Capacitors and

Inductors

Mustafa Kemal Uygurolu

Eastern Mediterranean University

Chap. 6, Capacitors and Inductors

Introduction
Capacitors
Series and Parallel Capacitors
Inductors
Series and Parallel Inductors

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6.1 Introduction
Resistor: a passive element which dissipates
energy only
Two important passive linear circuit elements:
1) Capacitor
2) Inductor

Capacitor and inductor can store energy only and

they can neither generate nor dissipate energy.

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Michael Faraday (1971-1867)

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6.2 Capacitors
A capacitor consists of two conducting plates
separated by an insulator (or dielectric).
A
d
r 0
C

0 8.854 10 12 (F/m)

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A
C
d
Three factors affecting the value of capacitance:
1.

Area: the larger the area, the greater the capacitance.

2.

Spacing between the plates: the smaller the spacing,

the greater the capacitance.

3.

Material permittivity: the higher the permittivity, the

greater the capacitance.

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Fig 6.4

(a) Polyester capacitor, (b) Ceramic capacitor, (c) Electrolytic capacitor

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Fig 6.5

Variable capacitors

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Fig 6.3

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Fig 6.2

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Charge in Capacitors
The relation between the charge in plates and the
voltage across a capacitor is given below.

q Cv
1F 1 C/V

Linear
Nonlinear

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Voltage Limit on a Capacitor

Since q=Cv, the plate charge increases as the
voltage increases. The electric field intensity
between two plates increases. If the voltage across
the capacitor is so large that the field intensity is
large enough to break down the insulation of the
dielectric, the capacitor is out of work. Hence,
every practical capacitor has a maximum limit on
its operating voltage.

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I-V Relation of Capacitor

+
v

i
C

dq
dv
q Cv, i
C
dt
dt

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Physical Meaning
dv
iC
dt

+
v

i
C

when v is a constant voltage, then i=0; a constant

voltage across a capacitor creates no current through
the capacitor, the capacitor in this case is the same as
an open circuit.
If v is abruptly changed, then the current will have an
infinite value that is practically impossible. Hence, a
capacitor is impossible to have an abrupt change in
its voltage except an infinite current is applied.
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Fig 6.7
A capacitor is an open circuit to dc.
The voltage on a capacitor cannot change abruptly.

Abrupt change
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dv
iC
dt

1 t
v(t ) idt
C

1 t
v(t ) idt v(to)
C to

v() 0

v(to) q(to) / C

+
v

i
C

The charge on a capacitor is an integration of

current through the capacitor. Hence, the memory
effect counts.

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Energy Storing in Capacitor

dv
p vi Cv
dt
v (t )
dv
1 2
w pdt C v dt C v ( ) vdv Cv
dt
2
t

1
w(t ) Cv 2 (t )
2

( v( ) 0)

q 2 (t )
w(t )
2C

+
v

v (t )
v ( )

i
C

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Model of Practical Capacitor

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Example 6.1
(a) Calculate the charge stored on a 3-pF capacitor
with 20V across it.
(b) Find the energy stored in the capacitor.

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Example 6.1
Solution:
(a) Since q Cv,

q 3 10

12

20 60pC

(b) The energy stored is

1 2 1
12
w Cv 3 10 400 600pJ
2
2

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Example 6.2
The voltage across a 5- F capacitor is

v(t ) 10 cos 6000t V

Calculate the current through it.
Solution:
By definition, the current is
dv
6 d
iC
5 10
(10 cos 6000t )
dt
dt
5 10 6 6000 10 sin 6000t 0.3 sin 6000t A

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Example 6.3
Determine the voltage across a 2-F capacitor if the
current through it is

i (t ) 6e

3000t

mA

Assume that the initial capacitor voltage is zero.

Solution:

1 t
v

idt

v
(
0
)
and
v
(
0
)

0
,

0
Since
C
3
t
1
3000 t
3 10 3000t t
3
v
6
e
dt 10
e
6 0
0
2 10
3000
(1 e

3000t

)V
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Example 6.4
Determine the current through a 200- F capacitor
whose voltage is shown in Fig 6.9.

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Example 6.4
Solution:
The voltage waveform can be described
mathematically as

v(t )

50t V
0 t 1
100 50t V
1 t 3
200 50t V
3t 4
0 otherwise

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Example 6.4
Since i = C dv/dt and C = 200 F, we take the
derivative of to obtain

i (t ) 200 10

50
0 t 1 10mA
0 t 1
50
1 t 3 10mA
1 t 3

50 3 t 4
10mA
3t 4

0 otherwise
0 otherwise

Thus the current waveform is shown in Fig.6.10.

