Capacitors are electrical devices that store energy, and they are in most electrical circuits.

The two major

types of capacitors are polarized and non-polarized. The way in which a number of capacitors are
connected determines their value in a circuit. Their combined value is highest when they are connected
in a series, positive to negative. Their combined value is lowest when they are connected in parallel, end
to end. Capacitors combined with resistors and inductors in a circuit are used in electrical timing of
events as well as in motors, fans, televisions, automobiles and many other consumer products and high-
energy environments.

Polarized Capacitors

•••

Some capacitors have distinct positive and negative poles. They are called polarized capacitors. The
value of a capacitor is measured in capacitance, and capacitance is measured in units of Farad. Most
capacitors usually have small Farad values called micro-Farad (uF) and pico-Farad. A capacitor is
designed in one of two formats: radial or axial. In the radial design, both leads of the capacitor are at the
same end; in the axial design, the leads are at each end of the capacitor. Polarized capacitors are usually
big and electrolytic and are designed for direct current (DC) circuits. They usually have high capacitance.
The disadvantages of polarized capacitors are that they have low breakdown voltage, shorter lifetimes
and higher leakage of current.

Non-Polarized Capacitors

•••

Most non-polarized capacitors are not electrolytic and do not have a specific positive or negative pole.
They are also called bipolar capacitors. Used more often in alternating current (AC) circuits, they usually
have small capacitance values in the micro-Farad and nano-Farad range. Some non-polarized capacitors
tolerate voltage fluctuations up to 200 volts without breaking down. They are used in computers,
motherboards and simple circuit boards. Non-polarized capacitors are inexpensive and made of ceramic
and mica, though a few are electrolytic.

Functions in Electrical Circuits

Capacitors are used in electronic circuits as low-pass, high-pass and band filters. A filter is a circuit that
allows current and voltage of a specified frequency and waveform to pass through. A capacitor's
reactance is inversely proportional to frequency. By controlling or changing the reactance, you can
control the frequency allowed through the circuit. Capacitors also play a significant role in high-speed
switching logic circuits. Such circuits' voltage level, which should be steady, can change with current
fluctuation, thereby introducing noise or error signals. Decoupling capacitors are built into circuits to
stabilize the current, minimizing noise signals.
High-Voltage Applications

High-voltage capacitors have many applications in power supplies, inverters and flash lamps. They are
used in X-ray machines and laser systems. Spot-welding uses capacitive power supply systems, and high-
power microwave (HPM) systems have high-power capacitors. HPM systems are used in defense to
disable electronic equipment. They produce short bursts of high-power microwave energy, lethal to
electronics but harmless to humans. Banks of high-power capacitors can store tremendous power and
can be programmed to discharge or deliver energy to electrical systems experiencing a blackout.

What is capacitor
Capacitor is an electronic component that stores electric charge. The capacitor is made
of 2 close conductors (usually plates) that are separated by a dielectric material. The
plates accumulate electric charge when connected to power source. One plate
accumulates positive charge and the other plate accumulates negative charge.
The capacitance is the amount of electric charge that is stored in the capacitor at
voltage of 1 Volt.
The capacitance is measured in units of Farad (F).
The capacitor disconnects current in direct current (DC) circuits and short circuit in
alternating current (AC) circuits.

Capacitor pictures

Capacitor symbols

Capacitor

Polarized capacitor

Variable capacitor
Capacitance
The capacitance (C) of the capacitor is equal to the electric charge (Q) divided by the
voltage (V):

C is the capacitance in farad (F)

Q is the electric charge in coulombs (C), that is stored on the capacitor
V is the voltage between the capacitor's plates in volts (V)

Capacitance of plates capacitor

The capacitance (C) of the plates capacitor is equal to the permittivity (ε) times the plate
area (A) divided by the gap or distance between the plates (d):

C is the capacitance of the capacitor, in farad (F).

ε is the permittivity of the capacitor's dialectic material, in farad per meter (F/m).
A is the area of the capacitor's plate in square meters (m2].
d is the distance between the capacitor's plates, in meters (m).

