Samarth Rural Educational Institute

SAMARTH POLYTECHNIC
BELHE
Approved by AICTE, New Delhi & Govt. of Maharashtra, Affiliated
to MSBTE, Mumbai & MSBTE Institute Code-0992, DTE Code No. D6451

Department : Electrical Engineering

Class: FY Electrical
Subject : Fundamental’s Of Electrical Engineering
Subject Coad : 312310( FEE)
Unit No : III
Unit Name : Capacitor And Battery
Faculty Name : Prof. Gaikwad .S.K
 Contents

 Capacitor, Parallel Plate Capacitor.

 Various connections of capacitor.

 Energy Stored in Capacitor.

 Charging and Discharging of Capacitor.

 Breakdown voltage and Di-electric strength.

 Types of Capacitor and Application.

• Electric field: Region around a charged body where another
body experiences force is called electric field

• Electric flux: The no of lines of force in electric field is called

electric flux
electric flux= Q coulomb charge Unit:
coulomb

• Electric flux density(D): electric flux per unit area is called as

electric flux density
D=flux/Area Unit: C/m2

• Electric field strength(E): force experienced by unit charge in

electric field is called as electric field strength
E= Force/ charge Unit:
Newton/coulomb
Prof. M.D.Kharad Lect EE,Govt poly Jalna 3
• Permittivity: Ability of dielectric material to carry electric flux is
called as permittivity

• Absolute permittivity (Є): The ratio of electric flux density(D) to

electric field strength(E).
Є =D/E Є = Є0 Єr Unit:
Farad/meter

• Permittivity of free space(Є0): The ratio of electric flux

density(D) in air or vacuum to electric field strength(E) in air or
vacuum. Є0=D0/E0 Є0= 8.85 * 10 -12 Unit:
Farad/meter

• Relative permittivity(Єr): The ratio of electric flux density(D) in any

medium to electric flux density in air or vacuum(D0).
Prof. M.D.Kharad Lect EE,Govt poly Jalna 4
Єr= D/D0 Unit less
• Capacitors:“ Capacitor or condenser is formed if two conducting
surfaces or plates are separated by an insulating medium.”
dielectric material may be mica, glass, paraffin paper, oil, etc, some
time air.

• Capacitance(C): “It is defined as the property of capacitors to store

electric energy in the form of static charge.”
Capacitance C=
Q/V Unit: farads(F)
Where C is capacitance in farad
Q is charge in coulomb
V is potential difference in
voltage.

Prof. M.D.Kharad Lect EE,Govt poly Jalna 5

Working of Capacitor:

• When we connect a battery

(DC Voltage Source) across the capacitor,
one plate (plate-I) gets attached to the positive terminal and another plate
(plate- II) to the negative terminal of the battery.
• the electrons from plate-I are attracted towards positive terminal of battery.
When electrons move from plate-I, the net charge on plate-I becomes positive.
The electrons received at positive terminal are then sent to plate-II. This work is
done by the battery, hence its energy is transferred to the capacitor.
• The plate-II becomes negatively charged since it receives negatively charged
electrons.
• As time passes, plate-I becomes more & more positively charged by losing its
electrons, whereas plate-II becomes more & more negatively charged by
accepting the electrons from the battery.
• capacitor holds maximum amount of charge as per its capacitance with respect to
battery voltage. This time span is called charging time of this capacitor.
• After disconnecting the battery the charged capacitor acts as a source electrical
energy. Prof. M.D.Kharad Lect EE,Govt poly Jalna 5
• Dielectric strength: The voltage which a dielectric material can
withstand without breaking down (without losing its dielectric
property) is called its dielectric strength. It is represented by
kV/mm or kV/cm.
e.g. dielectric strength of air is @ 30 kV/cm or 3 kV/mm.

• Breakdown Voltage: The voltage at which the dielectric material

breaks down (Start conducting or is no longer an insulator)
for a specified thickness, is its breakdown voltage.

