Capacitance Converter

Understanding Capacitance

Capacitance measures a component's ability to store electric charge. You express capacitance in farads (F), named after physicist Michael Faraday. One farad stores one coulomb of charge at one volt potential difference.

Capacitors consist of two conductive plates separated by a dielectric material. The dielectric constant, plate area, and separation distance determine capacitance value.

Capacitance Formulas

Example: A 100 microfarad capacitor charged to 25 volts stores E = 0.5 × 100 × 10⁻⁶ F × 25² V² = 0.03125 joules.

Common Capacitance Conversions

Capacitor Types and Applications

RC Circuit Time Constant

Example: A 10 kΩ resistor with a 100 μF capacitor produces τ = 10,000 Ω × 0.0001 F = 1 second. The capacitor reaches full charge in approximately 5 seconds.

Frequently Asked Questions