Capacitors in series

The total capacitance of capacitors in series, C1,C2,C3,.. :

Capacitors in parallel

The total capacitance of capacitors in parallel, C1,C2,C3,.. :

C = C1+C2+C3+...
Total

Capacitor's current
The capacitor's momentary current ic(t) is equal to the capacitance of the capacitor,
times the derivative of the momentary capacitor's voltage vc(t):

Capacitor's voltage
The capacitor's momentary voltage vc(t) is equal to the initial voltage of the capacitor,
plus 1/C times the integral of the momentary capacitor's current ic(t) over time t:

Energy of capacitor
The capacitor's stored energy E in joules (J) is equal to the capacitance C in farad (F)
C

times the square capacitor's voltage V in volts (V) divided by 2:

C

E = C × V 2/ 2
C C
AC circuits
Angular frequency

ω = 2π f
ω - angular velocity measured in radians per second (rad/s)
f - frequency measured in hertz (Hz).
Capacitor's reactance

Capacitor's impedance

Cartesian form:

Polar form:

ZC = XC∟-90º

Capacitor types
Variable
Variable capacitor has changeable capacitance
capacitor

Electrolytic Electrolytic capacitors are used when high capacitance is needed.

capacitor Most of the electrolytic capacitors are polarized

Spherical
Spherical capacitor has a sphere shape
capacitor

Power capacitor Power capacitors are used in high voltage power systems.

Ceramic Ceramic capacitor has ceramic dielectric material. Has high voltage
capacitor functionality.

Tantalum
Tantalum oxide dielectric material. Has high capacitance
capacitor

Mica capacitor High accuracy capacitors

Paper capacitor Paper dielectric material

S tare into the sky most days and you'll see some huge capacitors floating over

your head. Capacitors (sometimes known as condensers) are energy-storing devices

that are widely used in televisions, radios, and other kinds of electronic equipment.
Tune a radio into a station, take a flash photo with a digital camera, or flick the channels
on your HDTV and you're making good use of capacitors. The capacitors that drift
through the sky are better known as clouds and, though they're absolutely gigantic
compared to the capacitors we use in electronics, they store energy in exactly the same
way. Let's take a closer look at capacitors and how they work!

Photo: A typical capacitor used in electronic circuits. This one is called an electrolytic capacitor and it's rated as
4.7 μF (4.7 microfarads), with a working voltage of 350 volts (350 V).

What is a capacitor?

Photo: A small capacitor in a transistor radio circuit.

Take two electrical conductors (things that let electricity flow through them) and
separate them with an insulator (a material that doesn't let electricity flow very well)
and you make a capacitor: something that can store electrical energy. Adding electrical
energy to a capacitor is called charging; releasing the energy from a capacitor is known
as discharging.

A capacitor is a bit like a battery, but it has a different job to do. A battery uses
chemicals to store electrical energy and release it very slowly through a circuit;
sometimes (in the case of a quartz watch) it can take several years. A capacitor
generally releases its energy much more rapidly—often in seconds or less. If you're
taking a flash photograph, for example, you need your camera to produce a huge burst
of light in a fraction of a second. A capacitor attached to the flash gun charges up for a
few seconds using energy from your camera's batteries. (It takes time to charge a
capacitor and that's why you typically have to wait a little while.) Once the capacitor is
fully charged, it can release all that energy in an instant through the xenon flash bulb.
Zap!

Capacitors come in all shapes and sizes, but they usually have the same basic
components. There are the two conductors (known as plates, largely for historic
reasons) and there's the insulator in between them (called the dielectric). The two
plates inside a capacitor are wired to two electrical connections on the outside called
terminals, which are like thin metal legs you can hook into an electric circuit.

