Electrical Principles (ELEC 244) = Capacitance Module 15 NATIONAL ENERGY SKILLS CENTER } W.ES.C.)‘y Rationale A capacitor is an electrical device that is capable of storing charge, thereby creating electric field, which makes ita true electrical energy storage device. Learning outcome To under the basic concepts of capacitance, Enabling objectives 1. Define an electric field, 2. Define capacitance. Describe the ba Compare an electrolytic capacitor to other types. is construction of a capacitor. Calculate capacitance for capacitors in series. Calculate capacitance for capacitors in parallel. Define time constant as related to a capacitive circuit. Perform calculations for transient conditions for charging and discharging a capacitor, 15415-2 Introduction So far, we have considered one property of an electrical circuit that affects voltage and/or current. This property is resistance, and it opposes the flow of electrical charge through it. ‘A second property is one that opposes any change in voltage between two points in an electric circuit. This property is called capacitance. Electric Fields Coulomb's law states that an electric force (attracting or opposing) existed between two electrically charged bocties. The equation for Coulomb's law is: FeK Ue Ft Fis force in newtons, Q, and Q, are the two charges in coulombs, d in the distance between the charges in metres, and k is constant with a numerical value of 9.0 x 10?, Since there is no physical contact between the two charges, a field force must exist is the space between them. The charges are stationary or static and, should a small charged parti- cle be placed between then, the particle will be acted upon in accordance with the law of, charges: like charges repel, unlike attract, We can say that the tiny particle was acted upon by the electrostatic field, or simply electric field, that exists between the two static charges, In electric circuits point charges are rarely encountered, and of more interest is the condi- tion that exists between two charged parallel plates. Figure 15-1 shows the field configuration for points charges Oo — TN TOO fa) (b) Point charges Parallel plates and charged parallel plates. Figure 15-1 Electric field condigurations The factors that describe an electric field are: An electric field is any region of space in which there is an electric force present. The electric field is represented by lines of force called electric flux lines. Electric line of flux always extend from the positively charged to the negatively charged body, terminate perpendicular to the charges surface, and never intersect.Oe | The strength of an electric field, also called field intensity, is the force exerted on a unit | charge at that point of the field. The letter symbol for electric field intensity is e (capital Greek epsilon), mathematically: € = F/Q. € is the electric field intensity in newtons/coulomb, F is the force acting on the charge in newtons, and Q is the magnitude of the charge in coulombs. Capacitors In its simplest form, a capacitor is an electrical device constructed of two parallel condue- tive plates separated by an insulating material called a dielectric. Terminal leads are con- nected to the parallel plates. A basic capacitor is shown in Fig. 15-2(a) and the symbol is shown in Fig. 15-2(b). Dielectric Connecting leads Conductive piatés (a) (b) Figure 15-2 Basic capacitor Charging a capacitor Fig. 15-3 shows a basic capacitor controlled by a two position switch through a current limiting resistor. Figure 15-3 Operation of a basic capacitor In the neutral state, both plates have the same number of free electrons, and the capacitor is said to be uncharged. While the switch is open, there is no charging effect on the capacitor. 153154 ‘When the switch is moved to position I, electrons will leave the negative battery terminal and collect on the bottom plate causing it to have a net negative charge. Since this is a series circuit, an equal number of electrons will leave the top plate causing it to have a net positive charge. Note that the electrons cannot actually flow through the insulated area between the plates, It takes time for the capacitor to charge, and the galvanometer (centre-scale deflection am- meter) will register a sudden surge of current which will quickly taper off According to Kirchhoff's voltage law. the voltage across the two plates can build up to a maximum value, which is equal to the source emf in this case. At this point, the circuit current is zero, and