There’s a wide range of different type of Capacitors in market. Every single capacitor in that range has its unique function, description and properties. We need to know which capacitor is suitable for which type of requirements.
We had already discussed in our earlier post that The selection of a suitable capacitor provides a significance impact of the functioning of a circuit. It should be noted that the whole circuit may function improperly if a suitable capacitor is not positioned.
Different Type of Capacitors Available in Market with Description
The various type of capacitors are normally classified in accordance with the dielectric sandwiched between the capacitor plates. For example – Commercial Capacitors use dielectric consisting Mylar or papers treated with paraffin. Whereas, small capacitor prefers dielectric consisting ceramic materials.
Though it is not possible to cover all types of capacitors in one or two posts, yet we are trying to cover most common and important types of capacitors in two parts. The various types of capacitors are :
1. Ceramic Capacitor
These type of capacitors are used normally in various functions such as audio, RF etc. They range from a few pico farad to somewhere around 1/2µF.
They have low cost, small in size and are very reliable. They use ceramic as a dielectric material. They are non polarized and are mostly used as a decoupling or bypass capacitors.
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2. Electrolytic Capacitor
These type of capacitors are mostly a polarized capacitor. By polarized, we mean to say that they should be connected to a dc source keeping in mind their polarity.
Or else, a wrong connection may damage it permanently. They are used where a high capacitance is required. They broadly range from a few µF to even 1000 µF.
They consist of a electro-chemically developed oxide layer as dielectric material.
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3. Tantalum Capacitor
These type of capacitors are also a polarized capacitor. They are available in both wet and solid electrolyte form. However, the solid tantalum capacitor is more widely used if compared to wet tantalum.
They offer a very high capacitance as compared to their size. They range from 47 nF to 470 µF. They are used in functions where the value of AC voltage is less as compared to DC Voltage.
They are very sensitive to reverse biasing, high ripple currents as well as voltage above its working limit.
4. Silver Mica Capacitor
These type of capacitors are not so popular in current type. However, If space is not a concern, then they are one of the best choices when stability and accuracy is required. Their range limit is below 1000pF.
5. Polystyrene Film Capacitor
These type of capacitors are tubular in shape and contains the dielectric film in a rolled form. They are very cheap and provide a close tolerance limit.
The list does not end here. Read about other capacitors in Type of Capacitors – Part II.
Also Read: - How Capacitor works How to Read Capacitor Color Marking Values – Calculation and Identification Codes
