ELECTRICAL INSTALLATION
LEVEL ONE
BUILDING SIMPLE DC-CIRCUIT
Lecture 3
Capacitor in D.C. circuit.
Capacitor.
Any two conducting surfaces separated by an insulating
material is called a capacitor or condenser. Its purpose is to
store charge in a small space.
The conducting surfaces are called the plates of the capacitor
and the insulating material is called the dielectric.
The most commonly used dielectrics are air, mica, waxed
paper, ceramics etc.
The following points may be noted carefully :
(i) The ability of a capacitor to store charge (i.e. its capacitance)
depends upon the area of plates, distance between plates and the
nature of insulating material (or dielectric).
(ii) A capacitor is generally named after the dielectric used e.g. air
capacitor, paper capacitor, mica capacitor etc.
(iii) The capacitor may be in the form of parallel plates, concentric
cylinder or other arrangement.
How does a Capacitor Store Charge ?
Consider the diagrams below.
The following points may be noted about the action of a capacitor :
(i) When a d.c. potential difference is applied across a capacitor, a
charging current will flow until the capacitor is fully charged when
the current will cease. This whole charging process takes place in a
very short time, a fraction of a second. Thus a capacitor once
charged, prevents the flow of direct current.
(ii) The current does not flow through the capacitor i.e. between the
plates. There is only transference of electrons from one plate to the
other.
iii. When a capacitor is charged, the two plates carry equal and opposite
charges (say + Q and –Q). This is expected because one plate loses as
many electrons as the other plate gains. Thus charge on a capacitor
means charge on either plate.
iv. The energy required to charge the capacitor (i.e. transfer of
electrons from one plate to the other) is supplied by the battery.
Capacitance .
The ability of a capacitor to store charge is known as its
capacitance. It has been found experimentally that charge Q
stored in a capacitor is directly proportional to the p.d. V
across it
Q V or = Constant = C The constant C is called the
capacitance of the capacitor. Hence capacitance of a capacitor
can be defined as under : Is the ratio of charge on capacitor
plates to the p.d. across the plates
Unit of capacitance We know that : C = Q/V The SI unit of
charge is 1 coulomb and that of voltage is 1 volt. Therefore,
the SI unit of capacitance is one coulomb/volt which is also
called farad (Symbol F) .
1 farad = 1 coulomb/volt A capacitor is said to have a
capacitance of 1 farad if a charge of 1 coulomb accumulates
on each plate when a p.d. of 1 volt is applied across the
plates. The farad is an extremely large unit of capacitance.
Practical capacitors have capacitances of the order of
microfarad (µF) and picofarad (pF).
1 µF = 10−6F ;
1 pF= 10−12 F
Factors Affecting Capacitance
The ability of a capacitor to store charge (i.e. its capacitance) depends
upon the following factors :
(i) Area of plate. The greater the area of capacitor plates, the larger is
the capacitance of the capacitor and vice-versa.
(ii) Thickness of dielectric. The capacitance of a capacitor is inversely
proportional to the thickness (i.e. distance between plates) of the
dielectric. The smaller the thickness of dielectric, the greater the
capacitance and vice-versa.
(iii) Relative permittivity of dielectric. The greater the relative
permittivity of the insulating material (i.e., dielectric), the greater
will be the capacitance of the capacitor and vice-versa.
Dielectric Constant or Relative Permittivity
The ability of a dielectric material to concentrate electric lines
of force between the plates of a capacitor
Or
is the ratio of capacitance of a capacitor with that material as
a dielectric to the capacitance of the same capacitor with air
as dielectric.
Capacitance reading using color code.
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Capacitors in Series.
Consider three capacitors, having capacitances C1, C2 and C3 farad
respectively, connected in series across a p.d. of V volts. In series
connection, charge on each capacitor is the same (i.e. +Q on one plate
and −Q on the other) but p.d. across each is different.
Now
But Q/V is the total capacitance between points A and B so that V/Q
Thus capacitors in series are treated in the same manner as are resistors
in parallel.
Capacitors in Parallel.
Consider three capacitors, having capacitances C1, C2 and C3 farad
respectively, connected in parallel across a p.d. of V volts. In parallel
connection, p.d. across each capacitor is the same but charge on each is
different.
Q = Q1 + Q2 + Q3
= C1 V + C2 V + C3 V
= V(C1 + C2 + C3)
Q/V = C1 + C2 + C3
But Q/V is the total capacitance CT of the parallel combination
CT = C1 + C2 + C3
Thus capacitors in parallel are treated in the same manner as are
resistors in series. Note. Capacitors may be connected in parallel to
obtain larger values of capacitance than are available from individual
units.
Example
Obtain the equivalent capacitance for the network shown below For 300
V d.c. supply, determine the charge and voltage across each capacitor.
Example
Two capacitor connected in series one has 5uF and the other has 6uF
and across a dc source of 10v, find the equivalent capacitance and the
voltage drop on each capacitor.