E = V. If the switch is now tumed to off, there is no way for the surplus electrons of the negative plate to neutralize the positive charges of the top plate, As a result, energy is stored in the electric field between the plates. From this we can conclude: capacitor is an electric component that is capable of storing an electric charge witha voltage across its terminals, When the switch is moved to position 2, the voltage across the capacitor will want t0 go to zero as the electrons from the negative plate now have a path to neutralize the charges on the positive plate. Again, this does not happen instantaneously, and the galvalometer will register a surge of current, in the opposite direction from when the switch was in position 1, which will taper off quickly to zero, Capacitance Capacitance is a measure of a capacitor's ability to store charge on its plates, in other words, its storage capacity ‘The letter symbol for capacitance is C. ‘The SI unit for capacitance is the farad, ‘The unit symbol is F. An electric circuit has a capacitance of one farad when a charge of one coulomb is required to raise the voltage by one volt. c=Qv Cis capacitance in farads, Q is charge in coulombs and, V is voltage in volts. The farad is a very large unit, and most capacitors in the electrical industry have values given in microfarad (\4F) and picofarad (pF). If a potential difference of V volts is applied across the two plates separated by a distance d, then the electric Feld strength is given by: e =Factors Governing Capacitance Plate Area Capacitance is directly proportional to the physical size of the plate, (plate area). A larger plate can store more charge and produce a larger capacitance. Plate Separation Capacitance is inversely proportional to the separation between the plates. The greater the separation, the smaller the capacitance Dielectric Constant - (Relative permittivity) ‘The insulating material between the plates of a capacitor is called a dielectric. Each differ- ent dielectric has an influence on the number of flux lines that can be established between the two plates. The term permittivity is associated with dielectrics and is a measure of how easily the dielectric will “permit” the establishment of lines of flux. The greater the permittivity, the greater will be the amount of charge deposited on the plates and the greater the capacitance. ‘Therefore, capacitance is directly proportional the permittivity of the material ‘The symbol for permittivity is the Greek letter epsilon e. For a vacuum (and for all practical purposes air) the permittivity is 8.85 x 10"? F/m and is called €,. Itis often advantageous to compare the permittivity of a specific dielectric to that of a vacuum, ‘The ratio of the permittivity of a specific dielectric to that of a vacuum is called relative permittivity (€,), or dielectric constant, and this can be expressed as €, = €,/¢, The value of €,, for any material is therefore: €,, = €,"€, Note that, is dimensionless, and a few specific values are provided in Table 15-1 Dielectric (Average values) Vacuum 10 Air 1.0006 Teflon © 20 Paper, paraffined 25 Rubber 30 Transformer oil 40 Mica 5.0 Procelain 60 Bakelite 70 Glass 78 Water 800 Barium-strontium titanite (ceramic) 7500.0, Table 15-1 Dielectric constant of various materials ‘Taking into account all of the factors that influence capacitance, the general equation becomes: C= A*°8.85 x 10d Where A is in m?, d is in m, C is in farads. 15-5166 Example | An air cor distance of 1 ipacitor has plates with an area of 0.01 m*, The plates are separated by a mm, A voltage of 300 V is applied across the plates. (a) Determine the capacitance (b) Determine the electric field strength (©) Find the resulting charge on each plate. (@) Find the capacitance if the area of the plates was doubled. (e) Find the capacitance if the distance between the plates was doubled Solution (a) Gy= eld = (8.85 x 10°) O.O1)/1.5 x 10 (b) € = Vid = 300/1.5 x 10° = 200 x 10° V/m (©) C= QW or Q= C*V =(59 x 10899300 = 17.7 nC (4) C proportional to area, C, = 2*C, = 2*59 = 118 pF (©) C varies as 1/4, C, = C/2 = 59/2 = 29.5 pE 59 pF Example 2 ‘A sheet of mica 1.5 mm thick and having the same area as the plates is inserted between the plates of example 1 (a) Find the electric field strength, (b) Find the capacitance. (©) Find the charge on each plate. Solution, (a) € = V/d = 300/1.5 x 10° = 200 x 10° Vim (b) C=€,*C, = 5*59 = 295 pF (©) Q=CV so for same V, Q is also increase by 5, oF Q= 17.795 = 88.5 nC. Types