PHYSICS

INVESTIGATORY

PROJECT
2018
KENDRIYA VIDYALAYA NO.1 AIR FORCE STATION SECTOR-14
GURUGRAM
VISHAL
CLASS: 12-C SUBMITTED TO:
ROLL NO: 02 MRS. PUNAM
SHARMA

CAPACITORS:
DETAIL, TYPES & USES
Contents
Acknowledgement _________________________ 1
Certificate ________________________________ 2
Capacitors________________________________3
Amount of Charge Q A Capacitor Can Store _____ 4
__________________________________________
Self-Capacitance___________________________6
Charging & Discharging of a Capacitor _________ 7
__________________________________________
Energy in a Capacitor________________________8
Type of Capacitors__________________________9
Uses of Capacitors_________________________12
Bibliography______________________________15
Pg. 2018-19
01

Acknowledgement

I would like to sincerely and profusely thank my Physics teacher Mrs.

Puman Sharma, for his able guidance and support in completing my
project.
I would also like to extend my gratitude to the principal for providing mw
with all the facility that was required.
Last but not the least, I would extend my gratitude towards all teaching and
all the non-teaching staff of Kendriya Vidyalaya No.1 Sector-14
Gurugram and towards my friends who has supported me to complete this
project.

Vishal
02

Certificate
This is to certify that Vishal of class XII-C has successfully
completed the investigatory project on the topic
Pg. 2018-19
“CAPACITORS: DETAIL, TYPES & USES” under my
guidance during the year 2018-19 in the partial fulfillment of
the
physics practical examination conducted by CBSE.

Teacher’s Signature

Mrs. Punam Sharma

03

Capacitors
 Pg. 2018-19

Introduction
A capacitor is a device used to store electric charge.
Capacitors have applications ranging from filtering
static out of radio reception to energy storage in heart
defibrillators. Typically, commercial capacitors have two
conducting parts close to one another, but not
touching. When battery terminals are connected to an
initially uncharged capacitors, equal amount of positive
and negative charge, +Q and –Q, are separated into its
two plates. The capacitor remains neutral overall, but
we refer to it as storing a charge Q in this
circumstance.
FIG. Both capacitors
shown here were
initially uncharged
before being connected to
a battery. They now have
separated charges of +Q
and –Q on their two halves.

A) A parallel plate capacitor

B) A rolled capacitor with an
insulating material

between the
charged plates

04
Pg. 2018-19

Amount of Charge Q A Capacitor

Can Store

The amount of charge Q a capacitor can store depends

on two major factors- the voltage applied and the
capacitor’s physical characteristics, such as its size. In
Figure given below each electric field line starts on an
individual positive and ends on a negative one, so that
there will be more field lines if there is more charge. The
electric field strength is, thus, directly proportional to Q.
parallel plate capacitor, as
always, start on positive and end on negative
charges.

The field is proportional to

the charge: E α Q We
know that,

V = Ed

So, VαE
FIG. Electric field
lines in the Hence, VαQ
Pg. 2018-19
Removing Faraday (1791-1867), an
sign of English scientist who
proportionalit
y contributed to the fields of
electromagnetism and
we get,
electrochemistry. Since
capacitance is charge per
Q
unit voltage, we see that a
= CV
farad is a coulomb per volt.

1𝐶
Where C =

= 1f
capacitance
of the
parallel plate 1𝑉
capacitor.
05 A 1-farad capacitor would be
able to store 1 coulomb with
the application of only 1 volt.
One farad is, thus a very
large capacitance. Typical
FIG. Some common capacitors range from
capacitors. Capacitors
are primarily made of
fractions of a picofarad to
ceramic, glass, or millifarads.
plastic, depending upon
purpose and size

The unit of
capacitance
is the farad
(F), named
for Michael
Pg. 2018-19

06

Self-Capacitance
Self-capacitance property is related to the capacitors
especially to the isolated conductor to raise its potential
difference to one volt. Generally normal conductors will
have mutual capacitance. This is also measured in the S.I
units i.e. Farads.
The Self-capacitance of a conducting sphere which has the
radius ‘R’ is given by.

C=4πεoR

Self-capacitance values of some standard devices are

given below.
Pg. 2018-19
• For the top plate of a van de Graff generator which is having radius of
20 cm self-capacitance is 22.24pF.
• For the planet
EARTH self-capacitance is 710 µF.

07

Charging & Discharging of a

Capacitor
Let us assume that the capacitor, which is shown in the
Figure below in the circuit, is completely discharged. In this
circuit the capacitor value is 100 µF and the supply voltage
applied to this circuit is 12V.
Now the switch which is connected to the capacitor in the
circuit is moved to the
point A. Then
A B the capacitor starts
charging with the
charging current I. The
charging voltage across
the capacitor is equal to
the supply voltage
Pg. 2018-19
when the
capacitor is fully

charged i.e. VS = VC = 12V.

