In some physics contexts, a resistor is connected in series with a capacitor to allow for quicker charging and a smaller time constant. However, the exact reason for this and how it works is a more complex topic. It's not always the case that a resistor must be connected in series with a capacitor; it depends on the specific application and design considerations. Your lecturer's statement may be correct in certain situations, but it's essential to understand the underlying principles before making assumptions.
When you connect capacitors in series, any variance in values causes each one to charge at a different rate and to a different voltage. The variance can be quite large for electrolytics. On top of that, once the bank is charged, each capacitor's leakage current also causes a different voltage across each capacitor.
In any practical circuit, wires act as resistors, and the power supply and the capacitor both have internal resistance as well. If a capacitor is connected to a power source without a series resistor, it acts briefly as a short circuit. This may blow a fuse and/or damage the power supply.
A resistor can be connected in parallel to a capacitor without affecting the charging time. There's nothing wrong with this configuration. However, charging of a capacitor takes infinite time if a resistor is connected in series. The time constant for an RC circuit is RC. So, the charging time would actually increase if a resistor is connected in series.
Thus, if you need to have a capacitor in a high voltage circuit it may be necessary, or just more convenient, to place them in series. Recovering the nominal capacitance of the individual capacitor, if needed, is a question of building up an array of them in parallel.
Connecting an ideal capacitor directly to an ideal voltage source results in undefined transient behavior. In any practical circuit, wires have resistance, and both the power supply and the capacitor have internal resistance as well. Adding a resistor of any value greater than zero makes the math 'well-behaved'.
circuit design
Why do we put resistors in series with capacitors or inductors in single time constant circuits? In this diagram. we see a resistor connected in series with a capacitor. This could act as a low-pass network. My question is: is there a specific reason why the resistor is added? Or is it just there to model the resistance of the metal wire?
Intuitively, why does putting capacitors in series decrease the ...
The bottom middle diagram shows two capacitors in series. It is equivalent to the diagram to the bottom right. If two or more capacitors are connected in series, the overall effect is that of a single (equivalent) capacitor having the sum total of the plate spacings of the individual capacitors. Thus for series capacitors the equivalent ...
19.6: Capacitors in Series and Parallel
(See Figure (PageIndex{1})(b).) Larger plate separation means smaller capacitance. It is a general feature of series connections of capacitors that the total capacitance is less than any of the individual capacitances. Figure (PageIndex{1}): (a) Capacitors connected in series. The magnitude of the charge on each plate is (Q). (b) An ...
Balancing resistor values for series capacitors
Balance resistors are intended to ensure that leakage current differences across series capacitors don''t push the voltage of one or more of them over the rated voltage. There is a lot of noise online about how to calculate them. Some of them advocate resistors to draw three times the leakage current. I''ve seen that go as high as ten times the leakage …
Why we connect a capacitor with resistor in parallel
When you connect capacitors in series, any variance in values causes each one to charge at a different rate and to a different voltage. The variance can be quite large for …
Can you combine capacitors and resistors?
If a resistor is connected in series with the capacitor forming an RC circuit, the capacitor will charge up gradually through the resistor until the voltage across it reaches that of the supply voltage. The time required for the …
Understanding Capacitors in Series and Parallel
In a series connection, capacitors are connected end-to-end, forming a single path for the flow of current. To calculate the total capacitance in a series circuit, you need to use the reciprocal formula. Simply put, you take the reciprocal of each capacitor''s value and add them together. The equivalent capacitance (C) can be calculated as: Where C1, C2, and C3 …
electrostatics
What is left is a capacitor connected to a single resistor. The questions are: In the circuit labeled Series, are the resistor and capacitor in series or in parallel. (Ignore the switch and battery) In the circuit labeled Parallel, are the resistor and capacitor in series or in parallel. (Ignore the switch, battery and resistor in series with ...
Supercapacitors in series
I''ve also used the resistor to initially charge capacitors, so the power source woldn''t see a shortage. When capacitors charged to about 4V in series then I could switch off the resistor and they were charging. Apparently their ESR had to raise so the power source let me charge them without a resistor. I''d consider my problem as solved by now.
What are some reasons to connect capacitors in series?
When you join capacitors in series, the equivalent capacitance decreases. What are some reasons to connect capacitors in series? Capacitors have a maximum voltage they …
8.2 Capacitors in Series and in Parallel
The Parallel Combination of Capacitors. A parallel combination of three capacitors, with one plate of each capacitor connected to one side of the circuit and the other plate connected to the other side, is illustrated in Figure 8.12(a). Since the capacitors are connected in parallel, they all have the same voltage V across their plates.However, each capacitor in the parallel network may …
How do resistors affect capacitors?
