Circuit Analysis I

LECTURE # 11
Chapter 6: Capacitors and Inductors

Dr. Saeed Abdallah

Chapter 6: Capacitors and

Inductors
6.2
6.3
6.4
6.5

Capacitors
Series and Parallel Capacitors
Inductors
Series and Parallel Inductors

Capacitance and Inductance

So far we have talked about two types of
elements:
Energy Supplying Elements: voltage and
current sources.
Energy Absorbing/Dissipating Elements:
Resistors.

Now, we want to add a new type:

Energy Storage Element: Capacitor, Inductor.

Capacitors store energy when a voltage is

applied across their terminals.
Inductors store energy when a current is
passed through their terminals.
The energy can be retrieved at a later

6.2 Capacitors
A capacitor is a passive element designed to
store energy in its electric field.

A capacitor consists of two parallel conducting plates

separated by an insulator (or dielectric).
4

6.2 Capacitors
Capacitance C is the ratio of the charge q on one
plate of a capacitor to the voltage difference v
between the two plates, measured in farads (F).

qC v

and

A
C
d

Where is the permittivity of the dielectric material between

the plates, A is the surface area of each plate, d is the
distance between the plates.
Unit: F, pF (1012), nF (109), and
F (106)
5

6.2 Capacitors
The convention is that the
current i is flowing into the
+ve terminal of C
Charging => i is +ve
Discharging => i is ve

The current-voltage relationship of capacitor according to

above convention is

dv
iC
dt
6

and

1
v
C

t0

i d t v(t0 )

6.2 Capacitors

iC

dv
dt

Voltage across a capacitor:

(a) allowed, (b) not allowable; an abrupt change is not possible.

6.2 Capacitors
The energy, w, stored in
the capacitor is

1
2
w Cv
2

6.1 Capacitors (5)

Example 1
(a) Calculate the charge stored on a 3-pF
capacitor with 20 V across it.
(b) Find the energy stored in the capacitor
Solution 1

6.2 Capacitors (5)

Example
2

The current through a 100-F capacitor is

i(t) = 50 sin(120 t) mA.

Calculate the voltage across it at t =1 ms and
t = 5 ms. Take v(0) =0.

Answer:
v(1ms) = 93.14mV
v(5ms) = 1.7361V
10

6.2 Capacitors
Example 3
Under dc conditions, find the energy stored in the
capacitors.

11

Answer: 405 J, 90 J

6.3 Series and Parallel

Capacitors
The equivalent capacitance of N parallelconnected capacitors is the sum of the individual
capacitances.
+++

C eq C1 C 2 ... C N

12

6.3 Series and Parallel

Capacitors
The equivalent capacitance of N series-connected
capacitors is the reciprocal of the sum of the
reciprocals of the individual capacitances.

1
1
1
1

...
C eq C1 C 2
CN

13

6.3 Series and Parallel

Capacitors
Example 4
Find the equivalent capacitance seen at the
terminals of the circuit in the circuit shown below:

Answer:
Ceq = 40F

6.3 Series and Parallel

Capacitors
Example 5
For the circuit in the figure, find the voltage across
each capacitor

6.3 Series and Parallel

Capacitors
Example 6
Obtain the energy stored in each capacitor in the
figure under dc conditions.
Under dc conditions, we replace each
capacitor with an open circuit
by current division

Important Rules for working with

Capacitors
A capacitor looks like an open circuit with
respect to dc.
A finite amount of energy can be stored in a
capacitor even if the current through it is 0.
It is impossible to change the voltage by a
finite amount in 0 time. That would require
infinite current.
The ideal capacitor never dissipates energy.
dv
iC
dt

1
v
C

i dt v(t )
t0

1
w C v2
2