Delhi Public School, Bhopal

SESSION - 2024-25

Submitted To: Submitted By:

Raj Kumar Tripathi Shubhaditya Sirothia
 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I would like to convey my heartfelt thanks to Mr.

Manoj Sharma my faculty of Physics who gave
his valuable suggestions and guidance for the
completion of my project. He helped me to
comprehend important details of the project. My
project has been successful only because of his
able guidance and support.

Signature of the Principal Signature of the Subject Teacher

 Contents

1) Cover page
2) Acknowledgement
3) Capacitors
4) Amount of charge capacitor can store
5) Self Capacitance
6) Charging and discharging of capacitor
7) Types of Capacitors
8) Uses of Capacitors
CAPACITORS
A capacitor is a device used to store electric charge. Capacitors
have applications ranging from filtering static out of radio
reception to energy storage in heart defibrillators. Typically,
commercial capacitors have two conducting parts close to one
another, but not touching. When by terminals are connected to an
initially uncharged capacitors, equal amount of positive and
negative charge, +Q and -Q, are separated into its two plates.
The capacitor remains neutral overall, but we refer to it as storing
a charge Q in this circumstance.

Amount of charge Q a Capacitor can store

The amount of charge Q a capacitor can store depends on two
major factors- the voltage applied and the capacitor's physical
characteristics, such as its size. In figure (ii) given above each
electric field line starts on an individual positive and ends on a
negative one, so that there will more field lines if there is more
charge. The electric field strength is, thus, directly proportional to
Q.
The field is proportional to the charge: E X Q

We know that V = Ed
So, V∝ E
Hence, V x Q

Removing sign of proportionality we get Q = CV

Where C = Capacitance of the Parallel Plate Capacitor.

The unit of capacitance is the farad (F), named after Michael

Faraday (1791-1867), an English scientist who contributed to
the fields of electromagnetism and electrochemistry. Since
capacitance is charge per unit voltage, we see that a farad is
a coulomb per volt. A 1-farad capacitor would be able to store
1 coulomb with the application of only 1 volt. is, thus a very
large capacitance. Typical capacitors range from fractions of a
picofarad to millifarads.

1C/1V = F
Self Capacitance

Self-capacitance property is related to the capacitors especially to

the isolated conductor to raise its potential difference to one volt.
Generally normal conductors will have mutual capacitance. This is
also measured in the S.I unit i.e. Farads.

The Self-capacitance of a conducting sphere which has the radius

'R' is given by
C = 4περ R

Self-capacitance values of some standard devices are given

below.
● For the top plate of a van de Graff generator which ishaving
radius of 20 cm self-capacitance is 22.24pF.

● For the planet EARTH self-capacitance is 710 µF.

Charging and Discharging of a Capacitor

Let us assume that the capacitor, which is shown in the figure

below in the circuit, is completely discharged. In this circuit the
capacitor value is 100 µF and the supply voltage applied to this
circuit is 12V. Now the switch which is connected to the capacitor
in the circuit is moved to the point A. Then the capacitor starts
charging with the charging current I. The charging voltage across
the capacitor is equal to the supply voltage when the capacitor is
fully charged i.e. VS = VC = 12V. In the case of ideal capacitors
the charge remains constant on the capacitor but in the case of
general.
capacitors the fully charged capacitors is slowly discharged
because its leakage current.

When the switch is moved to the position B, then the capacitor

slowly discharges by switching on the lamp which is connected in
the circuit.

Energy of a Capacitor

Energy is the amount of some work against the electro-static field

to charge the capacitor fully. In the capacitor at initial stage of
charging, the charge Q transferred between the plates from one
plate to another plate. This charge either +Q or -Q is interchanged
between two plates of a capacitor. After transformation of some
charge an electric field is formed between the plates, in that case
we need some extra work to charge the capacitor fully. This extra
work is called as the energy stored in a capacitor, the energy is
measured in the units of Joules (J). Now we see the equations for
t energy and work.

dW = VdQ
dW = Q / C * dQ

After the integration of this equation:

W = (Q ^ 2) / 2 * C
W = ((CV) ^ 2) / 2 * C
W = (C * V ^ 2)/2

Finally we get the energy stored in a capacitor is:

