Capacitors
TARGET AUDIENCE: 1 ST YEAR BACHELOR’S IN MEDICAL
LAB. TECHNOLOGY
Introduction
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 (Static Voltage)
across its plates, much like a small rechargeable battery.
There are many different kinds of capacitors available
from very small capacitor beads
used in resonance circuits to
large power factor correction capacitors,
but they all do the same thing,
they store charge.
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.
However, when a capacitor is connected
to an alternating current or AC circuit,
the flow of the current appears to pass
straight through the capacitor
with little or no resistance.
There are two types of electrical charge,
a positive charge in the form of Protons and
a negative charge in the form of Electrons.
When a DC voltage is placed across a capacitor,
the positive (+ve) charge quickly accumulates on one
plate
while a corresponding and opposite negative (-ve) charge
accumulates on the other plate.
For every particle of +ve charge that arrives at one plate
a charge of the same sign will depart from the -ve plate
Then the plates remain charge neutral and
a potential difference due to this charge
is established between the two plates.
Once the capacitor reaches its steady state condition
an electrical current is unable to flow
through the capacitor itself and around the circuit
due to the insulating properties of the dielectric
used to separate the plates.
The flow of electrons onto the plates is known as the
capacitors Charging Current
which continues to flow until the voltage
across both plates (and hence the capacitor) is
equal to the applied voltage Vc.
At this point the capacitor is said to be “fully charged” with
electrons.
The strength or rate of this charging current is
at its maximum value
when the plates are fully discharged (initial condition)
and slowly reduces in value to zero
as the plates charge up to a potential difference
across the capacitors plates equal to the source voltage.
The amount of potential difference present
across the capacitor depends
upon how much charge was deposited
onto the plates by the work being done
by the source voltage and also
by how much capacitance the capacitor has
and this is illustrated below.
The parallel plate capacitor is the simplest form of
capacitor.
It can be constructed using two metal
or metallised foil plates at a distance
parallel to each other,
with its capacitance value in Farads,
being fixed by the surface area
of the conductive plates and
the distance of separation between them.
Altering any two of these values alters
The value of its capacitance and
this forms the basis of operation of the variable
capacitors.
Also, 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.
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
Although the charge is stored
on the plates of a capacitor,
it is more exact to say that the energy
within the charge is stored
in an “electrostatic field” between the two plates.
When an electric current flows into the capacitor,
it charges up, so the electrostatic field becomes
much stronger as it stores
more energy between the plates.
Likewise, as the current flowing out of the capacitor,
discharging it,
the potential difference
between the two plates decreases and
the electrostatic field decreases
as the energy moves out of the plates.
The property of a capacitor to store charge
on its plates in the form of an electrostatic field
is called the Capacitance of the capacitor.
Not only that, but capacitance is also the property
of a capacitor which resists
the change of voltage across it.
The Capacitance of a Capacitor
Capacitance is the electrical property of a capacitor
and is the measure of a capacitors ability
to store an electrical charge onto its two plates
with the unit of capacitance being
the Farad (abbreviated to F)
named after the British physicist Michael Faraday.
Capacitance is defined as
being that a capacitor has the capacitance of One Farad
when a charge of One Coulomb
is stored on the plates by a voltage of One volt.
Note that capacitance, C
is always positive in value and
has no negative units.
However, the Farad is a very large unit
of measurement to use on its own
so sub-multiples of the Farad
are generally used such as
micro-farads, nano-farads and pico-farads.
Standard Units of Capacitance
Microfarad (μF) 1μF = 1/1,000,000 = 0.000001 = 10-6 F
Nanofarad (nF) 1nF = 1/1,000,000,000 = 0.000000001
= 10-9 F
Picofarad (pF) 1pF = 1/1,000,000,000,000 =
0.000000000001 = 10-12 F
Then using the information above
we can construct a simple table to help us convert
between pico-Farad (pF), to nano-Farad (nF),
to micro-Farad (μF) and to Farads (F) as shown.
Pico-Farad Nano-Farad Micro-Farad Farad
1,000 1.0 0.001
10,000 10.0 0.01
1,000,000 1,000 1.0
10,000 10.0
100,000 100
1,000,000 1,000 0.001
10,000 0.01
100,000 0.1
1,000,000 1.0
Capacitance of a Parallel Plate Capacitor
The capacitance of a parallel plate capacitor is
proportional to the area, A in metres2
of the smallest of the two plates and
inversely proportional to
the distance or separation,
d (i.e. the dielectric thickness)
given in metres
between these two conductive plates.
The generalised equation for the capacitance
of a parallel plate capacitor is given as:
C = ε(A/d)
where
ε represents the absolute permittivity of the dielectric
material being used.
The permittivity of a vacuum,
εo also known as the “permittivity of free space”
has the value of the constant
8.84 x 10-12 Farads per metre.