of Capacitors Capacitors are normally classed according to the type of dielectric material. Although ca- pacitors with dielectrics like mica, ceramic and paperiplastic all have different capabilities and ratings, for all practical purposes they work the same and will be lumped under “fixed capacitors”. Electrolytic and variable capacitors are special, and will be treated separately. Fixed Capacitors Some of the more common capacitors are: Mica capacitors (Fig. 15-4) consist of altemate layers of mica and metal foil. The metal foil forms the plate and the mice the dielectric, ‘The mica/foil stack is then encapsulated in aninsulating material. Typical capacitance values for mica capacitors are from 1 pF to 0.1 F, with voltage ratings exceeding 100 V. (a) (b) Stacked layers Encapsulated layers Figure 15-4 Mica Capacitor Ceramic capacitors (Fig.15- 5) have a small physical size but, due to the high dielectric constants (1200 typical), a relatively high capacitance value can be achieved. Typical ca- acitance values range from 1 pF to perhaps 2 UF, with voltage ratings reaching 5000 V. Dielectric (ceramic disk) (metal disk) Leads (a) (b) Cut-away view Encapsulation Figure 15-5 Ceramic capacitor Paper/plastic (Fig. 15-6) capacitors, especially in their paper form, have been around for a Jong time. Polycarbonate, parylane and polyester are some of the dielectrics used instead of. paper. These capacitors have capacitance values that can be large, and normal values range from a few hundred pico-farads to values in the 100 uF range. Polyster (plastic) flim Metal foils Figure 15-6 Basic paperipiastic capacitor15:8 Electrolytic Capacitors ‘The capacitors discussed previously can all be used on ac as well as de circuits Electrolytic capacitors are polarized so that one plate is positive and the other negative. Due to this polarization, electrolytic capacitors can be used on de circuits only. Connecting these capacitors to an ac supply will cause it to rupture. In order to prevent improper connection, electrolytic capacitors are always marked in terms of their polarity These capacitors have high capacitance values, up to 200 {{F, but have a reasonably low breakover rating (350 V is probably the upper limit) A typical electrolytic capacitor is shown in Fig. 15-7, Figure 15-7 Electrolytic Capacitor Variable Capacitors Variable capacitors, as the name implies, are capacitors in which the capacitance can be changed. There are several kinds of variable capacitors, both automatic and manual, but a common type is the variable air capacitor shown in Fig. 8. The capacitance is changed by turning the shaft at one end 10 vary the common area between the fixed and moveable plates. The greater the common area that greater the capacitance, Movable Plates Stationary Plates aan Figure 15-8 Variable Capacitor Capacitors in Series and Parallel Capacitors, like resistors, can be placed in series and parallel, Increased capacitance can be obtained by connecting capacitors in parallel, while decreasing levels can be obtained by placing capacitors in series.Parallel Capacitors For capacitors in parallel, shown in Fig. 15-9, the voltage is the same across each capacitor, and the total charge is the stm of the charge of each capacitor. Figure 15-9 Parallel capacitor Q,=Q, +0,+Q, From before: Q= CV Therefore: C,E=C,V,+C.V,+C,V, But: Figure 15-10 ‘The charge is the same on each capacitor, or Q,=Q, =Q, From Kirchhoff’s voltage law: E = V, + V, +V, However: V=Q/C Therefore: Q,/C,=Q/C, + QUC, + QC, Thus: UC, = UC, + VC, + /C, The above equation is similar to the manner in which the equivalent resistance was deter- mined fora parallel resistive circuit, The equivalent capacitance for two capacitors in series15-10 Ceq= CENCE, +E) 7 T Example 3. L iL Cy mls Toe 30 uF P= 80 uF ce Find the equivalent capacitance in the circuit of Fig. 15-11. Solution C,=C,+C,+C,= (104204 40)MF = 70 HF. Figure I-11 Example 4. Find the equivalent capacitance in the cir- cuit of Fig. 15-12, Solution: UC, = UC, = VIC, + IC, + UC, 1/C, = 1/10 x 10% + 1/20 x 10% + 1/40 x 10° 1/C, = 01 x 10*- 0.05 x 10°+ 0.025 x 10" 0.175 x 10° C, = 10.175 x 10°= 5.71 pF Figure 11-12 Steady-state and Transient Condition Charging a Capacitor A characteristic of a capacitor is that it opposes any change of voltage across it. The basic concept of charging a capacitor was discussed earlier, but it should be pointed out that, during this process, the capacitor experiences three conditions: + the instant charging commences + the time after charging stops + the transition stage between the time charging starts and stops Fig, 15-13 shows a capacitor that is being controlled by a two position switch through a resistor. Assume that the capacitor is initially uncharged. 