1. Capacitors (Condenser)

2. Function > Store Electric Charge

3. Not the same as a chemical battery…When electric charge accumulates on the plates, an electric field is created in the region between the plates

4. The electrons in the molecules move or rotate the molecule toward the positively charged left plate. This process creates an opposing electric field that partially annuls the field created by the plates. (The air gap is shown for clarity; in a real capacitor, the dielectric is in direct contact with the plates.)

5. Dielectric Non-Conductive Materials > Mylar (Clocks) > Teflon > Ceramics (X-rays & MRI) > Porcelain > Cellulose > Glass (High Voltage) > Air (Radios) > Plastics (Timer Circuits)

8. Capacitance Measure of a Capacitor’s ability to store Charge. (farads)
Capacitance Measure of a Capacitor’s ability to store Charge. (farads) Circuit Symbol

9. Measure A capacitance of one farad means that 1 coulomb of charge on each conductor causes a voltage of 1 volt across the device.

10. Applications > AC-to-DC conversion > Smoothing output of power supplies. > Filter Networks > Tuning Radio Frequencies > Timing Circuits (time to charge)