Capacitors are categorized into 2 mechanical groups. Fixed Capacitors consist of fixed capacitance value and variable capacitance with variable capacitance value. Beneath are a brief description of various capacitor types and their properties. A ceramic capacitor is considered to be one of the most commonly used capacitors.
Figure 8.3.1 8.3. 1: (a) Three capacitors are connected in series. The magnitude of the charge on each plate is Q. (b) The network of capacitors in (a) is equivalent to one capacitor that has a smaller capacitance than any of the individual capacitances in (a), and the charge on its plates is Q.
CT = C1 + C2 + C3 The necessity of grouping capacitors in series is to reduce the total capacitance in the circuit. Another reason is that two or more capacitors in series can withstand a higher potential difference than an individual capacitor can. But, the voltage drop across each capacitor depends upon the individual capacitance.
Several capacitors can be connected together to be used in a variety of applications. Multiple connections of capacitors behave as a single equivalent capacitor. The total capacitance of this equivalent single capacitor depends both on the individual capacitors and how they are connected.
General formula for series capacitance: The total capacitance of the series capacitors can be calculated by using the formula C T = 1 1 C 1 + 1 C 2 + 1 C 3 + … … … + 1 C n or 1 C T = 1 C 1 + 1 C 2 + 1 C 3 + … …. + 1 C n
For capacitors connected in a parallel combination, the equivalent (net) capacitance is the sum of all individual capacitances in the network, Cp = C1 +C2 +C3+... (8.3.9) (8.3.9) C p = C 1 + C 2 + C 3 +... Figure 8.3.2 8.3. 2: (a) Three capacitors are connected in parallel. Each capacitor is connected directly to the battery.
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A conventional capacitor stores electric energy as static electricity by charge separation in an electric field between two electrode plates. The charge carriers are typically electrons, The amount of charge stored per unit voltage is essentially a function of the size of the plates, the plate material''s properties, the properties of the dielectric material placed between the plates, and the separati…