1 Switch Rs012 of ARC et pF Figure 15-13 Control of a capacitoree ondition tate or non-varyin Note’ Upper case notation for E, V and I means a steady. During the transition, itis obvious that the currents and voltages are varyin: Lower case notation means an instantaneous value, or the value of a voltage or current at a particular instant in time, I ‘The instant S is put in position 1, ve = 0 V, and, therefore, va must be 100, and the capacitor starts to charge. At this time, maximum charging current occurs of Iy = E/R = 100/0.1 = 1000 A. jon: (instant § is put into position 1) al condi Final condition: (S has been in position 1 until steady-state has been achieved). ‘The capacitor is now charged to its maximum, and the current in the circuit is zero. Zero current means no voltage drop across R,» and the voltage across the capacitor is E, or 100 V. ‘Transient condition: (interval between s being put in position | and the time steady state has been achieved) From Kirchhoff’s voltage law: ‘This equation can be further resolved into a differential equation (see appendix D): E=v.+ C#R*dv jdt The solution to this equation is: Ve=Vyl = 6) cis the instantaneous voltage across the capacitor, Vy is the maximum capacitor voltage as determined by Thevenin voltage for C. Ris the resistance seen by the capacitor determined by Thevenin’s theorem, tis the elapsed time is seconds, = 2.718 (base of natural log), ‘The equation for r the charging volt- 4 es age of acapacitoris : aah often expressed as: A Yo = Vail tb Ae etree V,(1-e%) where 7 x=tt andt=RC 7 The above equa- 4 tion is the expres~ aE ah —hechaenem sion for the univer- sal exponential curve shown in Fig. 15-14. ‘ Figure 15-14 45-1118-12 Universal exponential curves for charging and discharging a capacitor Note: The time constant is a specific amount of time, depending on the values of R and C, and will change from circuit to circuit. and x in the above equation is in units of time constants Time constant The time constant for a capacitive circuit is defined as the time it would take the voltage lcross the capacitor to reach its maximum value if it was allowed to rise tits initial rate of change for the whole interval, (Fig, 15-15). Ve dv iE Figure 15-15 Time constant ‘The symbol for time constant is the Greek letter t (au), and the unit is seconds anc: RC 1 where © is in seconds, C isin farads, and R is the resistance through which the capacitor charges in ohms. Example 5. Given the circuit of Fig. 15-16(a), assume that there is no intial charge on the capacitor, and the switch is put into position 1 att = 0s Find: (a) v_after the switch has been closed for 3 ms. (b) v¢ after the switch has been closed for a time equal to one time constant. () vc after the switch has been closed for a time equal to 5 time constants, (A) sketch a labelled diagram for v_ vs t Solution (@) ve=Vy(1-e) where Vy =E=10V C= 30x10"0.2x10 Ve = LOC = e999 = 10(1 -e v,=3.93V t, (0) Figure 15-16 (b) From above t = 6 ms which is also t in this case 101 = ev") = 10(1 -e) = 10(1 - 0.368) 32V = St = 5*6 ms = 30 ms 10(1 -€%) = 10(1 -0.0067) ©) = 10(1 etme .93.V (d) a sketch of v, vs time is show in Fig. 15(b) ‘Some generalizations can be made from the previous example: + in one time constant, the voltage across the capacitor is approximately 63% of Vue + in five time constants, the voltage has reached its maximum value (actually 99.3% of Via) Discharging a Capacitor If the switch controlling the capacitor in Fig. 15-13 is moved from position 1 to 2.the | capacitor voltage will start to decrease | | 4848 [NATIONAL ENERGY SKILLS CENTER (WESC)15-14 ——— eee Just as for the charging period, the discharge process has three conditions: + the instant discharge commences + the time after discharging stops * the transient time between the time discharging starts and stops {f the switch in Fig. 15-13 has been in position | long enough for steady-state conditions to hhave been achieved, then the voltage across the capacitor is E = 100 V. If the switch is moved to position 2, the circuit will experience a reverse or discharge current since the Capacitor looks like a source. Since the capacitor resists any change of voltage, the initial discharge current will be 0 and, hence, the voltage drop across R is 