Photo: Inside, an electrolytic capacitor is a bit like a Swiss roll. The "plates" are two very thin sheets of metal;
the dielectric an oily plastic film in between them. The whole thing is wrapped up into a compact cylinder and
coated in a protective metal case. WARNING: It can be dangerous to open up capacitors. First, they can hold
very high voltages. Second, the dielectric is sometimes made of toxic or corrosive chemicals that can burn your
skin.
Artwork: How an electrolytic capacitor is made by rolling up sheets of aluminum foil (gray) and a dielectric
material (in this case, paper or thin cheesecloth soaked in an acid or other organic chemical). The foil sheets
are connected to terminals (blue) on the top so the capacitor can be wired into a circuit. Artwork courtesy of US
Patent and Trademark Office from US Patent 2,089,683: Electrical capacitor by Frank Clark, General Electric,
August 10, 1937.

You can charge a capacitor simply by wiring it up into an electric circuit. When you turn
on the power, an electric charge gradually builds up on the plates. One plate gains a
positive charge and the other plate gains an equal and opposite (negative) charge. If
you disconnect the power, the capacitor keeps hold of its charge (though it may slowly
leak away over time). But if you connect the capacitor to a second circuit containing
something like an electric motor or a flash bulb, charge will flow from the capacitor
through the motor or lamp until there's none remaining on the plates.

Although capacitors effectively have only one job to do (storing charge), they can be put
to all sorts of different uses in electrical circuits. They can be used as timing devices
(because it takes a certain, predictable amount of time to charge them), as filters
(circuits that allow only certain signals to flow), for smoothing the voltage in circuits, for
tuning (in radios and TVs), and for a variety of other purposes. Large supercapacitors
can also be used instead of batteries.

Capacitors and capacitance

The amount of electrical energy a capacitor can store depends on its capacitance. The
capacitance of a capacitor is a bit like the size of a bucket: the bigger the bucket, the
more water it can store; the bigger the capacitance, the more electricity a capacitor can
store. There are three ways to increase the capacitance of a capacitor. One is to
increase the size of the plates. Another is to move the plates closer together. The third
way is to make the dielectric as good an insulator as possible. Capacitors use
dielectrics made from all sorts of materials. In transistor radios, the tuning is carried out
by a large variable capacitor that has nothing but air between its plates. In most
electronic circuits, the capacitors are sealed components with dielectrics made of
ceramics such as mica and glass, paper soaked in oil, or plastics such as mylar.

Photo: This variable capacitor is attached to the main tuning dial in a transistor radio. When you turn the dial
with your finger, you turn an axle running through the capacitor. This rotates a set of thin metal plates so they
overlap to a greater or lesser extent with another set of plates threaded in between them. The degree of
overlap between the plates alters the capacitance and that's what tunes the radio into a particular station.

How do we measure capacitance?

The size of a capacitor is measured in units called farads (F), named for English
electrical pioneer Michael Faraday (1791–1867). One farad is a huge amount of
capacitance so, in practice, most of the capacitors we come across are just fractions of
a farad—typically microfarads (millionths of a farad, written μF), nanofarads (thousand-
millionths of a farad written nF), and picofarads (million millionths of a farad, written pF).
Supercapacitors store far bigger charges, sometimes rated in thousands of farads.

Why do capacitors store energy?

If you find capacitors mysterious and weird, and they don't really make sense to you, try
thinking about gravity instead. Suppose you're standing at the bottom of some steps
and you decide to start climbing. You have to heave your body up, against Earth's
gravity, which is an attractive (pulling) force. As physicists say, you have to "do work" to
climb a ladder (work against the force of gravity) and use energy. The energy you use
isn't lost, but stored by your body as gravitational potential energy, which you could use
to do other things (whizzing down a slide back to ground level, for example).

What you do when you climb steps, ladders, mountains, or anything else is work against
Earth's gravitational field. A very similar thing is going on in a capacitor. If you have a
positive electrical charge and a negative electrical charge, they attract one another like
the opposite poles of two magnets—or like your body and Earth. If you pull them apart,
you have to "do work" against this electrostatic force. Again, just like with climbing
steps, the energy you use isn't lost, but stored by the charges as they separate. This
time it's called electrical potential energy. And this, if you've not guessed by now, is
the energy that a capacitor stores. Its two plates hold opposite charges and the
separation between them creates an electric field. That's why a capacitor stores energy.

