1. EENG 2610: Circuit Analysis Class 10: Capacitors and Inductors
Oluwayomi Adamo
Department of Electrical Engineering
College of Engineering, University of North Texas

2. Capacitors and Inductors
Both are linear elements
Their terminal characteristics are described by linear differential equations.
Both are storage elements
Able to absorb energy, store energy temporarily, and later supply energy to circuit.
Capacitors are capable of storing energy when a voltage is present across the element. Energy is stored in electric field.
Inductors are capable of storing energy when a current is passing through them. Energy is stored in magnetic field.
Important application: op-amp integrator
It produces an output voltage that is proportional to the integral of the input voltage.
It can be used to simulate complex systems.

3. Capacitors
A capacitor is a circuit element that consists of two conducting surfaces separated by non-conducting, or dielectric, material.
Capacitors are categorized by the type of dielectric material used between the conducting plates. Each type is more suitable for particular applications.
Unit of capacitance is coulombs per volt, or Farad (F).
Typical values range from thousands of micro-farads to a few pico-farads.

4. Power: Energy: Capacitance of two parallel plates of area A
Separated by distance d:
The charge on the capacitor is proportional
to the voltage across it:
Power:
Energy:

5. Capacitors only store and release electrostatic energy; they don’t create energy.
The capacitor is passive element and follows passive sign convention.

6. Some Characteristics of Capacitor
Capacitor blocks DC current or capacitor is an open circuit to DC current.
Capacitor is often used to filter out unwanted DC voltage/current.
When analyzing a circuit containing only DC voltage/current source, we can replace capacitors with an open circuit before analysis.
Capacitor has continuity of voltage
Voltage across capacitor is always continuous.
v(t) is continuous!

7. Example 6.1: If the charge accumulated on two parallel conductors charged to 12V is 600 pC, what is the capacitance of the parallel conductors?
Example 6.2: The voltage across a 5 μF capacitor has the waveform shown in (a). Determine the current waveform.

8. Example 6.3: Determine the energy stored in the electric field of the capacitor in Example 6.2 at t = 6 ms.
Example 6.4: The current in an initially uncharged 4 μF capacitor is shown below. Derive the waveforms for the voltage, power, and energy and compute the energy stored at t = 2 ms.

10. Inductors
An inductor is a circuit element that consists of a conducting wire usually in the form of a coil.
Inductors are typically categorized by the type of core on which they are wound. Each type is more suitable for particular applications.
The unit of inductance is volt-second per ampere, or Henry (H).

11. The inductor is passive element and follows passive sign convention.
Power:
Energy:
Inductors only store and release electromagnetic energy; they don’t create energy.
The inductor is passive element and follows passive sign convention.

12. Some Characteristics of Inductors
Inductor is a short circuit to DC current.
In analyzing a circuit containing only DC voltage/current source, we can replace inductors with a short circuit before analysis.
Inductor has continuity of current
Current flowing through an inductor is always continuous.
i(t) is continuous!

13. Example 6.5: Find the total energy stored in the circuit.

14. Example 6.7: The current in a 2 mH inductor is Determine the voltage across the inductor and the energy stored in the inductor.
Example 6.8: The voltage across a 200 mH inductor is given by the following expression. Derive the waveforms for the current, energy, and power.

16. Capacitor and Inductor Specifications
Capacitors: capacitance, working voltage, and tolerance
The working voltage is specified to keep the applied voltage below the breakdown point of the dielectric.
Inductors: inductance, resistance, tolerance, current rating
The major difference between wire-wound resistors and inductors is the wire material. Low resistance materials are used in inductors.