0. After the switch has been in position 2 long enough for the capacitor to discharge com- pletely, the current in the circuit is 0, and the voltage across R is 0. The equation for the discharging voltage will be the reverse ofthat given for the charging voltage, or: ‘The equation for the discharge voltage of a capacitor is: Vue ‘cis the instantaneous voltage across the capacitor, Vis the initial voltage that the capaci- tor was charged to, C is the capacitance in farads, and R is the Thevenin equivalent resist. ance seen by the capacitor in ohms. ‘The equation for discharging voltage of a capacitor is often written as: Ve" where x = {and t= RC Tis the time constant defined eatlier. Example 6 Assume that the switch controlling the capacitor in Fig. 15-17 has been in position 1 long enoush for the capacitor to charge to V,, = 10V. The switch is now moved to position 2 (assume this to be the new t = 0). Find: (@) voatts2ms (b) v_ after a time equal to one time constant (©) t when v, reaches 0 V (@) sketch a labelled diagram of v_ vst Solution (@) vo=Vye""® where vy = 10V lore = 7.17 V ms, and this is now t, or: 3.68V (b) From before t= 10%e-m6rs = 10!() Ve will be about 0 in 5t, or t= $*6 ms = 30 ms (d) the sketch of v, vs tis shown in Fig 15-17(b) R=309 oe 92 oft i = C= 0.2 uF E=10V T ul fa) viv} wo Ok a7 3.68 St 0 t (mS) 2 6 30 + tt o) Figure 15-17 The numbers shown in this example are analogous to the ones derived for the charging circuit, in that: ‘+ in one time constant vc is 37% of Vyq (drops 63%) + in five time constants ve reaches its minimum value Capacitor Application ‘A very common application of capacitors is in filtering A rectifier is a device that changes ac to de. A full wave rectifier is shown by the block diagram of Fig. 15-18(a). The output of the rectifier is pulsating dc and, for certain applica~ tions such as the radio, TV or computer, this is not suitable and a more constant level of de is required. A capacitor is connected in parallel with the load as shown in Fig, 15-18 (a). ‘The operation of the filtering circuit is as follows: the capacitor charges as the rectifier voltage increases. When the peak is reached, and the voltage starts to drop, the capacitor starts to discharge through the load resistance and, depending on the value of C, maintains the load voltage at a reasonably constant level. Note that the load voltage still has a slight fluctuation which is called the ripple voltage The waveforms are shown in Fig. 15-18(b). 18:15.= 1816 ! | h 7 Je Rectifier output devoltage voltage, Rectifier output with dpple voltage de voltage 2 : Lf. with ripple FNS \ om iY | charge), | | os 3 L_graree cna 88 8 8 B oe Load ae2 28 aC resstr «= 8 8 BS a a (b) (a) Figure 15-18 Application of a capacitor Summary ‘A capacitor is a device that can store charge. Capacitance is a measure of the capacitor’s storage ability. late area, plate separation, and dielectric constant. Factors governing capacitance are: Dielectric capacitors differ from most others in that they are polarity sensitive. Capacitors in parallel: C, = C,+C, +C,ete Capacitors in series: 1/C, = 1/C, + VC, + 1/C, ete Vy(l-e°"°) Transient condition, charging: v, Transient condition, discharging: v, = Ve“ Problems What is the capacitance of a parallel plate capacitor if the area of each plate is 0.075 m? 1 and the plate separation is 1.77 mm? The dielectric is air. 2. Repeat problem | assuming that the dielectric is paraffin-coated paper.3. What is the equivalent capacitance of the circuit of Fig. 15-197 10,000 pF Figure 15-19 4, What is the equivalent capacitance of the circuit of Fig. 15-202 60 pF TT] ch2opF -LiopF 4. s0pF cr] 2 | Figure 1 For Fig. 15-21, find the voltage across each capacitor after it has charged to its final value. 2Ka 4aV Cc, 4kQ bow 7 *.08 uF Figure 15-21 6. For Fig, E-a0V Ry S2ka Figure 15-22 1547| (a) Find the time constant when the switch is in position 1 (b) Find the voltage across the capacitor at t = 25 ms with the switch in position 1 (©) Find the maximum voltage that the capacitor will charge to, (@) What is the approximate time for the capacitor voltage to reach its maximum? (©) Assume that the switch was is position 1 until steady-state condition occurred, and the switch is put into position 3, What is the capacitor voltage 10 ms after this happens? (©) What is the approximate time for the capacitor to dischary Solution to problems 375 pF 937.5 pF 0.121 uF 44 pF V,=48 V,V,=32V 3 4, 6 (a) 10ms (b) 73.4V i) 80V (d) 50.ms (©) 657V () 20ms “1saa. |