What is a capacitor?

A capacitor is a passive electronic component with two terminals, designed to add capacitance to an electric circuit. These components store electrical energy between two electric fields and the effect of capacitors is known as capacitance.

The earliest forms of capacitors were invented in 1847 by two Dutch physicists named Von Kliest and Van Musschenbrook, known as ‘condensers’ at the time. Today, capacitors can be found across a wide range of industries including industrial power supply, lighting, communications, frequency conversion and electrical appliances.

What do capacitors do?

As electronic components that store and release electricity within a circuit, capacitors are an indispensable part of electronic equipment. They are almost invariably used in every electronic circuit. Capacitors can be found in applications such as energy storage, power conditioning, signal coupling or decoupling, electric noise filtering, remote sensing and more.

Different types of capacitors

Some of the different types of capacitors include:

• Aluminium capacitors
• Tantalum capacitors (Wet & Solid)
• Silver capacitors
• Carbon nanotubes capacitors
• Ceramic capacitors 
• Film and paper capacitors
• Aluminium tantalum and niobium capacitors 
• Mica & PTFE Capacitors
• Electrolytic Capacitors