Capacitance

Capacitance, abbreviated as C or CAP, is the ability of a system to store electrical charge.  The capacitance of a system depends on its physical characteristics and the arrangement of its components.  In other terms, capacitance quantifies how much charge a capacitor can store per unit of voltage.  A capacitor is a two terminal electronic component that consists of two conductive plates separated by an insulating material called a dielectric.  The larger the surface area of the plates and the smaller the separation between them, the higher the capacitance.

This equation illustrates that the current flowing into or out of a capacitor is proportional to the rate of change of voltage across the capacitor.  As a result, capacitors are often used in electronic circuits for various purposes, such as energy storage, smoothing voltage fluctuations, and filtering signals.  Capacitance plays a role in the behavior of many electrical systems and is a key parameter in the design and analysis of electronic circuits.

 

Capacitance Formula
\(\large{  C = \frac{  Q }{ V }  }\)
Symbol	English	Metric
\(\large{ C }\) = capacitance	\(\large{F}\)	\(\large{\frac{s^4-A^2}{kg-m^2}}\)
\(\large{ Q }\) = electrical charge that is stored on the capacitor	\(\large{C}\)	\(\large{A-s}\)
\(\large{ V }\) = potential difference (the voltage between the capacitor's plates)	\(\large{V}\)	\(\large{\frac{kg-m^2}{s^{3}-A}}\)