Prof. M.D.Kharad Lect EE,Govt poly Jalna 7

 Energy stored in capacitor

𝟏
E= 𝐶𝑣2 joules where, C is the capacitance in farad, Q is the charge on capacitor
𝟐
in coulomb. 𝑣 is the voltage across capacitor in volt
Prof. M.D.Kharad Lect EE,Govt poly Jalna 8
 Series capacitor

𝑄 𝑄 𝑄
V=V1+V2+V3 = + +
𝐶1 𝐶2 𝐶3
1 1 1
V= Q[ + + ]
𝐶1 𝐶2 𝐶3

... 𝑉𝑄 = 1 1 1
𝐶1 + 𝐶2 + 𝐶3
𝟏 𝟏 𝟏 𝟏
= + +
𝑪𝒕 𝑪𝟏 𝑪𝟐 𝑪𝟑

Prof. M.D.Kharad Lect EE,Govt poly Jalna 9

 Parallel capacitor

... Q=Q1+Q2+Q3 = C1V+C2V+C3V

Q=V(C1+C2+C3)
𝑄
= C1 +C2+ C3
𝑉
CT=C1+C2+C3

Prof. M.D.Kharad Lect EE,Govt poly Jalna 10

 Charging of
capacitor

• The charging of a capacitor is shown in fig. Here a resistor R and

Capacitor C are connected in series with each other. V is the dc voltage
source s1 is the switch which will connect or disconnect voltage source
to the RC series circuit.
• We assume that initially the switch S1 is open there is no charge on the
capacitor and the initial current through the circuit is zero. At t=0 the
switch is closed to connect the dc voltage source to the R-C series circuit.
The charging current starts flowing through R and C and the capacitor
starts accumulating the charge.
Prof. M.D.Kharad Lect EE,Govt poly Jalna 11
 Charging of capacitor
• Initial charging current at t=0:

𝑽
I0 = 𝑹
• capacitor voltage:
VC= V (1-e-t/RC)
• charging current:
ic = I0e-t/RC
• Time Constant“𝜏” as the time taken by the ic to drop to 0.3678
of its initial
Maximum value or
it is defined as the time required
for Vc to rise from 0 to 0.632 of its final
value V volts or
it can be defined as the
11
product of R and C. its unit is sePcroof.nMd.Ds.K. harad Lect EE,Govt poly
 Discharging of
capacitor

• The discharging circuit for a

charged capacitor is shown in figure. The Switch S2 is closed as t=0 to
connect the charged capacitor across resistor R and the discharging current ic
starts flowing through the circuit. The discharging current flows in the
opposite direction to that of the charging current.
• We assume that the switch S2 initially open and that the capacitor is
charge to V volts. i.e. Vc=V at t=0
• At t=0, the switch is closed to connect the charged capacitor across
the resistor R. the discharging current I stars flowing in the circuit and
the capacitor stars losing its charge. The capacitor voltage will starts
decreasing exponentially
Prof. M.D.Kharad Lect EE,Govt poly Jalna 13
 Discharging of capacitor
• Initial discharging
current:

I0= 𝑽𝑹
• capacitor voltage:
V𝒄 =Ve-t/RC
• discharging current:
ic= -I0e-t/Rc
•We can define the time constant 𝜏 of a Rc
discharging circuit as the time required for the V𝒄
to
drop to 0.3678 of its initial voltage or the time
constant can be defined as the time required for
the capacitor current to drop to 0.3678 of its
initial maximum value or
Prof. M.D.Kharad Lect EE,Govt poly Jalna 14
it can be defined as the product of R and C. its
 Capacitance of parallel plate capacitor with uniform
dielectric medium
• The charge stored by plate A be “Q” coulomb.
Ѱ= Q
Ѱ ܳ
• The electric flux density D=
A A
=
• The electric field intensity E= 𝑉d volt/meter
D
• ∈ =E D= ∈∗E
𝑉
• ܳ
A= = ∈ d
𝐴
• ܳ
V= = ∈ d
• Capacitance C = ܳ = ∈𝑜.∈r.𝐴
V

