Free Expert Guides on Power Systems, Circuit Design & Electrical Troubleshooting

An electrolytic capacitor is a special type of capacitor which uses an electrolyte for achieving higher capacitance ranging from 1uF to 50mF value, unlike other capacitors. An electrolyte is a solution having a high concentration of ions in it. Aluminium electrolytic capacitor, tantalum electrolytic capacitor and niobium electrolytic capacitor are three class of electrolytic capacitors used. For example in aluminium electrolytic capacitor, two aluminium metal foils are used as electrodes. The al

A parallel plate capacitor is a device that can store electric charge and energy in the form of an electric field between two conductive plates. The plates are separated by a small distance and are connected to a voltage source, such as a battery. The space between the plates can be filled with air, a vacuum, or a dielectric material, which is an insulator that can be polarized by an electric field.What is a Parallel Plate Capacitor?A parallel plate capacitor is defined as an arrangement of two

While capacitor is connected across a battery, charges come from the battery and get stored in the capacitor plates. But this process of energy storing is step by step only.At the very beginning, capacitor does not have any charge or potential. i.e. V = 0 volts and q = 0 C.Now at the time of switching, full battery voltage will fall across the capacitor. A positive charge (q) will come to the positive plate of the capacitor, but there is no work done for this first charge (q) to come to the posi

What is Discharging a Capacitor?Discharging a capacitor means releasing the charge stored within the capacitor. Let’s go over an example where a capacitor is discharged.We connect a charged capacitor of capacitance C farad in series with a resistor of resistance R ohms.We then short circuit this series combination by switching on the push switch as shown.As soon as the capacitor is short-circuited, it starts discharging.Let us assume, the voltage of the capacitor at fully charged condition is V

When a voltage is suddenly applied across a capacitor, which are previously uncharged, electrons shifting from source to capacitor to source start immediately. In other words, accumulation of change in the capacitor starts instantly. As the charge accumulating in the capacitor increases, the voltage developed across the capacitor increases. The voltage developed across the capacitor approaches to supply voltage the rate of charge accumulation in the capacitor decreases accordingly. When these tw

Capacitor in SeriesLet us connect n number of capacitors in series. V volt is applied across this series combination of capacitors.Let us consider capacitance of capacitors are C1, C2, C3…….Cn respectively, and equivalent capacitance of series combination of the capacitors is C. The voltage drops across capacitors are considered to be V1, V2, V3…….Vn, respectively.Now, if Q coulomb be the charge transferred from the source through these capacitors, then,Since the charge accumulated in each capac

Quality Factor of InductorEvery inductor possesses a small resistance in addition to its inductance. The lower the value of this resistance R, the better the quality of the coil. The quality factor or the Q factor of an inductor at the operating frequency ω is defined as the ratio of reactance of the coil to its resistance.Thus for a inductor, quality factor is expressed as,Where, L is the effective inductance of the coil in Henrys and R is the effective resistance of the coil in Ohms. As the un

What is a Capacitor?Capacitors are one of three fundamental electronic components that form the foundation of a circuit – along with resistors and inductors. A capacitor in an electrical circuit behaves as a charge storage device. It holds the electric charge when we apply a voltage across it, and it gives up the stored charge to the circuit as when required.The most basic construction of a capacitor consists of two parallel conductors (usually metallic plates) separated by a dielectric material

To demonstrate how does a capacitor work, let us consider a most basic structure of a capacitor. It is made of two parallel conducting plates separated by a dielectric that is parallel plate capacitor. When we connect a battery (DC Voltage Source) across the capacitor, one plate (plate-I) gets attached to the positive end, and another plate (plate-II) to the negative end of the battery. Now, the potential of that battery is applied across that capacitor. At that situation, plate-I is in positive

Whenever we connect an uncharged or partly charged capacitor with a voltage source whos voltage is more than the voltage of the capacitor (in case of partly charged capacitor) it recieves charge from the source and the voltage across the capacitor rises exponentially until it becomes equal and opposite to voltage of the source.Let us connect one capacitor of capacitance C in series with a resistor of resistance R. We also connect this series combination of capacitor and resistor with a battery o