University of Babylon

Electrical engineering department

Electrical engineering fundamentals
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

CHAPTER FIVE
CAPACITORS
5.1 INTRODUCTION
So far we have limited our study to resistive circuits. In this chapter, we shall introduce
two new and important passive linear circuit elements: the capacitor and the inductor (the
inductor is discussed in detail in Chapter 7). Unlike resistors, which dissipate energy,
capacitors and inductors do not dissipate but store energy, which can be retrieved at a later
time. For this reason, capacitors and inductors are called storage elements. We begin by
introducing capacitors and describing how to combine them in series or in parallel. Later, we
do the same for inductors.

5.2 CAPACITORS
A capacitor is a passive element designed to store energy in its electric field. Besides
resistors, capacitors are the most common electrical components. Capacitors are used
extensively in electronics, communications, computers, and power systems. For example, they
are used in the tuning circuits of radio receivers and as dynamic memory elements in computer
systems.
A capacitor consists of two conducting plates separated by an insulator (or dielectric).
In many practical applications, the plates may be aluminum foil while the dielectric may be air,
ceramic, paper, or mica.
The amount of charge stored, represented by q, is directly proportional to the applied voltage v
so that
q = Cv (5.1)
where C, the constant of proportionality, is known as the capacitance of the capacitor. The unit
of capacitance is the farad (F), in honor of the English physicist Michael Faraday (1791–1867).
From Eq. (5.1), we may derive the following definition.
Capacitance is the ratio of the charge on one plate of a capacitor to the voltage difference
between the two plates, measured in farads (F).
Note from Eq. (5.1) that 1 farad = 1 coulomb/volt.

CHAPTER 5 CAPACITORS Lecture Notes 1

University of Babylon
Electrical engineering department
Electrical engineering fundamentals
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Although the capacitance C of a capacitor is the ratio of the charge q per plate to the
applied voltage v, it does not depend on q or v. It depends on the physical dimensions of the
capacitor. The capacitance is given by
𝝐𝑨
𝑪 = (5.2)
𝒅
where A is the surface area of each plate, d is the distance between the plates, and ε is the
permittivity of the dielectric material between the plates. Typically, capacitors have values in
the picofarad (pF) to microfarad (μF) range. Figure 5.1 shows the circuit symbols for fixed
and variable capacitors.

Figure 5.1 Circuit symbols for capacitors: (a) fixed capacitor, (b) variable capacitor.

To obtain the current-voltage relationship of the capacitor, we take the derivative of both sides
of Eq. (5.1). Since
i =dq/dt (5.3)
differentiating both sides of Eq. (5.1) gives
i = C dv/dt (5.4)
The voltage-current relation of the capacitor can be obtained by integrating both sides of Eq.
(5.4). We get
𝟏 𝒕
𝒗 = ∫−∞ 𝒊 𝒅𝒕 (5.5)
𝑪

or
𝟏 𝒕
𝒗 = ∫𝒕 𝒊 𝒅𝒕 + 𝒗(𝒕𝟎 ) (5.6)
𝑪 𝟎

where v(t0) = q(t0)/C is the voltage across the capacitor at time t0.
Eq. (5.6) shows that capacitor voltage depends on the past history of the capacitor current.
Hence, the capacitor has memory—a property that is often exploited.
The instantaneous power delivered to the capacitor is
𝒅𝒗
𝒑 = 𝒗𝒊 = 𝑪𝒗 (5.7)
𝒅𝒕

The energy stored in the capacitor is therefore

𝟏 𝒒𝟐
𝒘 = 𝑪𝒗𝟐 or 𝒘 = (5.8)
𝟐 𝟐𝑪
CHAPTER 5 CAPACITORS Lecture Notes 2
University of Babylon
Electrical engineering department
Electrical engineering fundamentals
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Eq. (5.8) represents the energy stored in the electric field that exists between the plates of the
capacitor. This energy can be retrieved, since an ideal capacitor cannot dissipate energy
We should note the following important properties of a capacitor:
1. Note from Eq. (5.4) that when the voltage across a capacitor is not changing with time (i.e.,
dc voltage), the current through the capacitor is zero. Thus,
A capacitor is an open circuit to dc.

2. The voltage on the capacitor must be continuous.

The voltage on a capacitor cannot change abruptly.
The capacitor resists an abrupt change in the voltage across it.
3. The ideal capacitor does not dissipate energy. It takes power from the circuit when storing
energy in its field and returns previously stored energy when delivering power to the circuit.
4. A real, nonideal capacitor has a parallel-model leakage resistance. The leakage resistance
may be as high as 100 MΩ and can be neglected for most practical applications.