𝑑
Prof. M.D.Kharad Lect EE,Govt poly Jalna 15
Capacitance of parallel plate capacitor with medium partly air
• As shown in figure, the medium consists partly air parallel sided
dielectric slab of thickness ‘t’ and relative permittivity.
• The electric flux density D = Q/A is the same in both media. But electric
intensities are different.
• E1 = 𝐷/∈𝑜∈𝑟 …………… …….. in the dielectric medium
• E2 = 𝐷/∈𝑜 ……………………….. in the air
• P.D. between plates, V = E1.t + E2(d - t)
𝐷
V=
𝐷 )×t
𝐷 𝑡+
V = ((∈𝑜∈𝑟) [ )×(d - (t)
∈𝑜 ∈𝑟 ∈𝑜
+𝑑−𝑡]
ܳ 𝑡
V = ∈𝑜𝐴 [𝑑−(𝑡−∈𝑟
)] 𝑜.𝐴
∈
• Capacitance C = ܳ =
V
*𝑑−(𝑡−∈𝑟𝑡 )+
Prof. M.D.Kharad Lect EE,Govt poly Jalna 16
Prof. M.D.Kharad Lect EE,Govt poly Jalna 17
 Types of capacitor with Application

1. Air capacitors: Radio tuning applications, Antenna tuning, RF matching

networks, MRI medical scanners.
2. Paper capacitors: High voltage and high current applications.
3. Mica capacitors: High frequency tuned circuits, such as filters and oscillators.
4. Ceramic Capacitors: Tone compensation, Automatic volume control filtering,
Antenna coupling, Resonant circuit, Volume control RF bypass,ballasts.
5. Electrolytic capacitors: Reduce voltage fluctuations in various filtering devices,
For noise filtering or decoupling in power supplies, For coupling signals between
amplifier stages, To store energy in flash lamps.
6. Film Capacitor: A/D converters, Filters, snubber circuits, In DC link circuits.
7. Glass capacitors: High power amplifier, Filters, R-F oscillator, Energy storage, Power
factor correction, High voltage capacitors, Power electronic filters.
8. Polycarbonate capacitor: Filters, Timing and precision coupling circuits,
Switching power supplies, AC applications to avoid corona.

Prof. M.D.Kharad Lect EE,Govt poly Jalna 18

 i. Air capacitors
• Air capacitors are capacitors
which use air as their dielectric.
• The simplest air capacitors are made of two conductive plates separated by
an air gap.
• Air capacitors can be made in a variable or fixed capacitance form.
• Fixed capacitance air capacitors are rarely used since there are many other
types with superior characteristics.
• Variable air capacitors are used more often because of their simple
construction.
• They are usually made of two sets of semicircular metal plates separated by
air gaps. One set is fixed and the other is attached to a shaft which allows the
user to rotate the assembly, The maximum capacitance state is achieved
when the overlap between the two sets of plates is highest, while the lowest
capacitance state is achieved when there is no overlap.
Prof. M.D.Kharad Lect EE,Govt poly Jalna 19
 ii) Paper capacitors:
• Paper capacitor uses paper as the dielectric.
•Paper capacitors are the fixed type of capacitors Paper capacitors are classified into
two :
 Paper sheet capacitor
 Metalized paper capacitor
Paper sheet capacitor:
• The paper sheet capacitor is made by taking two or more aluminum sheets and
placing a paper sheet between them.
• The paper placed between the aluminum sheets acts as dielectric and the aluminum sheets acts as electrodes.
• The paper sheet is poor conductor of electricity so it does not allow flow of electric current or electric charges
between two aluminum sheets.
• The paper sheets and aluminum sheets are rolled in the form of cylinder and wire leads are attached to both ends
of the aluminum sheets.
• The entire cylinder is then coated with wax or plastic resin to protect it from
moisture in the air. • The paper sheet capacitorsParorf.eM.uD.sKehadradinLectthEEe,GhovitgpholyvJaolnlatage and
19 high current
Metalized paper capacitor:

