Capacitance to Charge

 
Voltage:
Charge:
Charge Results:

Capacitance to Charge Calculator

Introduction
Capacitors are basic components of an electrical circuit. They are passive devices that store charge when they are connected to an active electric circuit. In simplistic forms, capacitors consist of two parallel conducting plates which are not touching or connected to each other in any way. These two plates have a non-conducting material between them. It can be air or any other insulator such as wax, oil, etc. also known as the dielectric.

As there is an insulator between the plates, the current cannot cross over to the other plate, thus forming a potential difference between the plates. The rise of this potential difference is gradual. After a certain amount of time the capacitor reaches a steady state, or in other words, a maximum potential difference is developed across the plates. Once the potential difference reaches a steady state, no more current flows across the capacitor. Due to the potential difference, a charge is formed between the plates of the capacitor. The quantitative value of the charge becomes constant, once the potential difference reaches the steady state value.
It is important to remember that this function of a capacitor is applicable only in DC circuits. In AC circuits, capacitors do not display capacitive characteristics but offer only a nominal resistance.

Function
The capacitance to charge converter uses simple codes to calculate the charge of a capacitor from the capacitance, which is provided. It is quite important to provide the voltage at which the capacitor is to operate. This voltage may be found from circuit diagrams using Kirchoff’s laws, if not directly provided.
The voltage may be in the transient state or steady state. It is important to take care while inputting the values of the voltage into the calculator, as it can result in erroneous answers.

The formula for finding the charge of a capacitor corresponding to its capacitance at a certain voltage is:
Charge = voltage * capacitance.
As one may observe, finding charge when capacitance and voltage are given, involves merely taking the product of capacitance and voltage.
Steps

  1. Convert the given unit of capacitance to Farads. This is the international standard unit of capacitance and it is important to perform calculations in standard units to avoid conversion errors.
  2.  Similarly, convert the unit if potential difference to volts
  3. If the capacitor is in a transient state, find the voltage by the transient state equation. This will give you the charge on a capacitor in an instant.
  4. Find the product of the potential difference and the capacitance.
  5. This will give you the charge between the plates of the capacitor. If all your units are standard, you will get the answer in Coulombs, the standard unit if charged.

Applications
Capacitors have wide applications in the electrical and electronics fields. Large capacitors are used in high tension power stations and on industrial electric lines. Capacitors are used in AC circuits to control the power factor. Capacitors are vital components of nearly all PCB circuits. They are widely used in PCB computer chips, microcontrollers, and microprocessors. Due to such a widespread use of capacitors in the modern technological world, the charge calculator has overwhelming applications in the electrical and electronics industry.