Physics (A-level)/Capacitors and exponential decay
Capacitance
[edit | edit source]A capacitor is a passive electrical component capable of storing electrical charge, this produces electrical potential energy. A capacitor consists of two conducting plates separated by an insulator.
Capacitance is defined as the charge stored per unit voltage, deriving the equation:
C=Q/V
Where C represents the capacitance measured in Farads(F), Q is the charge measured in Amps (A), and V is the voltage of potential difference measured in volts(V).
1F is very large value. More common magnitudes are: Picofarads (pF), Nanofarads (nF) and Microfarads (μF). Thus the concept of capacitance was developed with major contributions from Micheal Faraday, after whom the unit of capacitance—the farad—is named.
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