• In metalized paper capacitor,

the paper is coated with thin layer of zinc or aluminum.
• The paper coated with zinc or aluminum is rolled in the form of cylinder.
• The entire cylinder is then coated with wax or plastic resin to protect it from
moisture.
• The zinc or aluminum coated on the paper acts as electrodes and the paper
acts as dielectric.
• Aluminum is widely used for the construction of paper capacitors.
• The size of metalized paper capacitor is very small compared to the paper
sheet capacitor.
• In metalized paper capacitor, the aluminum is directly coated on the
paper.
Therefore,
compared to aluminum layer of
the aluminum Proflmetalized paper
. aMy.De.Krhao capacitor
rafd Lpeca t is very thin 20
 iii) Ceramic Capacitors:

• Ceramic Capacitor is a capacitor that uses ceramic as the dielectric.

• It is made by coating two sides of a small porcelain or ceramic disc with silver
and are then stacked together to make a capacitor.
• Ceramic capacitors have a high dielectric constant so that relatively high
capacitance can be obtained in a small physical size.
• In order to gain higher capacitances, the capacitor can be made from multiple
layers. The Multi-Layer Ceramic Capacitors (MLCC) are made with Paraelectric
and Ferroelectric materials mix and alternatively layered with metal contacts.
• After completion of the layering process, the device is brought to a high temperature
• Resulting capacitor basically consists of many smaller capacitors connected in parallel, this leads to
increase in capacitance. MLCCs consist of more than 500 layers, with the minimum layer thickness of
approximately 0.5 microns.

Prof. M.D.Kharad Lect EE,Govt poly Jalna 22

 iv) Electrolytic capacitor
• These are large value, high voltage polarized capacitors.
• A plain foil dry electrolytic capacitor is made by forming a coating of
aluminum oxide on both sides of an aluminum foil.
• Two strips of aluminum foil used are then seperated by two layers of porous paper soaked with
electrolyte.
• This assembly is rolled up, the end are closed with wax and then sealed in to an aluminum container.

Prof. M.D.Kharad Lect EE,Govt poly Jalna 23

 v) Film Capacitor:

•Film capacitors are capacitors which use a thin plastic film as the
dielectric.
• The film is extremely thin, with the thickness being under 1 μm.
• After the film is drawn to the desired thickness, the film is cut
into ribbons.
• Two ribbons of film are wound together into a roll, which is often pressed into an oval shape so that it can fit into a
rectangular case.
• This is important because rectangular components save precious space on the printed circuit board.
• Electrodes are added by connecting each of the two electrodes to one of the films.
• The case is then sealed using silicon oil to protect the film roll against moisture, and
dipped in plastic to hermetically seal the interior.
• Electrodes are then added and the assembly is mounted into a case which protects it from environmental factors.
• They are used in many applications because of their stability, low inductance and low cost. There are many types of
film capacitors, including polyester film, metallized film, polypropylene film, PTFE film and polystyrene film.
Prof. M.D.Kharad Lect EE,Govt poly Jalna 2
4
 vi) Glass capacitors:

• The capacitor consists of three basic elements:

• the glass dielectric, aluminium electrodes and the encapsulation.
• However the assembly of the glass capacitors is undertaken in a manner that
ensures the required performance is obtained.
• As the capacitance between two plates is not always sufficient to provide the
required level of performance, the majority of capacitors use a multi-layer
construction to provide several layers of plates with interspersed dielectric to
give the required capacitance.
• Although the glass plates are always flat, and tubular forms of construction are
not applicable, the glass capacitors are usually available with lead
emanating in either a radial or axial form.
• Essentially the leads either exit the encapsulation at the side or the end.
Prof. M.D.Kharad Lect EE,Govt poly Jalna 25