Table of Contents
How do you read a pF capacitor?
If you have a capacitor that has nothing other than a three-digit number printed on it, the third digit represents the number of zeros to add to the end of the first two digits. The resulting number is the capacitance in pF. For example, 101 represents 100 pF: the digits 10 followed by one additional zero.
What is a ceramic capacitor used for?
Ceramic capacitors are mainly used for high stability performances and wherein devices with low losses. These devices provide very accurate results and also the capacitance values of these capacitors are stable with respect to the applied voltage, frequency and temperature.
What is ceramic capacitor value?
Ceramic capacitors are usually made with very small capacitance values, typically between 1nF and 1µF, although values up to 100µF are possible.
What are the numbers on ceramic capacitors?
The Ceramic Caps The value is printed on each in a three-digit code. This code is similar to the color code on resistors, but uses digits instead of colors. The first two digits are the two most significant digits of the value, and the third digit is the exponent on the 10.
What is pF capacitor?
Mica capacitors are usually expressed in terms of pF (micromicrofarads) (picofarads). Short forms for micromicrofarads include pF, mmfd, MMFD, MMF, uuF and PF. A pF is one-millionth of a uF. In between a pF and a uF is a nF which is one-one thousands of a uF.
How many pF equals 1 nF?
1 nF (nanofarad, one billionth (10−9) of a farad) = 0.001 μF = 1000 pF.
When use ceramic or electrolytic capacitor?
Using both ceramic and electrolytic output capacitors minimizes capacitor impedance across frequency. Ceramic capacitors are best for high frequency and large-value electrolytic capacitors are good for low frequency.
Can I use ceramic capacitor instead of electrolytic?
For switching power supply applications, ceramics are usually a better tradeoff than electrolytes unless you need too much capacitance. This is because they can take much more ripple current and heat better. The lifetime of electrolytes is severely degraded by heat, which is often a problem with power supplies.
What is the difference between electrolytic and ceramic capacitors?
The main difference between ceramic and electrolytic capacitor is that, in ceramic capacitors, the two conductive plates are separated by a ceramic material whereas, in electrolytic capacitors, the two conductive plates are separated by an electrolyte and a metal oxide layer.
How do you find the value of ceramic capacitors?
The numbering system is easy to use, if you remember it is based on picofarads, not microfarads. If a ceramic capacitor has three digits – ABC, then the value would be AB*10^C Pico Farad. If ABC is 104 then the digit 104 means 10*104pF = 100000pF = 100nF = 0.1uF.
How is the capacitance value of a ceramic disk capacitor identified?
Ceramic disc capacitors like the one on the left are printed with a code. This code indicates what the capacitance of the capacitor is. The example capacitor has a 3 digit number printed on it (103). The third digit indicates the number of extra zeros, in this case 3 extra zeros.
How do you calculate the value of a capacitor?
The amount of charge stored in a capacitor is calculated using the formula Charge = capacitance (in Farads) multiplied by the voltage. So, for this 12V 100uF microfarad capacitor, we convert the microfarads to Farads (100/1,000,000=0.0001F) Then multiple this by 12V to see it stores a charge of 0.0012 Coulombs.
What does 103 on a capacitor mean?
Capacitors will have a number on them like 103, 104, 224 . The last number represents the number of zeroes. All values are in picofarads. For example: 103 becomes 10 + 000 (3 zeroes) pF = 10000 pF = 10 nF.
How do you read a 3 digit capacitor code?
The three-digit capacitance code works as follows: If the third digit is 0 through 6, add that many zeroes to the end of the number. (For example, 453 → 45 x 10 3 → 45,000.) If the third digit is 8, multiply by 0.01. (e.g. 278 → 27 x 0.01 → 0.27) If the third digit is 9, multiply by 0.1. (e.g. 309 → 30 x 0.1 → 3.0).
What is pf capacitor used for?
PF correction capacitors act as reactive current generators. They help offset the non-working power used by inductive loads, thereby improving the power factor. The interaction between PF capacitors and specialized equipment, such as variable speed drives, requires a well designed system.
What is PF measurement?
Power factor (PF) is the ratio of working power, measured in kilowatts (kW), to apparent power, measured in kilovolt amperes (kVA). It is found by multiplying (kVA = V x A). The result is expressed as kVA units. PF expresses the ratio of true power used in a circuit to the apparent power delivered to the circuit.
What does PF mean in electronics?
Going one step further, Power Factor (PF) is the ratio of working power to apparent power, or the formula PF = kW / kVA. A high PF benefits both the customer and utility, while a low PF indicates poor utilization of electrical power.
How can I convert pF to nF?
To convert a picofarad measurement to a nanofarad measurement, divide the capacitance by the conversion ratio. The capacitance in nanofarads is equal to the picofarads divided by 1,000.
What is pF 1nF?
Capacitor uF – nF – pF Conversion uF/ MFD nF pF/ MMFD 0.0018uF / MFD 1.8nF 1800pF (MMFD) 0.0015uF / MFD 1.5nF 1500pF (MMFD) 0.0012uF / MFD 1.2nF 1200pF (MMFD) 0.001uF / MFD 1nF 1000pF (MMFD).
How many pF is 100nF?
Capacitor Conversion Chart uF nF pF 0.15uF 150nF 150000pF 0.12uF 120nF 120000pF 0.1uF 100nF 100000pF 0.082uF 82nF 82000pF.
When should I use electrolytic capacitors?
Electrolytic capacitors are used for filtering, decoupling, signal coupling, time constant setting, and DC blocking in medium and low frequency circuits.
What is a electrolytic capacitor used for?
Electrolytic Capacitors are generally used in DC power supply circuits due to their large capacitance’s and small size to help reduce the ripple voltage or for coupling and decoupling applications.
What is the best type of capacitor?
Class 1 ceramic capacitors are used where high stability and low losses are required. They are very accurate, and the capacitance value is stable in regard to applied voltage, temperature and frequency. Class 2 capacitors have a high capacitance per volume and are used for less sensitive applications.