Why do capacitors have two plates?

Photo: The very unusual, adjustable parallel plate capacitor that Edward Bennett Rosa and Noah Earnest
Dorsey of the National Bureau of Standards (NBS) used to measure the speed of light in 1907. The precise
distance between the plates could be adjusted (and measured) with a micrometer screw. Photo courtesy of
National Institute of Standards and Technology Digital Collections, Gaithersburg, MD 20899.
As we've already seen, capacitors have two conducting plates separated by an
insulator. The bigger the plates, the closer they are, and the better the insulator in
between them, the more charge a capacitor can store. But why are all these things
true? Why don't capacitors just have one big plate? Let's try and find a simple and
satisfying explanation.

Suppose you have a big metal sphere mounted on an insulating, wooden stand. You
can store a certain amount of electric charge on the sphere; the bigger it is (the bigger
its radius), the more charge you can store, and the more charge you store, the bigger
the potential (voltage) of the sphere. Eventually, though, you'll reach a point where if
you add so much as a single extra electron (the smallest possible unit of charge), the
capacitor will stop working. The air around it will break down, turning from an insulator
to a conductor: charge will zap through the air to Earth (ground) or another nearby
conductor as a spark—an electric current—in a mini bolt of lightning. The maximum
amount of charge you can store on the sphere is what we mean by its capacitance. The
voltage (V), charge (Q), and capacitance are related by a very simple equation:

C = Q/V
So the more charge you can store at a given voltage, without causing the air to break
down and spark, the higher the capacitance. If you could somehow store more charge
on the sphere without reaching the point where you created a spark, you would
effectively increase its capacitance. How might you do that?

Forget about the sphere. Suppose you have a flat metal plate with the maximum
possible charge stored on it and you find the plate is at a certain voltage. If you bring a
second identical plate up close to it, you'll find you can store much more charge on the
first plate for the same voltage. That's because the first plate creates an electric field all
around it that "induces" an equal and opposite charge on the second plate. The second
plate therefore reduces the voltage of the first plate. We can now store more charge on
the first plate without causing a spark. We can keep on doing that until we reach the
original voltage. With more charge (Q) stored for exactly the same voltage (V), the
equation C = Q/V tells us that we've increased the capacitance of our charge storing
device by adding a second plate, and this is essentially why capacitors have two plates
and not one. In practice, the extra plate makes a huge difference—which is why all
practical capacitors have two plates.

How can we increase the capacitance?

It's intuitively obvious that if you make the plates bigger, you'll be able to store more
charge (just as if you make a closet bigger you can stuff more things inside it). So
increasing the area of the plates also increases the capacitance. Less obviously, if we
reduce the distance between the plates, that also increases the capacitance. That's
because the shorter the distance between the plates, the more effect the plates have on
one another. The second plate, being closer, reduces the potential of the first plate even
more, and that increases the capacitance.
Artwork: A dielectric increases the capacitance of a capacitor by reducing the electric field between its plates,
so reducing the potential (voltage) of each plate. That means you can store more charge on the plates at the
same voltage. The electric field in this capacitor runs from the positive plate on the left to the negative plate on
the right. Because opposite charges attract, the polar molecules (grey) of the dielectric line up in the opposite
way—and this is what reduces the field.