Example 5.1:

(a) Calculate the charge stored on a 3-pF capacitor with 20 V across it.
(b) Find the energy stored in the capacitor.
Solution:
(a) Since q = Cv, q = 3 × 10−12 × 20 = 60 pC
𝟏 𝟏
(b) The energy stored is 𝒘 = 𝑪𝒗𝟐 = × 𝟑 × 𝟏𝟎−𝟏𝟐 × 𝟒𝟎𝟎 = 𝟔𝟎𝟎 𝐩𝐉
𝟐 𝟐

Example 5.2:
The voltage across a 5-μF capacitor is v(t) = 10 cos 6000t V Calculate the current through it.
Solution:
By definition, the current is
𝒅𝒗 𝒅
𝒊(𝒕) = 𝑪 = 𝟓 × 𝟏𝟎−𝟔 (𝟏𝟎 𝒄𝒐𝒔 𝟔𝟎𝟎𝟎𝒕)
𝒅𝒕 𝒅𝒕

= −5 × 10−6 × 6000 × 10 sin 6000t = −0.3 sin 6000t A

Practice problems:
1-What is the voltage across a 3-μF capacitor if the charge on one plate is 0.12 mC? How much
energy is stored?
Answer: 40 V, 2.4 mJ.
CHAPTER 5 CAPACITORS Lecture Notes 3
University of Babylon
Electrical engineering department
Electrical engineering fundamentals
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

2-If a 10-μF capacitor is connected to a voltage source with v(t) = 50 sin 2000t V determine the
current through the capacitor.
Answer: cos 2000t A.
5.3 SERIES AND PARALLEL CAPACITORS
We know from resistive circuits that series-parallel combination is a powerful tool for
reducing circuits. This technique can be extended to series-parallel connections of capacitors,
which are sometimes encountered. We desire to replace these capacitors by a single equivalent
capacitor Ceq.
First we obtain the equivalent capacitor Ceq of N capacitors in parallel,

Figure 5.2 (a) Parallel-connected N capacitors, (b) equivalent circuit for the parallel capacitors.

Ceq = C1 + C2 + C3 +· · ·+CN (5.9)

The equivalent capacitance of N parallel-connected capacitors is the sum of the
individual capacitances.
We observe that capacitors in parallel combine in the same manner as resistors in series.
Now we will obtain Ceq of N capacitors connected in series

Figure 5.3 (a) Series-connected N capacitors, (b) equivalent circuit for the series capacitor.

𝟏 𝟏 𝟏 𝟏 𝟏
Where = + + +· · · + (5.10)
𝑪𝒆𝒒 𝑪𝟏 𝑪𝟐 𝑪𝟑 𝑪𝑵

The equivalent capacitance of series-connected capacitors is the reciprocal of the sum of the
reciprocals of the individual capacitances.

CHAPTER 5 CAPACITORS Lecture Notes 4

University of Babylon
Electrical engineering department
Electrical engineering fundamentals
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Note that capacitors in series combine in the same manner as resistors in parallel. For N = 2
(i.e., two capacitors in series), Eq. (5.10) becomes
𝟏 𝟏 𝟏
= +
𝑪𝒆𝒒 𝑪𝟏 𝑪𝟐

𝑪𝟏 𝑪𝟐
Or 𝑪𝒆𝒒 = (5.11)
𝑪𝟏 + 𝑪𝟐

Example 5.6:
Find the equivalent capacitance seen between terminals a and b of the circuit in Fig. 5.4.

Figure 5.4 For Example 6.6.

Solution:
The 20-μF and 5-μF capacitors are in series; their equivalent capacitance is
𝟐𝟎 × 𝟓
= 𝟒 𝝁𝑭
𝟐𝟎 + 𝟓

This 4-μF capacitor is in parallel with the 6-μF and 20-μF capacitors; their combined
capacitance is
4 + 6 + 20 = 30 μF
This 30-μF capacitor is in series with the 60-μF capacitor. Hence, the equivalent capacitance
for the entire circuit is
𝟑𝟎 × 𝟔𝟎
𝑪𝒆𝒒 = = 𝟐𝟎 𝝁𝑭
𝟑𝟎 + 𝟔𝟎

Practice problems:
1- Find the equivalent capacitance seen at the terminals of the circuit in Figure below.
Answer: 40 μF.

CHAPTER 5 CAPACITORS Lecture Notes 5