Capacitor Trivia Quiz Questions And Answers
Capacitors were originally called what?
A: Condensers.
What is a capacitor?
A: A passive two-terminal electrical component used to store
energy.
How does a capacitor store energy?
A: Electro-statically in an electric field.
All capacitors have at least how many plates (conductors)?
A: Two.
Along with the plates, what other thing is needed for a
capacitor?
A: A dielectric (i.e. insulator).
The conductors in a capacitor can be thin films, foils or
sintered beads of metal or basically anything what?
A: Conductive.
The dielectric acts to increase the capacitor's what?
A: Charge capacity.
A dielectric can be glass, ceramic, plastic film, air,
vacuum, paper, mica, oxide layer or anything that does not what?
A: Conduct electricity.
Capacitors are used as parts of a "what"?
A: Electrical or electronic circuit.
An ideal capacitor does not dissipate what?
A: Energy.
A capacitor stores energy in the form of an electrostatic
field between its what?
A: Plates.
When there is a potential difference across the conductors
of a capacitor, what develops across the dielectric?
A: An electric field.
An ideal capacitor is characterized by a single constant
value for its what?
A: Capacitance.
How is capacitance is expressed?
A: As the ratio of the electric charge Q on each conductor to the potential
difference V between them.
What is the SI unit of capacitance?
A: The farad (F), which is equal to one coulomb per volt (1 C/V).
The capacitance is greater when the plates are what?
A: Closer together.
The capacitance is greater when the plates have a larger
what?
A: Area.
In real life, the dielectric between the plates allows a
small amount of what to flow?
A: Current.
The small current that can flow through the dielectric is
called what?
A: Leakage current.
A dielectric has an electric field strength limit, known as
what?
A: The breakdown voltage.
The conductors and leads of a capacitor introduce an
undesired what?
A: Inductance and
resistance.
Capacitors are often used in electronic circuits for
blocking what?
A: Direct current.
A capacitor can block DC current while allowing what to
flow through?
A: AC current.
What does the capacitor do in an analog filter network?
A: It smoothes the output of power supplies.
In resonant circuits capacitors do what?
A: Tune circuits to particular frequencies.