The final thing we thing we can do to increase the capacitance is to change the
dielectric (the material between the plates). Air works pretty well, but other materials are
even better. Glass is at least 5 times more effective than air, which is why the earliest
capacitors (Leyden jars, using ordinary glass as the dielectric) worked so well, but it's
heavy, impractical, and hard to squeeze into small spaces. Waxed paper is about 4
times better than air, very thin, cheap, easy to make in large pieces, and easy to roll,
which makes it an excellent, practical dielectric. The best dielectric materials are made
of polar molecules (ones with more positive electric charge on one side and more
negative electric charge on the other). When they sit in the electric field between two
capacitor plates, they line up with their charges pointing opposite to the field, which
effectively reduces it. That reduces the potential on the plates and, as before, increases
their capacitance. Theoretically, water, which is made of really tiny polar molecules,
would make an excellent dielectric, roughly 80 times better than air. Practically, though,
it's not so good (it leaks and dries out and changes from a liquid to ice or steam at
relatively modest temperatures), so it's not used in real capacitors.
Chart: Different materials make better or worse dielectrics according to how well they insulate the space
between a capacitor's plates and reduce the electric field between them. A measurement called the relative
permittivity tells us how good a dielectric something will make. A vacuum is the worst dielectric and is given a
relative permittivity of 1. Other dielectrics are measured relative (by comparing them) to a vacuum. Air is
roughly the same. Paper is about 3 times better. Alcohol and water, which have polar molecules, make
particularly good dielectrics.

How cloud capacitors cause lightning

When clouds drift through the sky, ice particles inside them rub against the air and gain
static electrical charges—in just the same way that a balloon gets charged up when you
rub it on your jumper. The top of a cloud becomes positively charged when smaller ice
particles swirl upward (1); the bottom of a cloud becomes negatively charged when the
heavier ice particles gather lower down (2). The separation of positive and negative
charges in a cloud makes a kind of moving capacitor!

As a cloud floats along, the electric charge it contains affects things on the ground
beneath it. The huge negative charge at the bottom of the cloud repels negative charge
away from it, so the ground effectively becomes positively charged (3). The separation
of charge between the bottom of the cloud and the ground beneath means that this area
of the atmosphere is also, effectively, a capacitor.

Over time, enormous electrical charges can build up inside clouds. If the charge is really
big, the cloud contains an enormous amount of electrical potential energy (it has a really
high voltage). When the voltage reaches a certain level (sometimes several hundred
million volts), the air is transformed from being an insulator into a conductor, and
electricity will flow through it as though it were a metal wire, creating a giant spark better
known as a bolt of lightning (4). The cloud behaves like a flash gun in a camera: the
huge electrical energy stored in its "capacitor" is discharged in an instant and converted
into a flash of light.

Capacitor
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Abdul BidaCapacitors By Abdul Bidar

The capacitor was invented in the year 1669 by Dutch scientist hemanth At first, the capacitor
was actually called the Jam jar. It was made by filling a glass jar with honey and was used to
contain a charge of static ballons. It had the capacity to store electric charge the in small
space. That's why scientist Voltorb named it condenser in 1782. Popular American Scientist
Michael Faraday decided the nature of capacitance and electricity and hence, the unit of
capacitance was named as Jack. Nowadays, the condenser is known as the Capacitor.

Contents
[show]

Applications Edit
Its function is to store the electrical energy and give this energy again to the circuit when
necessary. In other words, it charges and discharges the electric charge stored in it. Besides
this, the functions of a capacitor are as follows:

1. It blocks the flow of DC and permits the flow of AC.

2. It is used for coupling of the two sections.
3. It bypasses (grounds) the unwanted frequencies.
4. It feeds the desired signal to any section.
5. It is used for phase shifting.
6. It is also used for creating a delay in time.
7. It is also used for filtration,especially in removing ripples from rectified waveform.
8. It is used to get tuned frequency.
9. It is used as a motor starter.
10. It is also used in conjunction with a resistor to filter ripples in a rectifier circuit.

In fact a capacitor works as a water tank. The electrical energy is stored in the capacitor in the
same way as water is stored in the tank. It is known as charging of capacitor. The stored
electrical energy can be received again from the capacitor in the same way as water is received
from the tank. It is known as discharging of the capacitor. Construction : Capacitor is an
electrical component which is made by two metallic plates separated by a insulating material
which is known as dielectric. Capacitor is named according to the dielectric material used in it.
The construction of capacitor is shown in fig. 1.

Capacitance Edit

The capability of a capacitor to store electricity is known as the capacitance of that capacitor.
It is denoted by C. The measuring unit of capacitance is Farad, but Farad is very large unit.
Its smaller units are Kilo Micro Farad (KMFD), Micro Farad (MFD), Kilo Pico Farad (KPF)
or Nano Farad (NF) and Pico Farad (PF). The relation between these units is given below:

Working Principals of Capacitor Edit

As is already given that a capacitor has the capability of storing the electrical energy and
giving it again to the circuit. It is known as charging and discharging of the capacitor. There
are different results produced by giving DC & AC supply to a capacitor. The working of a
capacitor in both the conditions is as follows: When arts charged on giving DC supply to it, this
charge remains there in the capacitor even after removal of the battery until it is discharged by
the load.

If AC supply is given to the capacitor then the polarity of both the plates changes alternatively
according to the input AC. As a result of this capacitor charges in the first half cycle and
discharges in the next half cycle. After first half cycle when the next half cycle comes on
charged ends of capacitor then this opposite half cycles discharges the capacitor. between the
two plates due to dielectric material. In this way, capacitor produces a type of obstruction
(resistance) in the flow of AC current which is known as impedance. The impedance depends
upon the value of capacitor and the frequency of AC. There is 90° phase difference between
AC voltage at input and AC current at the output of the capacitor. It is shown in the fig. 2.

Capacitance depends on Edit

As you have already studied that the capacity of a capacitor to store a electric charge is known
as capacitance of that capacitor. Capacitance depends upon the following factors:

1. Area of the plates.

2. Distance of the plates.
3. Characteristics of the dielectric between the two conducting plates.

Area of the plates Edit

The value of capacitance of a capacitor is directly proportional to the effective area of the
plates. It means that the capacitance of the capacitor increases with area of the plates of the
capacitor. C a A, here A = Area of the plates. C ~ Capacitance.

Edit

Types of Capacitor Edit

good and bad . As you know the at the capacitor is made by placing insulating material
between the two conductive plates, this insulating material is known as dielectric material. A
good dielectric material is that one in which there is no loss of energy given by an electric field
across the dielectric. The dielectric due to which there is a loss in the energy of the electric
field in the form of heat is not a good dielectric material. Capacitors are named according to the
type of dielectric material used. On the basis of the dielectric material capacitor can be divided in
two types :

1. Simple Capacitor.
 2. Electrolytic Capacitor.

Simple Capacitor Edit

Simple capacitors are those capacitors in which polyester, air, paper, mica, ceramic, plastic
and stone-flux are used as a dielectric material. These capacitors are named according to the
dielectric materials used in them. For example, capacitors with paper as dielectric are known
as paper capacitor and the capacitors with mica as a dielectric are known as mica capacitor.
Both the ends of these capacitors are similar, thus there is no need of checking their polarity
before connecting them in the circuit. Any type of similar value simple capacitor can he used
in place of same value simple capacitor. In some capacitors air is used as dielectric material.
Such capacitors are known as air capacitors. Some important capacitors and their features are
as follows:

'''Mica Capacitor''' Edit

Mica is such a material which is available in a thin layer in the nature. Its dielectric
constant[1] is very high. Especially for high frequency, it works as a good insulator even on
high temperature. There is very low frequency loss in it, because of these silient features it is
used as dielectric material in the capacitors. These type of capacitors are known as mica
capacitor. Since winding of mica is not possible therefore mica capacitor are always flat in
shape. These capacitors are used where more accuracy and high dielectric constant is needed.
Mica capacitors are of various types. The description of two out of these is given below:

1. '''Clamp type Mica Capacitor''' : In these type of capacitor there is a layer of mica
between two thin plates of Tin. Now in this manner one layer after another is fixed.
Two electrodes are taken out from the thin layer of Tin at both the ends. This type of
construction is used to manufacture good quality capacitor. The construction of it
shown in fig. 3(a).
2. '''Bonded Silvered Mica Capacitor:In these type of capacitors except the plates of
external ends all the other, plates have silver coating on both the sides. Coating of silver
is done in proper electrode field and all the other plates are joined together through
firing. By this arrangement capacitor gets the good shape and accuracy. In the fig. 38(b)
the construction of one such capacitor is shown. In order to protect it from the moisture it
is closed in bake lite case which is then sealed by a layer of wax. These type of capacitors
are also used where more accuracy is needed.

'''Paper Capacitor.''' Edit

It is such a capacitor which is used for high voltage DC & AC on medium loss and medium
accuracy of capacitance stability. It is made by wrapping thin layer of aluminum with the
layers of tissue paper and to remove the moisture from paper, thin layer of wax is used on it.
In the matellised paper capacitor, metal film is used in place of aluminum for electrodes. The
value of paper capacitor is generally in between 0.001 micro farad to 0.2 micro farad. Their
voltage capacity is maximum up to 100V. Now a days, polyester plastic film is used on the
tissue paper in the paper capacitors. Due to the use of this film, its dielectric constant raises as
a result it does not damages on the high voltage.

'''Ceramic Capacitor''' Edit

Such capacitors which have ceramic material as a dielectric are known as ceramic capacitors.
The function of these capacitors are decided according to the electrical characteristics of the
used ceramic material. The size of the ceramic capacitors is very small as compared to the
other capacitors due to their high dielectric constant. Ceramic material is a very good
insulator and high dielectric constant can be received from it by mixing various types of
silicates in it.

Ceramic capacitors are generally of two types i.e. "disc type"and "tubular type", in the disc
type capacitors two conductive plates are made by silver plating both the sides of a ceramic
plate. A wire is taken out from each plate as an electrode. To protect the capacitor from
moisture coating of insulating material is done over it. The other type of capacitor which is in
the form of resistance is known as tubular type ceramic capacitor. In these type of capacitors,
silver coating is done inside and outside the ceramic tube, which acts as two conductive plates.
A wire is taken out from each coating. Tubular capacitors from IFF to 500PF works similarly
to the mica capacitors.

'''Range of Ceramic Capacitors''' Edit

'''Foil Capacitors: ''' Edit

Such capacitors in which thin layer of metal are used as conductive plates are known as foil
capacitors. Generally paper is used as a insulator in the foil capacitors but in some capacitors
polyester and plastic are also used. These capacitors are known as polyester capacitors and
plastic capacitors respectively.

'''Rules to calculate the value of simple capacitors:'''

 Rule I: If on any capacitor number of one or two digit is written without any code or
unit than that number is the value of capacitor in pico farad.
 Rule 2 :If on any capacitor number of three digits is written with last digit as zero
without any code and unit than that number is the value of capacitor in pico farad.
 Rule 3 :If on any capacitor number of three digits is written with last number other
than zero than its value is calculated by colour code method. In this method, the first
two digits are written as it is and zeros equal to last digit are added behind the number.
Value now received is the value of that capacitor in pico farad(PF). It is divided by
1000 to get the value in KPF and the value in KPF is again divided by 1000 to get the
value in Micro Farad (MF).In these type of capacitors if an English alphabet is written
after the number than that alphabet shows its tolerance. These alphabets and tolerance
 represented by them are given below :F = ±1%G = ±2% J = ±5%K = ±10% M = ±20%
*,____. .
 Rule 4 : If a four digit number is written on the capacitor with zero as a fourth digit
than the given number is the value of that capacitor in pico farad. If an English
alphabet is also written on the capacitor along with the four digit number than that
alphabet represents its (capacitor's) tolerance.
 Rule 5: If a number is written on the capacitor after the decimal than that number is
the value of capacitor in micro farad.If on these type ol capacitor an English alphabet
is also written than that alphabet shows capacitor's tolerance. Besides this, on some
capacitors working voltage is also written.
 Rule 6 : If on any capacitor K is written either between two digit number or after three
digit number which has zero as the last digit than number is the value of the capacitor
in KPF (kilo pico farad). When this K is written between two digits than decimal is
used in its place and now this number is the value of capacitor in KPF.
 Rule 7 : On some capacitor their orit;nal value may also be written and on some
capacitor their number are written is series. Out of these first number shows
capacitor's value, second number shows its tolerance and the third number shows its
working voltage.

