A capacitor is an essential electronic component that stores electrical energy in the form of an electric field. It consists of two parallel plates separated by a dielectric material. The symbol commonly used to represent a capacitor in circuit diagrams is two short parallel lines with a gap between them.
The schematic symbol for a capacitor consists of two parallel lines, with a curved line in between. This curved line represents the capacitor’s plates, which are the conducting surfaces where the electric charge is stored. The parallel lines represent the terminals of the capacitor, which are used to connect it to other components in a circuit.
A PCB assembly drawing visually depicts how electronic components like resistors, capacitors, integrated circuits (ICs), connectors etc. are to be placed and soldered onto a PCB. It shows the location, orientation and interconnections for each component. Assembly drawings are created by PCB designers based on the schematics and PCB layout.
Whether directly assembling to a board or programming a pick and place machine, you can use the PCB assembly drawing and reference designators to clarify your layout. Each reference designator consists of letters and numbers that represent different types of components.
The orientation and design of the capacitor symbol may vary depending on the specific type of capacitor being used. For example, electrolytic capacitors, which are commonly used in power supply circuits, have polarity and are denoted by a “+” and “-” sign on their schematic symbols to indicate the positive and negative terminals respectively.
A capacitor is a passive electronic component that stores electrical energy in an electric field. It is widely used in various electronic circuits and systems for a variety of applications such as filtering, smoothing, energy storage, timing, and coupling.