How does a capacitor discharge? When a conductor is Electrons flow from the negative connected across a charged plate to the positive plate. capacitor, it will discharge.
Its high potential difference
forces electrons from one plate to the other.
This decreases the potential
difference across the capacitor, and causes a current to flow, The current lights the bulb. lighting the bulb.
The bulb will only light for a few seconds as the capacitor does not store a great deal of charge.
Uses for capacitors Capacitors are used in defibrillators to store electric charge. Initially the capacitor is charged from a power source. There is no power to the paddles. Once the paddles are positioned on the patient’s chest, the circuit between the paddles and capacitor is completed. The capacitor can now release the charge in a very short space of time, via the patient’s heart. This results in a large current which can restart the heart.
From AC to DC AC is used to carry electrical energy around the country as: Its voltage is easy to change using transformers. It requires a simple generator.
Most modern appliances in our home
now use microchips. Most microchips require DC with a near constant voltage to function.
This means we must convert AC from the mains, to DC in
Rectification There are two major steps required to convert an AC signal to a DC signal: The current must be made to flow in a constant direction. The variations in voltage must be removed. Rectification is the process which makes an AC signal flow in a constant direction.
The signal produced is imperfect DC, as its voltage still varies.
Conduction in metals For materials to conduct electricity, they must be able to transfer a charge when a potential difference is applied across them. metal ions: fixed positive charge Metals conduct electricity due to delocalized electrons. These electrons are not bound to a single atom, and act as a source of mobile negative charge. Despite this free charge, metals have a net neutral charge. As free electrons are released from the metal atoms, the atoms are left with a balancing positive charge. electrons: mobile negative charge
Smoothing Smoothing turns the bumpy rectified signal into a smooth, near-perfect direct current, which can be used by microchips. A capacitor is used to smooth the signal.