Capacitor And Capacitance

Capacitor And Capacitance

The capacitor is defined as the physical device which is capable of storing energy by virtue of voltage existing across it. The voltage applied across the capacitor sets up an electric field within it and the energy is stored in electric field. A capacitor essentially consists of two conducting surface separate by a layer of an insulating medium called dielectric. The capacitance of capacitor is defined as the amount of charge required to create a unit potential difference between its plates.

Mathematically,
                              Capacitance (C) = Q / V
The unit of capacitance is Farad (F).

Types of Capacitor:  

According to the material used for their dielectric, the capacitors are of following types.

1. Variable air capacitor
2. Mica capacitor 
3. Paper capacitor
4. Ceramic capacitor
5. Plastic capacitor
6. Titanium oxide capacitor
7. Electrolytic capacitor