In the case of ideal capacitors the charge remains constant
on the capacitor but in the case of general capacitors the
fully charged capacitors is slowly discharged because of its
leakage current.
When the switch is moved to the position B, then the
capacitor slowly discharges by switching on the lamp which
is connected in the circuit.
08

Energy in a Capacitor
Energy is the amount of some work against the electro-
static field to charge the capacitor fully. In the capacitor at
initial stage of charging, the charge Q transferred between
the plates from one plate to another plate. This charge
either +Q or –Q is interchanged between two plates of a
capacitor. After transformation of some charge an electric
field is formed between the plates, in that case we need
some extra work to charge the capacitor fully. This extra
work is called as the energy stored in a capacitor, the
energy is measured in the units of Joules (J). Now we see
the equations for this energy and work.
Pg. 2018-19
dW = V dQ
dW = (Q/C) dQ After integration of the

above equation is
W = Q2 / 2C
W = (CV)2 / 2C
W = CV2 / 2 Joules
Finally we get the energy stored in a capacitor is
Energy (W) = CV2 / 2 Joules
Now we calculate the energy stored in a capacitor of
capacitance 200 µF which operate with voltage of 12V
W = (200 x 10-6 x 122) / 2 = 14.4 mJ
09

Type of Capacitors
 Film Capacitors
 Film Capacitors comprising of a generally expansive group of
capacitors with the distinction being in their dielectric properties.  Film
Capacitors are available in almost any value and voltages as high as
1500 volts.

 They come in tolerance from 10% to 0.01%.

Pg. 2018-19
 There are two types of film capacitors i.e.
Radial lead type & Axial lead type.

 The
electrodes of film capacitors may be
metalized aluminum or zinc.  It use
polystyrene, polycarbonate or Teflon
as their dielectrics.
 It can be used in AC voltage
applications, and they have much more stable
electrical parameters.
Pg. 10 2018-19

 Ceramic Capacitors
 Ceramic capacitors are used in high frequency circuits
such as audio to RF.

 Ceramic Capacitors are the vest choice for high frequency

compensation in audio circuits.  These capacitors are
also called as disc capacitors.
 Ceramic capacitors are
made by coating two sides of
a small porcelain or ceramic
disc with silver and are then
stacked together to make a
capacitor.

 One can make both capacitance in ceramic

capacitors.

 They come in values from a few Pico farads to 1

microfarad.

 The voltage range is from a few volts up to many

thousands of volts.

 Ceramics are inexpensive to manufacture and they come

with several dielectrics types.
Pg. 11 2018-19

 Electrolytic Capacitors
 It is most prevalently used capacitors which have a wide
tolerance capacity.
 Electrolytic capacitors are available with working voltages
up to about 500V.
 There are two types of
electrolytic capacitor, Tantalum
and Aluminum.
 Tantalums capacitors have
ordinarily better exhibition, higher
value.
 The dielectric properties of
tantalum oxide is much superior
to
those of aluminum oxide.
 It has an easier leakage current and better capacitance
strength which makes them suitable for obstructing,
decoupling, filtering applications.
 The thickness of the aluminum oxide film and heightened
breakdown voltage gives the capacitor exceptionally
elevated capacitance values for their size.
 Pg. 12 2018-19

Uses of Capacitors
Capacitors are devices which store electrical charge. They
are a basic component of electronics and have a host of
various applications. The most common use for capacitors
is energy storage. Additional uses include power
conditioning, signal coupling or decoupling, electronic noise
filtering, and remote sensing. Because of its varied
applications, capacitors are used in a wide range of
industries and have become a vital part of everyday life.

 Capacitors for
Energy Storage
Capacitors
have been
used to store
electrical
energy since the late 18th century. Benjamin
Franklin was the first to coin the phrase “battery” for a
series of capacitors in an energy store application.
Individual capacitors generally do not hold a great
deal of energy, providing only enough power for
electronic devices to use during temporary power
outages or when they need additional power. For
example, large capacitors are included in car audio
Pg. 13 2018-19

systems to provide extra power to amplifiers when

needed.
 Capacitors for Power Conditioning
One important application of capacitors is the
conditioning of power supplies. Capacitors allow AC
signals to pass but block DC signals when they are
charged. They can effectively split these two signal
types, cleaning the supply of power. This effect has
been exploited to separate or decouple different parts
of electrical circuits to reduce noise which could lead
to reduction of efficiency. Capacitors are also used
inutility substations to counteract inductive loading
introduced by transmission lines.

 Capacitors as Sensors
Capacitors are used as sensors to measure a variety
of things, including air humidity, fuel levels and
mechanical strain. The capacitance of a device is
dependent on its structure. Changes in the structure
can be measured as a loss or gain of capacitance.
Two aspects of a capacitor are used in sensing
applications: the distance between parallel plates
and the material between them. The former is used
to detect mechanical changes such as acceleration
and pressure. Even minute changes in the material
between the plates can be enough to alter the
Pg. 14 2018-19

capacitance of the device, an effect exploited when

sensing air humidity.

 Capacitors for Signal Processing

Capacitors have found increasingly
advanced applications in information technology.
Dynamic Random Access Memory (DRAM) devices
use capacitors to represent
binary information as bits.
The device reads one
value when the capacitor is
charged and another
when discharged.
Charge Coupled Devices
(CCDs) use capacitors in
an analogue form.
Capacitors are also used in conjunction with inductors
to tune circuits to particular frequencies, an effect
exploited by radio receivers, speakers and analog
equalizers.

Bibliography
• www.openstacks.com
• www.slideshare.com
Pg. 15 2018-19

• www.googleimages.com
•
www.wikipedia.org
• www.scribd.org  www.techwalla.com