// FREE MINI-COURSE · µF

Capacitor Series

Capacitors Explained — How capacitors store energy, keep time and clean up power.

4 of 5 lessons out · next: Why a capacitor blocks DC but passes AC

▶ Start lesson 1
  1. 01 How a capacitor stores energyCharge builds up on two plates across an insulator; Q = C × V. EP.07 · 20 s
  2. 02 How a capacitor keeps TIMEA resistor makes a capacitor fill slowly: τ = R × C (10 kΩ × 100 µF = 1 s), 63 % after 1τ, full after 5τ — that's a timer. EP.14 · 20 s
  3. 03 AC → DC: how a power supply makes DCHow a capacitor fills in dips to give steady DC. EP.24 · 20 s also in Electronics Basics
  4. 04 Capacitors in series vs parallelParallel caps add (10 µF + 10 µF = 20 µF, bigger plates); series caps give less (5 µF, bigger gap) but share the voltage: the opposite of resistors. EP.52 · 24 s