Espiel, Hannah Faith R.

Assignment
BT-COET-1B Capacitor Types
Types of Capacitor and their Applications

Capacitor Types
There are different capacitors available depend upon their dielectric material
which comes in different shapes and sizes. The most widely used capacitors
are ceramic, electrolytic, tantalum and supercapacitors. Let’s look a clear
view on categories and types of capacitors.

Variable Capacitors

Variable capacitors are nothing but works just

like a potentiometer. This is a type of
capacitor whose capacitance can be changed
mechanically or electronically. It is also called
as trimmer capacitor.
The capacitance of a capacitor depends on three factors.

1. The area of plates facing each other. By varying the area we have
means of varying the capacitance.
2. The distance between the plates. By making the distance larger,
the capacitance is made smaller and vice versa.
3. The kind of dielectric.
Variable capacitors are further subdivided into capacitors for continuous
variation (tuning capacitors), and capacitors which only have to be adjusted
occasionally (trimmers).
The types of variable capacitors are tuning and trimmer capacitors. Used for
tuning in radio circuits, transmitters. An important ability of the
tuning capacitor to withstand mechanical shocks or vibrations.
The second group of capacitors comprises semi-fixed or trimmers. Here the
capacitance is variable but not intended for frequent use. The trimmers are
used only to adjust various tuned circuits. Once these capacitors have been
adjusted, they are mostly sealed with lacquer so that to all intents and
purposes they are fixed capacitors. Trimmers are again divided as Air
Trimmer, Ceramic Trimmer, and Wire Trimmer, Mica Trimmer etc.
1. Air Trimmer:
The Air trimmer consists of a cylindrical
stator in which a similar cylindrical rotor
can be turned on a small screwed rod.
The minimum capacitance is about 3 pF,
the maximum capacitance can be 30 or 60
pF. Because air is used as the dielectric,
losses in these trimmers are very low.
Adjustment is made by means of trimming
key made of insulating material (in the
form of a box spanner).

2. Ceramic Trimmer :

This trimmer consists of a small ceramic

tube which serves as a dielectric. The
electrodes (plates) are formed by a
tinned copper sleeve and a tinned
copper pin which can be screwed into
the ceramic sleeve.
3. Wire Trimmer :
The wire trimmer consists of a small ceramic tube, silvered on
the inside, and a number of wire turns of wire wound close to
each other on the outside.

The layer of silver and the external wire layer form a

capacitance which can be reduced by taking turns of wire. The
advantage of this type of trimming capacitor is that it is light
in weight and small in size, and can be, therefore, mounted
directly in the wiring of the set. Moreover, the capacitance is
rather large, due to ceramic dielectric, and amounts to a few
hundred Pf. The disadvantage is that the capacitance can only
be reduced, and not increased so that these are generally used
only for few adjusting purposes.

Fixed Capacitors
As can be seen from the name, these capacitors have a fixed capacitance
which cannot be changed. The various types of fixed value capacitors are
distinguished by their dielectric as described here.

1. Film Capacitors:
The film capacitors use a plastic film as a dielectric.
There is a variety of plastic film which includes
polyester, polystyrene, polypropylene, polycarbonate,
metallised paper and Teflon are used as a dielectric.
Depending upon the type of the film these are
classified as paper and metal film capacitors.

These are available in the ranges from 5pF to 100µF.

This type of capacitors has smaller tolerances and
work under high temperature. They can be used in
sample and hold circuits, in snubber circuits used to
suppress voltage transients (spikes)
2. Paper capacitors:
Previously these capacitors are used in radio
receivers and amplifiers. They are made in two
versions, a flat form called block capacitors
and a round form called tubular capacitors.
The construction is the same for both. They
consist of two aluminum foils (these are very
thin layers) between which a few layers of
impregnated paper are replaced.

The aluminum foils are the electrodes of the

3. Polyester capacitors: capacitor and the paper is the dielectric. Due
to leakage and wide tolerance, these are
These replaced
capacitorsbyare
polyester capacitors
characterized by their small size,
low dielectric loss, and high insulation resistance. They
are highly suitable RF based circuits and radio sets.

Their construction is similar to paper capacitors but here

alternate aluminum and polyester foils are inter-wound
in layers. They are available for 160V and 400V ratings
with 10% and 20 % tolerances ranging from 1Kpf to 1µF

4. Ceramic Capacitors:
One of the widely used capacitor is ceramic
capacitors. This is a non-polarized capacitor. Also
called as disc capacitors. In this, the ceramic material
is used as a dielectric. This holds a small current and
has a small leakage current. They are available from
Pico farad to 1 microfarad range. Used for high-
frequency applications in audio circuits. These are
inexpensive capacitors and have high-frequency
performance.

These are classified into class 1, class 2 amplifiers.

Applications include filtering, oscillator tuning, EMI
suppression, smoothing circuits, and coupling
applications.
5. Mica capacitors: The dielectric of the mica capacitors is made by using thin mica
plates of high quality, one side of which is partly covered with
a layer of silver.

The value of capacitance is determined by the number of

plates, these being joined in parallel. After being assembled,
the capacitor is immersed in special wax so that it is protected
against the effects of moisture and temperature changes.
Because losses in this capacitor are low, they are especially
suitable for circuits at high frequencies (oscillator circuits, I.F
transformers, etc.) or where low leakage loss is important.
These are available in the range of 50pF to 500pF and have
working voltage up to 500V. Common applications are used in
coupling circuits, ripple filters, resonant circuits. With the
recent trend for miniaturization, it is now replaced by ceramic,
polystyrene or styroflex capacitors.

6. Air capacitors:

Air is used as a dielectric in air capacitors. The

conductive metals are separated by an air gap. There
are fixed capacitance air capacitors and variable air
capacitors are available. It can be used in tuning
radio circuits and can also be used in circuits where
low losses are required.

7. Glass capacitors:

Glass is used as the dielectric material in these

capacitors and these types of capacitors cost high.
Along with glass dielectric, aluminum electrodes are
present in these types of capacitors. Plastic
encapsulation is done at the end. This type has
relatively low capacitance value and can range
between a fraction of a Pico farad up to two thousand
Pico farads.

It can be used in high power application circuits, where

the circuit needs high-temperature zones, circuits that
need high tolerances.
Electrolytic Capacitors:
Electrolytic capacitors are polarized. These are also widely used in many
applications and have high capacitance values. A metal plate (anode) that
forms an insulating oxide layer by anodizing is called dielectric. A solid or
semi-solid electrolyte act as a cathode. These have higher capacitance due
to their larger anode surface and the thin dielectric oxide layer. These are
used when there is a need of high charge storage.

In aluminum electrolytic capacitors, aluminum foil acts as anode insulating

an oxide layer which is dielectric and covered by the electrolyte as a
cathode. These can be seen in the circuits of power supply for decoupling
and switched mode power supply. These are cheaper.

In tantalum type capacitor, tantalum is used as anode and electrolyte as

cathode covers an oxide layer. These are a bit high than the aluminum type
capacitors

Super Capacitors: