M E S’s

Abasaheb Garware College Pune 4

Junior wing
FYJC
Vocational Electronics (Paper I)
STUDY OF COMPONENTS (CAPACITORS)
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 CAPACITORS- WORKING PRINCIPLE
• What is a capacitor?
Capacitor is a device capable of storing electrical charges. It consists of one
or more pairs of conductors separated by an insulator.
Capacitance is the ability of the capacitor to store electric charge. Its unit is
farad(F). Smaller units used are μF = 10-6F(micro farad) ans nF = 10-9F(nano
farad)
• Uses of capacitors in circuits
Capacitors have many important applications. They are used, for example, in
digital circuits so that information stored in large computer memories is not
lost during a momentary electric power failure; the electric energy stored in
such capacitors maintains the information during the temporary loss
of power. Capacitors play an even more important role as filters to divert
spurious electric signals and thereby prevent damage to sensitive
components and circuits caused by electric surges.

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 Relation between Capacitance, charge and applied voltage
V ∝ Q or V = CQ; where 'C' is a constant of proportionality that depends on the
nature of the material of the conductor. This constant is known as the capacitance.
The amount of charge that moves into the plates depends upon the capacitance and
the applied voltage according to the formula Q=CV, where Q is the charge in
Coulombs, C is the capacitance in Farads, and V is the potential difference between
the plates in volts.

Symbols of capacitors

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Relation between Capacitance, Material of dielectric and other
physical parameters of the capacitor.

F/m

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 CHARGING OF A CAPACITOR

• The figure above shows a capacitor, ( C ) in series with a resistor, ( R ) forming a RC Charging Circuit connected across a DC battery supply ( Vs )
via a mechanical switch. at time zero, when the switch is first closed, the capacitor gradually charges up through the resistor until the voltage
across it reaches the supply voltage of the battery. The capacitor (C), charges up at a rate shown by the graph. The rise in the RC charging curve
is much steeper at the beginning because the charging rate is fastest at the start of charge but soon tapers off exponentially as the capacitor
takes on additional charge at a slower rate.
• As the capacitor charges up, the potential difference across its plates begins to increase with the actual time taken for the charge on the
capacitor to reach 63.2% of its maximum possible applied voltage being defined as one full Time Constant, ( T ).
• This RC time constant only specifies a rate of charge where, R is in Ω and C in Farads.
• Since voltage V is related to charge on a capacitor given by the equation, Vc = Q/C, the voltage across the capacitor ( Vc ) at any
instant in time during the charging period is given as:
Where:

• Vc is the voltage across the capacitor

• Vs is the supply voltage
• t is the elapsed time since the application of the supply voltage
• RC is the time constant of the RC charging circuit

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 DISCHARGING OF A CAPACITOR

• When the switch is first closed, the capacitor starts to discharge as shown. The rate of decay of the RC discharging
curve is steeper at the beginning because the discharging rate is fastest at the start, but then tapers off
exponentially as the capacitor looses charge at a slower rate. As the discharge continues, VC reduces resulting in
less discharging current.
• As the capacitor discharges, the potential difference across its plates begins to decrease with the actual time
taken for the charge on the capacitor to reach 36.8% of its maximum charged voltage being defined as one full
Time Constant ( T ).
• voltage across the capacitor ( Vc ) at any instant in time during the discharging period is given as:

• VC is the voltage across the capacitor

• VS is the supply voltage
• t is the elapsed time since the removal of the supply voltage
• RC is the time constant of the RC discharging circuit

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TYPES OF CAPACITORS

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 NON POLAR CAPACITORS
I. MICA CAPACITOR :
• Mica capacitor is one kind of capacitor where the mica (silicate
mineral) is used as a dielectric material that can be found in rocks,
granites, etc. This material plays a key role in electrical applications like
an electrical insulator.
• The construction of a mica capacitor can be done by inserting metal
coated mica sheets one over another on both sides. After that, this
construction can be covered within epoxy to protect it from the
environment. The minerals of mica are electrically, mechanically &
chemically stable due to the binding of its exact crystalline typical
layered structure. The thin sheets of this capacitor can be designed
with.025mm to 0.125 mm diameter.
• The applications of the mica capacitor include the following.
1. mica capacitors are used in power RF circuits where stability is
extremely important.
2. These capacitors are used in tuned circuits with high frequency like
oscillators and filters.
3. mica capacitors are used widely in high-voltage applications
because of the high breakdown voltage.

