Types Of Capacitors

What are the different types of capacitors? Capacitors are defined as electrical components that are used for storing energy. They are also called condensers. There are quite a lot of types of capacitors. They have different characteristics and are used in different applications. Here are some of the mostly used types of capacitors.

The most common of the many types of capacitors are aluminum capacitors. These capacitors are composed of rolled strips of aluminum with an absorbent strip of paper in between. This paper is soaked in a solution, an electrolyte one. The main advantage of these capacitors is that they have the largest storage and capacitance. The main disadvantage, on the other hand, is that they can leak. This only means that they can be bad for applications that require high frequency coupling.

Tantalum capacitors are the types of capacitors that are, well, made out of tantalum pentoxide. These types of capacitors are also electrolytic – meaning they are polarized, much like the aluminum capacitors. The advantages of the tantalum capacitors to the aluminum ones include being more stable, lighter, and smaller. Also, these types of capacitors have leakage rates that are much lower than the aluminum ones. The main disadvantage, however, is that they have low storage and capacitance. Therefore, these types of capacitors are used in lower voltages. This is why these types of capacitors are used in analog systems as they do not require much capacitance.

Ceramic capacitors are the types of capacitors that are composed of titanium acid barium. These capacitors are dielectric. If they are combined with electrolytic capacitors, they are very stable. Hence, they are the most widely used types of capacitors. These ceramic capacitors are characterized of high capacitance. The main advantage of the ceramic capacitors is that they have low inductance. Therefore, they are suited for applications that require higher frequencies.

Next, we have polyester capacitors. These are composed of metal plates that have polyester film. They are known to have coefficients of high temperature. Therefore, they have high values of isolation resistance. Among all the many kinds of capacitors, the polyester capacitors are the ones that have the highest capacitance. They are also among the most affordable as well. This is why the polyester capacitors are widely used and popular.

We also have polypropylene capacitors. These are capacitors that are dielectric and are made out of polypropylene films. The main features of these capacitors are their voltage that can work in high voltages. This is why these are mostly used in power supplies, power amplifiers, and the like. A great advantage of the polypropylene capacitors is that they can tolerate great values of energy. Other uses of the polypropylene capacitors are bypassing, blocking, noise suppression, and many others.

Paper capacitors are capacitors that are made of thin strips of metal foil that are separated by waxed paper which are dielectric. The ranges of capacitance of the paper capacitors are quite high. Therefore, they are used in equipment and applications that are high voltage. The main disadvantage of these paper capacitors is that their leakage rates are high.