form of an electrical charge by creating a potential difference between its conductive plates, similar to a rechargeable battery. A capacitor consists of two parallel conductive plates separated by an insulating material. Unlike a battery, a capacitor does not produce electrons but stores them by blocking DC current flow while allowing a voltage to build up across its plates. A capacitor's capacitance value is determined by the charge stored on its plates divided by the voltage and can be increased by enlarging the plates or reducing the distance between them.

Uploaded by

Tawsif ahmed
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© © All Rights Reserved
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CAPACITORS

The capacitor is a component


which has the ability or “capacity”
to store energy in the form of an
electrical charge producing a
potential difference across its
plates, much like a small
rechargeable battery.
In a way, a capacitor is a little like a battery. Although they
work in completely different ways, capacitors and batteries
both store electrical energy. If you have read How Batteries
Work, then you know that a battery has two terminals.
Inside the battery, chemical reactions produce electrons on
one terminal and absorb electrons on the other terminal. A
capacitor is much simpler than a battery, as it can't produce
new electrons -- it only stores them.
In its basic form, a capacitor consists of two or more parallel
conductive (metal) plates which are not connected or touching
each other, but are electrically separated either by air or by some
form of a good insulating material such as waxed paper, mica,
ceramic, plastic or some form of a liquid gel as used in
electrolytic capacitors. The insulating layer between a capacitors
plates is commonly called the Dielectric.
Due to this insulating layer, DC current can not flow
through the capacitor as it blocks it allowing instead a
voltage to be present across the plates in the form of
an electrical charge.

The conductive metal plates of a capacitor can be either


square, circular or rectangular, or they can be of a
cylindrical or spherical shape with the general shape,
size and construction of a parallel plate capacitor
depending on its application and voltage rating.
When used in a direct current or DC circuit, a capacitor charges up to its
supply voltage but blocks the flow of current through it because the
dielectric of a capacitor is non-conductive and basically an insulator.

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 familiar formula for the quantity of charge
on the plates as: Q = C x V
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. In other
words, larger plates, smaller distance, more capacitance.
A similar conclusion can be reached if we consider the instant the
switch is closed in the circuit we find that the current is a peak value
at t =0 s, whereas the voltage across the capacitor is 0 V,
Thank You

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