Capacitors Flashcards
What are capacitors
What affects how much energy can be stored
Two conductive plates separated by an insulator material
Plate area, spacing of plates, insulator/dielectric material
Three types of capacitors and what they’re used for
Material used as dielectric
Air cap: used in radio tuning circuits
Ceramic capacitors: used for high frequency purposes
Glass capacitors: used for high voltage applications
Why does charge build up
What do capacitors block and let through
When a voltage is applied an electric field is developed causing positive charge to collect on one plate and negative on the other
Blocks DC (as cap can only charge once)
Allows AC (as capacitor can charge and discharge when current flips)
How do you calculate capacitance in series
Capacitance in parallel
Opposite of resistors
1/C = 1/C1 + 1/C2 + …
Add them up
C = C1 + C2 + …
