What is capacitor | types of capacitor

 

What is capacitor?

A capacitor is an electronics component or device it can store electrical energy or charges.

This means that it can store electrical power, when it is connected to a power source such as a battery it stores some current inside, and when the battery is disconnected from it, then it releases current.

The capacitor used for jerk to any device, which appliance needs a jerk at staring time, like Motor, Fan, etc.

And it used for filter to the current and frequency, because when we AC current convert into DC current, so we need to filter the current then use for any equipment, because any DC appliances or equipment required pure DC current, otherwise DC load not be perform better.

How to work a capacitor?

The any capacitor has inside two metal plates, when we "current" supply to capacitor by battery then its plates will charge, you known that we have two wires such as Positive and Negative in any battery or current source, so we connect the positive wire to one plate of the Capacitor, and the negative wire to the other plate,

The plate to which the positive wire is supplied has positive charge and the other plate is negative, now one plate is charged with positive charge and the other plate is charged with negative charge.

We know that two same charges such as positive and positive will repel each other, and two opposite charges such as positive and negative will attract each other, same this law will work in capacitor,

We discussed above that one plate is charged by positive charge and other is by negative charged, so we keep some space in both plates, for this that both charges can easily attract to each other, and when they are attracted to each other, then charges will stay in the plates, because the two charges do not leave each other, so plates will remain in the same state until the battery is disconnected. When the battery is disconnected its charges will weaken, and leave each other then flowing back into the capacitor wires.

We put an insulator between the two plates, which will reduce the charges power, so that the two plates will not create shorted circuit together.

We have two different types of capacitor which is following

• Electrostatic capacitor
• Electrolytic capacitor

1- Electrostatic capacitor

The electrostatic capacitor has no polarity, so it is used for AC current. This means that the inverted wires can be connected to it without any harm.

But the electrostatic capacitor cannot store electrical energy because AC current is alternating current, which means it's always changing its polarity.

Therefore, as long as the capacitor plates are charged with a positive charge, the polarity of the AC current changes to a negative charge, so the capacitor is discharged again, and this system continues, means the capacitor is charged and discharged, for this it cannot store electrical energy.

We have two types of electrolytic capacitor

1- Ceramic Capacitor 

The Ceramic capacitor is small in size but it low filter frequency, it used in Radio, Telecommunication, or Television receiver etc. 

2- Film Capacitor

 

This type capacitor used for high voltage, it can used like a transformer, this capacitor also we use in small battery charger, such as 3v or 4v battery etc.  

·         Electrolytic capacitor

The electrolytic capacitor has polarity, this types of capacitor used for DC current such as power supply, charger, laptop, computer, electronics circuit etc.

Polarity means that we can't connect inverse wires to it; if we connect wrong wires to it then it can be break or burnt.

The Electrolytic capacitor has three types

1- Aluminum capacitor

2- Tantalum capacitor

3- Niobium capacitor

The aluminum capacitor look like a cylinder, and its upper body made from thin aluminum plate for this it called aluminum capacitor, while its size depends on its capacitance value, which capacitor has high capacitance then capacitor size will be big, and if capacitance has low then size will small,

     The Aluminum capacitors also has three more types

1- Radial type

2- Axial type

3- Snap-in type 

The Radial capacitor looks like a cylinder, but its wire is long and its wires protrude from the bottom. And we more use this type capacitor in many circuits.

You watch this picture

 

The Axial capacitor looks like Radial capacitor but it has only one different, that its wires out from both sides, and often very less used this types capacitor in the circuit.

 

The Snap-in type Capacitor is used for high rating value, and it is also large in size, but its wires or terminals are very small, so it can be easily adjusted in circuits while it size is big. We use it mostly in power supply circuits, such as computer, or LCD etc.

2- Tantalum capacitor

This type of capacitor is very small in size but it can store more charge than aluminum capacitor, it is used where we need more capacitance in small space.

It is made of tantalum material, for this it is called tantalum capacitor; it is mostly used in communication, civil appliances, television and advanced electronics devices.

 

3- Niobium capacitor

This type’s capacitor is very small, it also called SMD capacitor, it used in micro electronics circuits such as Laptop, Mobile, etc.

The niobium capacitor work is like Radial capacitor, but its size makes it different from other capacitors.

We also have SMD capacitor in cylindrical, which we used mostly in Mobile charger etc.

 

 The capacitor measurements unit is Farads denotes by F, it named set by English Physicist Faraday,

The Farad is large unit for capacitor capacitance measure, we mostly use Micro Farad, Pico farad, nano farad and so soon
 

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