Capacitors and

Dielectrics
Chifundo Polska Mlangeni
Introduction to Capacitors
• Introduction to capacitors

• A capacitor is an electrical device that is used to store electrical energy.

• Next to the resistor, the capacitor is the most commonly encountered
component in electrical circuits
• Capacitors are used extensively in electrical and electronic circuits.
• For example, capacitors are used to smooth rectified a.c. outputs, they are
used in telecommunication equipment – such as radio receivers – for tuning
to the required frequency, they are used in time delay circuits, in electrical
filters, in oscillator circuits and in magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in
medical body scanners, to name but a few practical applications.
Electrostatic field
• Figure previously represents two parallel metal plates, A and B, charged to
different potentials.
• If an electron that has a negative charge is placed between the plates, a
force will act on the electron, tending to push it away from the negative
plate B towards the positive plate, A. Similarly, a positive charge would be
acted on by a force tending to move it towards the negative plate.
• Any region such as that shown between the plates in, in which an electric
charge experiences a force, is called an electrostatic field.
• the direction of the force is from the positive plate to the negative plate.
Such a field may be represented in magnitude and direction by lines of
electric force drawn between the
Electric flux lines
• Electric lines of force (often called electric flux lines) are continuous and
start and finish on point charges. Also, the lines cannot cross each other.
• When a charged body is placed close to an uncharged body, an induced
charge of opposite sign appears on the surface of the uncharged body.
• This is because lines of force from the charged body terminate on its surface.
• The concept of field lines or lines of force is used to illustrate the properties
of an electric field.
• However, it should be remembered that they are only aids to the imagination.
• The force of attraction or repulsion between two electrically charged bodies is
proportional to the magnitude of their charges and inversely proportional to the
square of the distance separating them,

• This is known as Coulomb’s law.∗

• Hence the force between two charged spheres in air with their centres 16mm apart
and each carrying a charge of +1.6μC is given by:
 • There is an electric field in the space between
Electric field strength the plates.
• If the plates are close together, the electric lines
of force will be straight and parallel and equally
spaced, except near the edge where fringing will
occur Over the area in which there is negligible
fringing,

• where d is the distance between the plates.

• Electric field strength is also called potential
gradient.
Capacitance
• Static electric fields arise from electric charges, electric field lines beginning and ending
on electric charges.
• Thus the presence of the field indicates the presence of equal positive and negative
electric charges on the two plates.
• Let the charge be +Q coulombs on one plate and −Q coulombs on the other. The
property of this pair of plates which determines how much charge corresponds to a
given p.d. between the plates is called their capacitance:
• The unit of capacitance is the farad, F (or more usually μF = 10−6 F or pF = 10−12 F),
which is defined as the capacitance when a p.d. of one volt appears across the plates
when charged with one coulomb.
• The unit farad is named after Michael Faraday.
Capacitors
• Every system of electrical conductors possesses capacitance.
• For example, there is capacitance between the conductors of overhead transmission
lines and also between the wires of a telephone cable. In these examples the
capacitance is undesirable but has to be accepted, minimized or compensated for. There
are other situations where capacitance is a desirable property.
• Devices specially constructed to possess capacitance are called capacitors (or
condensers, as they used to be called). In its simplest form a capacitor consists of two
plates which are separated by an insulating material known as a dielectric.
• A capacitor has the ability to store a quantity of static electricity.
• The symbols for a fixed capacitor and a variable capacitor used in electrical circuit
diagrams are shown.
• The charge Q stored in a capacitor is given by:
Q = I × t coulombs
• where I is the current in amperes and t the time in seconds.
 Example
• (a) Determine the p.d. across a 4μF capacitor when charged with 5mC.
• (b) Find the charge on a 50 pF capacitor when the voltage applied to it
is 2 kV.
2. A direct current of 4 A flows into a previously uncharged 20μF capacitor
for 3ms. Determine the voltage between the plates.
Practice question
• A 5μF capacitor is charged so that the p.d. between its plates is 800V.
Calculate how long the capacitor can provide an average discharge
current of 2 mA.
Electric flux density

• Unit flux is defined as emanating from a positive charge of 1 coulomb.

• Thus electric flux is measured in coulombs, and for a charge of Q
coulombs, the flux φ =Q coulombs.
• Electric flux density D is the amount of flux passing through a defined
area A that is perpendicular to the direction of the flux:

• Electric flux density is also called

charge density, σ
 Permittivity
• At any point in an electric field, the electric field strength E maintains
the electric flux and produces a particular value of electric flux density D
at that point.
• For a field established in vacuum (or for practical purposes in air), the
ratio D/E is a constant ε0, i.e.

𝐷
= 𝜀0
𝐸

• where ε is called the permittivity of

0 free space or the free space
−12
constant.The value of ε is 8.85×10
0 F/m. When an insulating medium,
such as mica, paper plastic or ceramic, is introduced into the region of an
electric field the ratio of D/E is modified:
𝐷
= 𝜀0 𝜀r
𝐸
• where εr, the relative permittivity of the insulating material, indicates
its insulating power compared with that of vacuum: εr has no unit.
Typical values of εr include: air, 1.00; polythene, 2.3; mica, 3–7; glass,
5–10; water, 80; ceramics, 6–1000
• The product ε𝟎 ε𝒓 is called the absolute permittivity, ε, i.e. ε = ε𝟎 ε𝒓
• The insulating medium separating charged surfaces is called a
dielectric. Compared with conductors, dielectric materials have very
high resistivities. They are therefore used to separate conductors at
different potentials, such as capacitor plates or electric power lines.
Example
• Two parallel rectangular plates measuring 20 cm by 40 cm carry an electric charge
of 0.2μC. Calculate the electric flux density. If the plates are spaced 5mm apart
and the voltage between them is 0.25kV, determine the electric field strength.
• The flux density between two plates separated by mica of relative
permittivity 5 is 2μC/𝑚2 . Find the voltage gradient between the plates.
• Two parallel plates having a p.d. of 200V between them are spaced 0.8mm apart. What
is the electric field strength? Find also the flux density when the dielectric between the
plates is
(a) air, and (b) polythene of relative permittivity 2.3
Capacitors connected in series
 When the charging current I reaches point A it
divides, some flowing into C1, some flowing
Capacitors connected in parallel into C2 and some into C3. Hence the total charge
QT (=I ×t) is divided between the three
capacitors. The capacitors each store a charge
and these are shown as Q1,Q2 and Q3,
respectively. Hence
Example
• Calculate the equivalent capacitance of two capacitors of 6μF and
4μF connected (a) in parallel and (b) in series.
THANK YOU