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Example 6.4

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Example 6.5
Obtain the energy stored in each capacitor in Fig.
6.12(a) under dc condition.

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Example 6.5
Solution:
Under dc condition, we replace each capacitor with
an open circuit. By current division,

3
i
(6mA) 2mA
3 2 4
v1 2000 i 4 V, v 2 4000i 8 V
1
1
2
3
2
w1 C1v1 (2 10 )(4) 16mJ
2
2
1
1
2
3
2
w2 C2 v2 (4 10 )(8) 128mJ
2
2
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Fig 6.14

Ceq C1 C2 C3 .... C N

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6.3 Series and Parallel Capacitors

i i1 i2 i3 ... iN
dv
dv
dv
dv
i C1 C2 C3 ... C N
dt
dt
dt
dt
N
dv
dv

CK
Ceq
dt
k 1 dt
Ceq C1 C2 C3 .... C N
The equivalent capacitance of N parallel-connected
capacitors is the sum of the individual capacitance.
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Fig 6.15

1
1
1
1
1

...
Ceq C1 C2 C3
CN

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Series Capacitors
v(t ) v1 (t ) v2 (t ) ... v N (t )

1
Ceq

1
1
1
1 t
id ( C1 C2 C3 ... C N )id
t

q (t ) q (t ) q (t )
q (t )

Ceq
C1
C2
CN

The equivalent capacitance of series-connected

capacitors is the reciprocal of the sum of the
reciprocals of the individual capacitances.

1
1 1

Ceq C1 C2

C1C2
Ceq
C1 C2

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Summary
These results enable us to look the capacitor in this
way: 1/C has the equivalent effect as the resistance.
The equivalent capacitor of capacitors connected in
parallel or series can be obtained via this point of
view, so is the Y- connection and its
transformation

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Example 6.6
Find the equivalent capacitance seen between
terminals a and b of the circuit in Fig 6.16.

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Example 6.6
Solution:

20 F and 5 F capacitors are in series:

20 5

4 F
20 5
4 F capacitor is in parallel with the 6 F
and 20 F capacitors:
4 6 20 30 F
30 F capacitor is in series with
the 60 F capacitor.
30 60
Ceq
F 20 F
30 60
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Example 6.7
For the circuit in Fig 6.18, find the voltage across
each capacitor.

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Example 6.7

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Example 6.7
Solution:
Two parallel capacitors:

Ceq

1
1 1 1

60 30 20

mF 10mF

3
Total qcharge
C v 10 10 30 0.3 C
eq

This is the charge on the 20-mF and 30-mF

capacitors, because they are in series with the 30-v
source. ( A crude way to see this is to imagine that
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charge acts like current,
since i = dq/dt)

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Example 6.7
Therefore,

v1

q
0.3

15 V,
3
C1
20 10

v2

q
0 .3

10 V
3
C2 30 10

Having determined v1 and v2, we now use

KVL to determine v3 by

v3 30 v1 v2 5V

Alternatively, since the 40-mF and 20-mF

capacitors are in parallel, they have the same
voltage v3 and their combined capacitance is
q
0. 3
40+20=60mF.
v3

5V
3

60mF

60 10

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Joseph Henry (1979-1878)

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6.4 Inductors
An inductor is made of a coil of conducting wire

N A
L
l
2

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Fig 6.22
N 2 A
L
l
r 0

0 4 10 7 (H/m)

N : number of turns.
l :length.
A:cross sectional area.
: permeability of the core

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Fig 6.23

(a) air-core
(b) iron-core
(c) variable iron-core

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Flux in Inductors
The relation between the flux in inductor and the
current through the inductor is given below.

Li
1H 1 Weber/A

Linear
Nonlinear

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Energy Storage Form

An inductor is a passive element designed to store
energy in the magnetic field while a capacitor
stores energy in the electric field.

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I-V Relation of Inductors

An inductor consists of
a coil of conducting
wire.
d
di

dt

i
+
v

dt
-

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Physical Meaning

d
di
v
L
dt
dt
When the current through an inductor is a constant,
then the voltage across the inductor is zero, same as
a short circuit.
No abrupt change of the current through an
inductor is possible except an infinite voltage across
the inductor is applied.
The inductor can be used to generate a high voltage,
for example, used as
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element.

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Fig 6.25
An inductor are like a short circuit to dc.
The current through an inductor cannot change
instantaneously.

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1
di vdt
L

1 t
i v (t )dt
L

1 t
i v(t )dt i (to )
L to

+
v

L
-

The inductor has memory.

