Define capacitors and transformers

Dear vivek,

Capacitors store electric charge. They are used with resistors in timing circuits because it takes time for a capacitor to fill with charge. They are used to smooth varying DC supplies by acting as a reservoir of charge. They are also used in filter circuits because capacitors easily pass AC (changing) signals but they block DC (constant) signals.

A transformer is a static device that transfers electrical energy from one circuit to another through inductively coupled conductors—the transformer's coils.

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Sagar Singh

B.Tech, IIT Delhi

A capacitor (formerly known as condenser) is a passive electronic component consisting of a pair of conductors separated by a dielectric (insulator). When there is a potential difference(voltage) across the conductors, a static electric field develops in the dielectric that storesenergy and produces a mechanical force between the conductors. An ideal capacitor is characterized by a single constant value, capacitance, measured in farads. This is the ratio of the electric charge on each conductor to the potential difference between them.

Capacitors are widely used in electronic circuits for blocking direct current while allowingalternating current to pass, in filter networks, for smoothing the output of power supplies, in the resonant circuits that tune radios to particular frequencies and for many other purposes.

The effect is greatest when there is a narrow separation between large areas of conductor, hence capacitor conductors are often called "plates", referring to an early means of construction. In practice the dielectric between the plates passes a small amount of leakage current and also has an electric field strength limit, resulting in a breakdown voltage, while the conductors and leads introduce an undesired inductance and resistance.

A transformer is a static device that transfers electrical energy from one circuit to another throughinductively coupled conductors—the transformer's coils. A varying current in the first or primarywinding creates a varying magnetic flux in the transformer's core and thus a varying magnetic fieldthrough the secondary winding. This varying magnetic field induces a varying electromotive force (EMF) or "voltage" in the secondary winding. This effect is called mutual induction.

If a load is connected to the secondary, an electric current will flow in the secondary winding and electrical energy will be transferred from the primary circuit through the transformer to the load. In an ideal transformer, the induced voltage in the secondary winding (V_s) is in proportion to the primary voltage (V_p), and is given by the ratio of the number of turns in the secondary (N_s) to the number of turns in the primary (N_p) as follows:

By appropriate selection of the ratio of turns, a transformer thus allows an alternating current (AC)voltage to be "stepped up" by making N_s greater than N_p, or "stepped down" by making N_s less than N_p.

In the vast majority of transformers, the windings are coils wound around a ferromagnetic core, air-core transformers being a notable exception.

Transformers range in size from a thumbnail-sized coupling transformer hidden inside a stagemicrophone to huge units weighing hundreds of tons used to interconnect portions of power grids. All operate with the same basic principles, although the range of designs is wide. While new technologies have eliminated the need for transformers in some electronic circuits, transformers are still found in nearly all electronic devices designed for household ("mains") voltage. Transformers are essential for high-voltage electric power transmission, which makes long-distance transmission economically practical.