W = (c * v ^ 2)/2 Joules
Now we calculate the energy stored in a capacitor of capacitance 200
µF which operate with voltage of 12V

200 x 106 x 122 2 W = 14.4 mJ

Types of Capacitors

➔ FILM CAPACITORS

● Film Capacitors comprising of a generally expansive group

of capacitors with the distinction being in their dielectric
properties.
● Film Capacitors are available in almost any valueand
voltages as high as 1500 volts.
● They come in tolerance from 10% to 0.01%.
● There are two types of film capacitors i.e. Radial lead type &
Axial lead type.
● The electrodes of film capacitors may be metalized
aluminum or zinc.
● They use polystyrene, polycarbonate or Teflon as their
dielectrics.
● It can be used in AC voltage applications, and they have
much more stable electrical parameters.

➔CERAMIC CAPACITORS

● Ceramic capacitors are used in high frequencycircuits such

as audio to RF.
● Ceramic Capacitors are the best choice for high frequency
compensation in audio circuits.
● These capacitors are also called disc capacitors.
● Ceramic capacitors are made by coating two sides of a small
porcelain or ceramic disc with silver and are then stacked
together to make a capacitor.
● They come in values from a few Picofarads to 1 microfarad.
● The voltage range is from a few volts up to many thousands
of volts.
● Ceramics are inexpensive to manufacture and they come
with several dielectrics types.

➔ELECTROLYTIC CAPACITORS

● There are two types of electrolytic capacitor, Tantalum and

Aluminum.
● It is most prevalently used capacitors which havea wide
tolerance capacity.
● Electrolytic capacitors are available with workingvoltages up
to about 500V.
● Tantalums capacitors have ordinarily better exhibition, higher
value.
● The dielectric properties of tantalum oxide is much superior
to those of aluminum oxide.
● It has an easier leakage current and better capacitance
strength which makes them suitable for obstructing,
decoupling, filtering applications.
● The thickness of the aluminum oxide film and heightened
breakdown voltage gives the capacitor exceptionally
elevated capacitance values for their size.
 Uses of Capacitors

Capacitors are devices which store electrical charge. They

are a basic component of electronics and have a host of
various applications. The most common use for capacitors is
energy storage. Additional uses include power conditioning,
signal coupling or decoupling, electronic noise filtering, and
remote sensing. Because of its varied applications, capacitors
are used in a wide range of industries and have become a
vital part of everyday life.

❖CAPACITORS FOR ENERGY STORAGE

Capacitors have been used to store electrical energy since the

late 18th century. Benjamin Franklin was the first to coin the
phrase "battery" for a series of capacitors in an energy store
application. Individual capacitors generally do not hold a great
deal of energy, providing only enough power for electronic
devices to use during temporary power outages or when they
need additional power. For example, large capacitors are included
in car audio systems to provide extra power to amplifiers when
needed.

❖CAPACITORS FOR POWER CONDITIONING

One important application of capacitors is the conditioning of

power supplies. Capacitors allow AC signals to pass but block DC
signals when they are charged. They can effectively split these
two signal types, cleaning the supply of power. This effect has
been exploited to separate or decouple different parts of electrical
circuits to reduce noise which could lead to reduction of efficiency.
Capacitors are also used in utility substations to counteract
inductive loading introduced by transmission lines.

❖CAPACITORS AS SENSORS

Capacitors are used as sensors to measure a variety of things,

including air humidity, fuel levels and mechanical strain. The
capacitance of a device is dependent on its structure. Changes in
the Structure can be measured as a loss or gain of capacitance.
Two aspects of a capacitor are used in sensing applications:

the distance between parallel plates and the material between

them. The former is used to detect mechanical changes such as
acceleration and pressure. Even minute changes in the material
between the plates can be enough to alter the capacitance of the
device, an effect exploited when sensing air humidity.

❖ CAPACITORS FOR SIGNAL PROCESSING

Capacitors have found increasingly advanced applications in

information technology. Dynamic Random Access Memory
(DRAM) devices use capacitors to represent binary information as
bits. The device reads one value when the capacitor is charged
and another when discharged. Charge Coupled Devices (CCDs)
use capacitors in an analogue form. Capacitors are also used in
conjunction with inductors to tune circuits to particular
frequencies, an effect exploited by radio receivers, speakers and
analog equalizers.