Wiring Capacitors In Series

For series connected capacitors the charging current i c flowing through the capacitors is the same for all capacitors as it only has one path to follow.

Wiring capacitors in series. For instance if you combine three 100 μf capacitors in parallel the total capacitance of the circuit is 300 μf. Note that in practice capacitors cannot be expected to have exactly the same capacitance. The equivalent capacitance of the capacitors connected in series chain is the reciprocal of the equivalent capacitance is equal to the sum of the reciprocals of all the individual capacitances of the capacitors connected in series. If you have 3 capacitors with the same capacitance then you predict 1 3 vtot across each capacitor in the series string.

For example the tolerance on electrolytic capacitors is especially bad something like the value on the can plus or minus 20. Therefore each capacitor will store the same amount of electrical charge q on its plates regardless of its capacitance. All the capacitors which are connected in series have the equal charge q. I e in a line such that the positive plate of one is attached to the negative plate of the other see fig.

Capacitors in series summary. Consider two capacitors connected in series. Combine capacitors in parallel calculating the total capacitance of two or more capacitors in parallel. You can combine capacitors in series or parallel networks to create any capacitance value you need in an electronic circuit.