To make the maths a little easier,
this dielectric constant of free space, εo,
which can be written as: 1/(4π x 9×109),
may also have the units of picofarads (pF) per metre
as the constant giving: 8.84 for the value of free space.
Note though that the resulting capacitance value
will be in picofarads and not in farads.
Generally, the conductive plates of a capacitor
are separated by some kind of insulating material or gel
rather than a perfect vacuum.
When calculating the capacitance of a capacitor,
we can consider the permittivity of air,
and especially of dry air,
as being the same value as a vacuum as they are very
close.
Capacitance- Example
A capacitor is constructed from two conductive metal
plates 30cm x 50cm which are spaced 6mm apart from
each other, and uses dry air as its only dielectric material.
Calculate the capacitance of the capacitor.
The Dielectric of a Capacitor
As well as the overall size of the conductive plates
and their distance or spacing apart from each other,
another factor which affects
the overall capacitance of the device is
the type of dielectric material being used.
In other words the “Permittivity” (ε) of the dielectric.
The conductive plates of a capacitor are generally
made of a metal foil or a metal film
allowing for the flow of electrons and charge,
but the dielectric material used is always an insulator.
The various insulating materials used
as the dielectric in a capacitor
differ in their ability to
block or pass an electrical charge.
This dielectric material can be made
from a number of insulating materials or
combinations of these materials
with the most common types used being:
air, paper, polyester, polypropylene,
Mylar, ceramic, glass, oil, or
a variety of other materials.
The factor by which the dielectric material, or insulator,
increases the capacitance of the capacitor
compared to air
is known as the Dielectric Constant, k
and a dielectric material with a high dielectric constant
is a better insulator
than a dielectric material with a lower dielectric constant.
Dielectric constant is a dimensionless quantity
since it is relative to free space.
The actual permittivity or “complex permittivity”
of the dielectric material between the plates
is then the product of
the permittivity of free space (εo) and
the relative permittivity (εr) of the material
being used as the dielectric
In other words,
if we take the permittivity of free space, εo
as our base level and make it equal to one,
when the vacuum of free space is replaced by
some other type of insulating material,
their permittivity of its dielectric is referenced to
the base dielectric of free space
giving a multiplication factor known as “relative
permittivity”, εr.
So the value of the complex permittivity, ε
will always be equal to the relative permittivity times one.
One method used to increase
the overall capacitance of a capacitor
while keeping its size small
is to “interleave” more plates together
within a single capacitor body.
Instead of just one set of parallel plates,
a capacitor can have many individual plates connected
together
thereby increasing the surface area, A of the plates.
Voltage Rating of a Capacitor
All capacitors have a maximum voltage rating
and when selecting a capacitor
consideration must be given to
the amount of voltage to be applied
across the capacitor.
The maximum amount of voltage that can be applied
to the capacitor without damage to its dielectric material
is generally given in the data sheets as:
WV, (working voltage) or as WV DC, (DC working
voltage).
If the voltage applied across the capacitor
becomes too great,
the dielectric will break down
(known as electrical breakdown) and
arcing will occur between the capacitor plates
resulting in a short-circuit.
The working voltage of the capacitor
depends on the type of dielectric material
being used and its thickness.
The DC working voltage of a capacitor is just that,
the maximum DC voltage and
NOT the maximum AC voltage
as a capacitor with a DC voltage rating of 100 volts
DC cannot be safely subjected to
An alternating voltage of 100 volts.
Since an alternating voltage that
has an RMS value of 100 volts will have
a peak value of over 141 volts! (√2 x 100).
Then a capacitor which is required to operate
at 100 volts AC should have a working voltage
of at least 200 volts.
In practice, a capacitor should be selected
so that its working voltage either DC or AC
should be at least 50 percent greater than
the highest effective voltage to be applied to it.
Another factor which affects the operation of a capacitor is
Dielectric Leakage.
Dielectric leakage occurs in a capacitor
as the result of an unwanted leakage current
which flows through the dielectric material
Generally, it is assumed that the resistance
of the dielectric is extremely high and a good
insulator blocking the flow of DC current
through the capacitor (as in a perfect capacitor)
from one plate to the other.
However, if the dielectric material becomes damaged
due excessive voltage or over temperature,
the leakage current through the dielectric will become
Extremely high resulting in a rapid loss of charge on the
plates and
an overheating of the capacitor eventually resulting in
premature failure of the capacitor.
Then never use a capacitor in a circuit
with higher voltages than the capacitor is rated for
otherwise it may become hot and explode.
References
Basic Electrical Science and Technology
by K. Murugesh Kumar
Electronics Fundamentals & Applications
by D. Chattopadhyay and P.C. Rakshit
www.circuitglobe.com – images reference
www.courses.lumenlearning.com
