Capacitor characteristics summary chart

What are the characteristics of a capacitor?

A capacitor comes with a set of characteristics. All these characteristics can be found in datasheets that are provided by capacitor manufacturers. Now let us discuss some of them. One of the most important one among all capacitor characteristics is the nominal capacitance (C) of a capacitor.

What are the specifications of a capacitor?

Capacitors have several key specifications that define their performance and suitability for various applications. Some of the most important capacitor specifications are mentioned below : Capacitance is the fundamental property of a capacitor and is measured in Farads (F).

Do all capacitors have the same capacitance value?

Some capacitors may have same capacitance value, but they differ in working voltages. A capacitor may have lot of characteristics. All these characteristics can be found in datasheets that are provided by capacitor manufacturers. 1.

What does a capacitor label mean?

The best way to figure out which capacitor characteristics the label means is to first figure out what type of family the capacitor belongs to whether it is ceramic, film, plastic or electrolytic and from that it may be easier to identify the particular capacitor characteristics.

What is the capacitance of a capacitor?

The capacitance of a capacitor can change value with the circuit frequency (Hz) y with the ambient temperature. Smaller ceramic capacitors can have a nominal value as low as one pico-Farad, ( 1pF ) while larger electrolytic’s can have a nominal capacitance value of up to one Farad, ( 1F ).

How are capacitors rated?

Capacitors are rated according to how near to their actual values they are compared to the rated nominal capacitance with coloured bands or letters used to indicated their actual tolerance. The most common tolerance variation for capacitors is 5% or 10% but some plastic capacitors are rated as low as ±1%.