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 NON POLAR CAPACITORS
II. PAPER CAPACITORS:
• Paper capacitor is a capacitor that uses paper as the
dielectric to store electric charge. It consists of
aluminum sheets and paper sheets. The paper sheet
is covered or soaked with oil or wax to protect it
from outside harmful environment.
• The paper sheets and aluminum sheets are rolled in
the form of cylinder and wire leads are attached to
both ends of the aluminum sheets. The entire
cylinder is then coated with wax or plastic resin to
protect it from moisture in the air.
• The paper sheet capacitors are used in the high
voltage and high current applications.

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 NON POLAR CAPACITORS
III. CERAMIC CAPACITORS:
• A fixed value type of capacitor where the ceramic material
within the capacitor acts as a dielectric is the Ceramic
Capacitor. This capacitor consists of more number of
alternating layers with ceramic and also a metal layer which
acts as an electrode. The composition of this ceramic
material in this capacitor tells about the electrical behavior
along with its applications.
• Ceramic capacitors are mainly used for high stability
performances and wherein devices with low losses. These
devices provide very accurate results and also the
capacitance values of these capacitors are stable with
respect to the applied voltage, frequency and temperature.
• These capacitors are also used for temperature
compensation

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 POLAR/ ELECTROLYTIC CAPACITORS
1. ALUMINIUM ELECTROLYTIC CAPACITOR :
They are polarized capacitors whose anode(+) is made
of a pure aluminium foil with an etched surface. The
aluminum forms a very thin insulating layer
of aluminium oxide by anodization that acts as
the dielectric of the capacitor. A non-
solid electrolyte covers the rough surface of the oxide
layer, serving in principle as the second electrode
(cathode) (-) of the capacitor. A second aluminum foil
called “cathode foil” contacts the electrolyte and
serves as the electrical connection to the negative
terminal of the capacitor.
Aluminum electrolytic capacitors are typically used
in power supplies and DC-DC converters for
smoothing and buffering rectified DC voltages in many
electronic devices. They are also used in industrial
power supplies.

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 POLAR/ ELECTROLYTIC CAPACITORS
2. Tantalum capacitors
• Tantalum capacitors are made of metal
tantalum (Ta) as the anode material. An oxide
layer which forms on the surface of tantalum
can act as an insulating (dielectric) layer.
Because tantalum can be used to coat other
metals with a very thin layer, a high
capacitance can be achieved in a small
volume.
• Tantalum capacitor is widely used
in communications, aerospace and military
industries, submarine cables, advanced
electronic devices, civil appliances,
televisions, and many other aspects.

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 VARIABLE CAPACITORS
• AIR CAPACITORS:
• A variable capacitor is a capacitor whose capacitance may be
intentionally and repeatedly changed mechanically or
electronically. Variable capacitors are often used in LC
circuits to set the resonance frequency, e.g. to tune a radio
(therefore it is sometimes called a tuning capacitor or tuning
condenser), or as a variable reactance, e.g. for impedance
matching in antenna tuners.
• In mechanically controlled variable capacitors, the distance
between the plates, or the amount of plate surface area
which overlaps, can be changed.
• The most common form arranges a group of semicircular
metal plates on a rotary axis ("rotor") that are positioned in
the gaps between a set of stationary plates ("stator") so that
the area of overlap can be changed by rotating the axis. Air or
plastic foils can be used as dielectric material.

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CAPACITORS IN SERIES AND PARALLEL
SERIES COMBINATION PARALLEL COMBINATION

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