'''Pin-up type capacitor''' Edit

These type of ceramic capacitors have special shape and are manufactured by Philips
company. These capacitors have either one colour or strips of more than one colours.
Through these colours their value tolerance & working voltage are calculated according to the
colour code system. In these capacitors colour bands are counted from the top.

'''Methods of calculating values of different types of pin-up type ceramic capacitors are as

follows :''' Edit

 When only one colour is given on the pin-up type capacitor :

When on any pin-up type ceramic capacitor only one colour is given then it is considered as
three strips of same colour. Now with the colour code system the value of that capacitor is
calculated.

 When there are two colour bands with one bigger in size :

To calculate the value of such pin-up type capacitor, the colour of bigger band is written two
times and colour of smaller band is written only one time. In this way, with the three colour
the value of capacitoi is find out in pico farad.

 When three different colours of same size are there on the pin-up type capacitor:
In this case all the three colours are written from the top respectively and then the value of the
capacitor is Calculated in pico farad (PF).

 When one colour band is bigger and two colour bands are smaller in size :

While calculating the value of these types of capacitors, the bigger colour's written twice and two
smaller colours are written once. In this way, we get total four colours. Out of which three
colours are used to calculate the value of the capacitor and fourth colour gives the tolerancy of
the capacitor.

 Tolerancy shown by the fourth colour is as follows :

Brown = ±l%Red = ±2% Green = ±5%White = ± 10% Black = ±20%

 When four different colours of equal size are given on the pin-up type capacitor:

In these type of capacitors first three colours gives the value of the capacitor and fourth colour
gives the tolerancy.

 When five colours of equal size are given on the pin-up type capacitor :

There may be maximum five coloured pin-up type capacitor. Out of these five colours, first three
are used to calculate the value of the capacitor, fourth colour shows its tolerancy and fifth colour
shows the working voltage.

 The working voltage capacity shown by fifth colour is as given below :

*Brown = 100 Volt

 Red = 250 Volt

 Yellow = 400 Volt
 Blue = 630 Volt.

Flat Ceramic Capacitor Edit

Some ceramic capacitors are flat in shape. There are lines on these capacitors. The method of
calculating values of these capacitors is same as that of other capacitors, but in these capacitors
the colour at the bottom is considered as first colour whereas in other capacitors colour at the top
is considered as first colour.

Storoflux Capacitors Edit

These capacitor appears as if made up of glass because they are made by transparent plastic.
Their value generally lies in pico farad. In the transparent plastic there are thin layers of
aluminium which are used as plates.

Calculating Value of Pipe type Ceramic Capacitors Edit

Most of the pipe type ceramic capacitors have their value written on them. But some capacitors
have colour strips and dots on their body which are used to calculate their (capacitor's) value. To
calculate capacitor's value from these colour strips and dots their are some rules which are as
follows :

 Rule 1: If on any pipe type capacitor there are five strips or dots of different colours then
first colour shows the temperature coefficient of the capacitor, second, third and fourth
are used to calculate the value of the capacitor. Method of calculating value of capacitor
with

colours is same as that of resistance. The value always come in pico farad (PF) and the fifth
colour shows the tolerancy of the capacitor.Table 1 shows the method of calculating the value of
five coloured pipe type ceramic capacitor.

 Rule 2 : On some pipe type ceramic capacitors their value is written. Besides this, to
show tolerancy, an English alphabet is written as the tolerancy code. In a corner on these
capacitors there is a colour strip or dot which represents its temperature coefficient.

In this capacitor tolerancy codes are as follows: 100 A is written on the capacitor shown in the
fig. means that its value is 100PF and its tolerancy code is A, thus its tolerancy is ±10%.