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Energy Stored in an Inductor

di
P vi L i
dt

v
di
L

w pdt L idt
dt
i (t )
1 2
1 2
L i ( ) i di Li (t ) Li () i () 0,
2
2
t

The energy stored in an inductor

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1 2
w(t ) Li (t )
2
50

Model of a Practical Inductor

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Example 6.8
The current through a 0.1-H inductor is i(t) = 10te-5t
A. Find the voltage across the inductor and the
energy stored in it.
Solution:

di
Since v L and L 0.1H,
dt
d
v 0.1 (10te 5t ) e 5t t (5)e 5t e 5t (1 5t )V
dt
The energy stored is
1 2 1
w Li (0.1)100t 2 e 10t 5t 2 e 10t J
2
2
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Example 6.9
Find the current through a 5-H inductor if the
voltage across it is
2

30t , t 0
v(t )
t0
0,

Also find the energy stored within 0 < t < 5s.

Assume i(0)=0.
Solution:

1 t
Since i t v(t )dt i (t0 ) and L 5H.
L
3
t
1
t
2
i 0 30t dt 0 6 2t 3 A
5
3
0

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Example 6.9
The power p vi 60t , and the energy stored is then
5

t 5
w pdt 0 60t dt 60
156.25 kJ
60
Alternatively, we can obtain the energy stored using
5

Eq.(6.13), by writing

1 2
1
w(5) w(0) Li (5) Li (0)
2
2
1
3 2
(5)(2 5 ) 0 156.25 kJ
2
as obtained before.
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Example 6.10
Consider the circuit in
Fig 6.27(a). Under dc
conditions, find:
(a) i, vC, and iL.
(b) the energy stored in
the capacitor and
inductor.

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Example 6.10
Solution:
(a ) Under dc condition : capacitor open circuit

inductor short circuit

12
i iL
2 A, vc 5i 10 V
1 5
(b)

1
1
2
wc Cvc (1)(10 ) 50J,
2
2
1 2 1
wL Li (2)(2 2 ) 4J
2
2
2

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Inductors in Series

Leq L1 L2 L3 ... LN

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Inductors in Parallel

1
1 1
1

Leq L1 L2
LN

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6.5 Series and Parallel Inductors

Applying KVL to the loop,

v v1 v2 v3 ... v N
Substituting vk = Lk di/dt results in

di
di
di
di
v L1 L2 L3 ... LN
dt
dt
dt
dt
di
( L1 L2 L3 ... LN )
dt
N
di
di

LK
Leq
dt
K 1 dt
Leq L1 L2 L3 ... LN
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Parallel Inductors
Using KCL,
But
1
i
Lk

1
ik
Lk

i i1 i2 i3 ... iN

t vdt ik (t0 )
o

1
1 t
vdt i1 (t0 ) t vdt is (t0 ) ...
LN
L2
0

1 1
1

...
LN
L1 L2

1

k 1 Lk
N

t vdt iN (t0 )
0

t vdt i1 (t0 ) i2 (t0 ) ... iN (t0 )

0

1 t
vdt ik (t0 )
vdt i (t0 )

t
Leq
k 1
N

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 The inductor in various connection has the same

effect as the resistor. Hence, the Y- transformation
of inductors can be similarly derived.

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Table 6.1

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Example 6.11
Find the equivalent inductance of the circuit shown
in Fig. 6.31.

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Example 6.11
Solution:

Series : 20H, 12H, 10H

42H
7 42
6H
Parallel :
7 42
Leq 4 6 8 18H

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Practice Problem 6.11

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Example 6.12
Find the circuit in Fig. 6.33,

i (t ) 4(2 e
If i (0) 1 mAfind
:
(a) i (0)
,
2
(b) v(t ), v1 (t ), and v2 (t ); (c) i1 (t ) and i2 (t )

10t

)mA.

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Example 6.12
Solution:

(a ) i (t ) 4(2 e

10 t

)mA i (0) 4(2 1) 4mA.

i1 (0) i (0) i2 (0) 4 (1) 5mA

(b) The equivalent inductance is
Leq 2 4 || 12 2 3 5H
di
10 t
10 t
v(t ) Leq 5(4)(1)(10)e mV 200e mV
dt
di
10 t
10 t
v1 (t ) 2 2(4)(10)e mV 80e mV
dt
10 t
v2 (t ) v(t ) v1(t ) 120e mV
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Example 6.12
1 t
(c) i 0 v(t ) dt i (0)
L
1 t
120 t 10t
i1 (t ) 0 v2 dt i1 (0)
e
dt

5
mA

4
4 0
10 t t
3e
5 mA 3e 10t 3 5 8 3e 10t mA
0
1 t
120 t 10t
i2 (t ) 0 v2 dt i2 (0)
e dt 1mA

0
12
12
10 t t
e
1mA e 10t 1 1 e 10t mA
0
Note that i1 (t ) i2 (t ) i (t )
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