Capacitors are electrical devices that are used to store electrical energy. A typical capacitor consists of two fixed conducting plates (electrodes) which face each other and are separated by a distance (d) An insulating material (such as air) fills the gap between the two plates. This insulating material is called the dielectric.
When a potential difference or voltage (V, volts) is applied across the two plates, an amount of opposite and equal charge (Q, coulombs) is stored in each electrode. Capacitance (F, farads) is the charge per unit volt that a capacitor can store, Because a farad is an extremely large unit, capacitances are measured normally in micro farads ( F), nano farads (nF), or pico farads (pF).
Because a capacitor’s plates are fixed, an electric field will develop. As a consequence of this, a voltage develops across the plates. As more charges accumulate, the voltage increases. The voltage of the applied potential is the maximum voltage that can appear across the capacitor. The amount of charge that can be stored in the plates is a function of the plate areas (A, in meters), the permittivity of the dielectric ( , in farads per meter), and the separation of the plates (d). The energy stored in the capacitor (E, joules), due to the accumulation of charges, is a measure of the amount of work needed to develop the voltage across the plates.
Electrical capacitance sensors detect and measure capacitance, the charge storage capacity of an electronic component.
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Capacitors are electronic components used for storing charge and energy. In their simplest form, capacitors consist of two conducting plates separated by an insulating material called the dielectric.
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Capacitance testers are used to test the capabilities and performance of capacitors.
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High voltage capacitors are used for storing charge and energy in high voltage applications.
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Varactor diodes are p-n junction diodes that are designed to act as a voltage controlled capacitance when operated under reverse bias.
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Ultracapacitors store charges (energy) by physically separating positive and negative charges (unlike batteries which do so chemically). Very high power densities can be achieved by this method.
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Chip capacitors or surface mount capacitors do not have leads.
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Film capacitors are insulated with polyester, polycarbonate, polypropylene, polystyrene, or other dielectric materials.
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Power capacitors are used in electrical distribution systems to provide a static source of leading reactive power.
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Ceramic capacitors have a dielectric made of ceramic materials.
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Aluminum electrolytic capacitors use an electrolytic process to form the dielectric. Wet electrolytic capacitors have a moist electrolyte. Dry or solid electrolytic capacitors do not.
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Tantalum capacitors are used in smaller electronic devices including portable telephones, pagers, personal computers, and automotive electronics.
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Resistor, capacitor networks (RC networks) are integrated circuits (ICs) that contain resistor-capacitor arrays in a single chip.
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Capacitance standards and decades provide a highly accurate standard value of capacitance for calibration and testing.
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