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Series & Parallel Circuiting of Capacitors: Ctot C1 C2 + CN

When capacitors are connected in series, the total capacitance is less than the smallest individual capacitance. The formula is 1/Ctotal = 1/C1 + 1/C2 +...+ 1/Cn. When connected in parallel, the total capacitance is equal to the sum of the individual capacitances, or Ctotal = C1 + C2 +...+ Cn. This document describes an experiment measuring the capacitance and capacitive reactance of capacitors connected in series and parallel, finding that the measurements match the theoretical calculations and formulas.

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محمد زبن
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88 views5 pages

Series & Parallel Circuiting of Capacitors: Ctot C1 C2 + CN

When capacitors are connected in series, the total capacitance is less than the smallest individual capacitance. The formula is 1/Ctotal = 1/C1 + 1/C2 +...+ 1/Cn. When connected in parallel, the total capacitance is equal to the sum of the individual capacitances, or Ctotal = C1 + C2 +...+ Cn. This document describes an experiment measuring the capacitance and capacitive reactance of capacitors connected in series and parallel, finding that the measurements match the theoretical calculations and formulas.

Uploaded by

محمد زبن
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Series & parallel circuiting of Capacitors

Introduction :
_ when capacitors are circuited in series the total capacitance is less than the smallest
individual capacitance.

It’s calculated with the following Formula :


1 1 1 1
= + +…+
Ctot C 1 C 2 Cn
_
in parallel circuit of capacitors the total capacitance is equal to the sum of the individual
capacitances.
Ctot = C1+C2+…+Cn

Theory:
_ Capacitors are said to be connected together "in series" when they are effectively "daisy
chained" together in a single line. The charging current (ic) flowing through the
capacitors is THE SAME for all capacitors as it only has one path to follow
and iT = i1 = i2 = i3 etc. Then, Capacitors in Series all have the same current so each
capacitor stores the same amount of charge regardless of its capacitance.

_ Capacitors are said to be connected together "in parallel" when both of their terminals
are respectively connected to each terminal of the other capacitor or capacitors. The
voltage (Vc) connected across all the capacitors that are connected in parallel is THE
SAME. Then, Capacitors in Parallel have a "common voltage" supply across them.

Capacitive Reactance Xc

Capacitive reactance (symbol Xc) is a measure of a capacitor's opposition to AC


(alternating current). Like resistance it is measured in ohms, , but reactance is more
complex than resistance because its value depends on the frequency (f) of the electrical
signal passing through the capacitor as well as on the capacitance, C.

   1    Xc = reactance in ohms ( )


Capacitive reactance,   Xc =   2 fC   where:   f    = frequency in hertz (Hz)
C   = capacitance in farads (F)
The reactance Xc is large at low frequencies and small at high frequencies. For steady
DC which is zero frequency, Xc is infinite (total opposition), hence the rule that
capacitors pass AC but block DC.
Objectives:
 To identify the properties of the capacitors when they connected in series or in
parallel .
 To Measure the values of the capacitors used in the experiment.
 To identify how the voltage and current change when the circuit in parallel or
series .
 Checking the total capacitance in parallel & series.

Tools & procedures :


In the two parts we used the following tools & devices :

Oscilloscope, wires& jumpers, kit and (0.22, .47, 1)µF capacitors .

Part A – the circuit connected as shown below :

Part A – the circuit connected as shown below :

In part A we tried to measure the values of the voltages in each capacitor,


in part B, we measured the current through each capacitor.

The tow parts aims to measure the capacitors values and the capacitance reactance Xc .
Data and calculations
In part A, We get the following table of data :
Partial and total voltage (V)
Test points
A-B (UR1) B-C (Uc1) C-D (Uc2) D-E (Uc3) B-E (Uc tot)
5.09 3.2 1.8 0.8 6.02

Calculation of the capacitor current across the measuring resistor


1KΩ :
UR 1 5.09
Ic = Ic= = = 5 mA.
Rm 1000

Calculation of the capacitive reactance :


UC 1
Xc1 = =¿ 640 Ω
Ic
UC 2
Xc2 = =¿ 360 Ω
Ic
UC 3
Xc3 = =¿ 160 Ω
Ic
UCtot
Xc-tot = =¿ 1204 Ω
Ic

Calculation of capacitances :
C1 = 1/ώ.Xc1 = 1/(2*3.14*1000*640) = 0.24 µF
C2 = 1/ώ.Xc2 = 0.44 µF
C3 = 1/ώ.Xc3 = 0.99 µF
Ctot = 1/ώ.Xc tot = 0.132 µF

Calculating the total capacitance by :


1 1 1 1 =
= + +…+ 0.1303 µF
Ctot C 1 C 2 Cn
In part B, We get the following table of data :
Partial and total Current (mA)
Test points
A-B (Ic-tot) C-D (Ic1) E-F (Ic2) G-H (Ic3)
29.4 8.2 18.1 3.78
Capacitor Voltage

D-I F-I H-I


3 3 3

: CALCULATION

Calculation of the capacitive reactance :


XC1= VC1/IC1=3/8.2=365.8
XC2= VC2/IC2=3/18.1=165.7

XC3=VC3/IC3=3/37.8=793
X(TOT)= VC(tot)/IC(tot)=3/29.4=102

____________________________

checking the total capacitance


C tot= c1+c2+c3 = 0.22+0.47+1= 1.69 µF
w=2 (3.14)f= 6280
___________________________

c1=1/w.xc1= 1/6280*365.8=0.43 µF
c2=1/w.xc2= 1/6280*165.7=0.96 µF
c3=1/w.xc3=1/6280*793=0.20 µF
C(tot)= 1/6280*102=1.57 µF
Discussions & conclusions :
 we can deduce from this experiment that the resulting capacity through this circuit
is the ability of fancy and we conclude also that the creation of the outcome of
total capacitors in a series and parallel is the opposite be found in the resistor as
the connection capacitors in parallel are sum the largest respectively ,. because of
the distance between segment intensive equivalent increase while the opposite
occurs in connection respectively.

 The capacitive reactance of a capacitor is Xc=1/ώt, that in a series circuit of


capacitors the total capacitance is less than the smallest individual capacitance.
But it equals the sum of the capacitances when they connected in parallel.

 The value of the capacitor is inversely proportional to the value of the voltage
across it in the case of parallel. But the capacitor is directly proportional in the
case of series.

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