When capacitors and resistors are connected together the resistor resists the flow of current that can charge or discharge the capacitor. The larger the resistor, the slower the charge/discharge rate. The larger the capacitor, the slower the charge/discharge rate.. If a voltage is applied to a capacitor through a series resistor, the charging current will be highest when the …
Why do we need 4 resistors for a common emitter amplifier?
I''m studying the 4 resistors bias configuration, I''m trying to understand why we need everyone of these resistors. If I understood correctly, R e is used to make the Q-point stable, while R 1 and R 2 are used to determine V be, but I can''t understand why we need R L.. I also would like to ask why in the common base configuration we have a bypass capacitor in parallel …
Electrolytic Caps in a Series Connection
I have heard that if you connect two electrolytics in series with oposing polarites you get an AC capacitor, the only other reason to connect capacitors in series is to increase …
Why is a resistor always connected to a capacitor in series?
$begingroup$ I''m guessing that your instructor was talking about a theoretical circuit. If you connect an ideal capacitor across the terminals of an ideal voltage source, then the transient behavior is undefined. Add a resistor of any value greater than zero, and the math becomes well behaved. In any practical circuit, the wires are resistors, and the the power …
Why do capacitors in series not just act as one capacitor with the ...
Imagine this: A battery connected to two capacitors in series. The battery has a positive and a negative end. Electrons will flow from the negative end to the first plate of the capacitor. This will create an electric field pointing towards the electrons now distributed on the plate (which will increase with time cause the capacitors are charging). The other plate will draw positive …
Why do capacitors in series not just act as one capacitor with the ...
When you have a voltage across the plates of a capacitor, you get an electric field between them, through the dielectric. That field is where your energy is being stored. So, look at two identical …
Strategies for balancing series connected …
A capacitor can be modelled by a parallel connection of an R-C element and an insulation resistor. For the moment, we can neglect the insulation resistance and consider a series connection of two capacitors with …
Can someone explain capacitor usage in parallel vs series please?
Capacitors combined in series can be used to fine-tune the capacitance if no suitable part exists or if a capacitor of a specific rating is not at hand. the voltage across a series of caps can be …
Why do capacitors lose capacitance in series?
$begingroup$ Instead of thinking of capacitors in terms of charged plates, I like to think of them as devices that build up voltage as charge is pushed through them. When two caps are in series, every coulomb of charge that goes through one goes through all, and the amount of voltage that builds up with each coulomb will be equal to the sum of the voltage that …
10.2 Resistors in Series and Parallel
In Current and Resistance, we described the term ''resistance'' and explained the basic design of a resistor.Basically, a resistor limits the flow of charge in a circuit and is an ohmic device where V = I R. V = I R. Most circuits have more than …
Capacitors in Series Calculator
This capacitors in series calculator helps you evaluate the equivalent value of capacitance of up to 10 individual capacitors the text, you''ll find how adding capacitors in series works, what the difference between capacitors in series and in parallel is, and how it corresponds to the combination of resistors.
Electrolytic Caps in a Series Connection
Aluminum Electrolytic Capacitor Application Guide If two, same-value, aluminum electrolytic capacitors are connected in series with the positive terminals or the negative terminals connected together, the resulting single capacitor is a non-polar capacitor with half the capacitance. The two capacitors rectify the applied voltage and act as if they had been …
Why are the capacitors in this circuit in parallel but not in series?
In the circuit, the capacitors are said to be connected in parallel. Why is that so? Edit: The switch will be closed and C2 is fully charged by C1 and no more current will flow between C1 and C2. The . Skip to main content. Stack Exchange Network . Stack Exchange network consists of 183 Q&A communities including Stack Overflow, the largest, most trusted …
circuit design
Why do we put resistors in series with capacitors or inductors in single time constant circuits? In this diagram we see a resistor connected in series with a capacitor.
resistors
There are no resistors connected to metal shell, they are capacitors. The motor metallic shell has no connection to any voltage so the metal is a high impedance floating node. Floating nodes can act as antennas …
Why is capacitor placed in parallel for power factor correction?
Why does one place the capacitor in parallel (as opposed to series)? Thanks in advance. power-factor-correction; Share. Cite. Follow edited Mar 9, 2017 at 18:04. Community Bot. 1. asked Apr 2, 2016 at 13:31. Jamila Jamila. 127 1 1 gold badge 1 1 silver badge 7 7 bronze badges $endgroup$ 2. 2 $begingroup$ One practical reason is that the capacitor would …
What happens if resistor and capacitor are connected …
What happens if a resistor and capacitor are in parallel? When resistors and capacitors are mixed together in parallel circuits (just as in series circuits), the total impedance will have a phase angle somewhere between 0° …
Why is a resistor needed when using a capacitor? : r ...
Real capacitors, wires, PCBs, and power sources have at least some resistance so you''ll never encounter such a divide-by-zero in a practical application. You could always add a 10mΩ resistor in series with your thing, although with an ideal voltage source present there''s not much point adding capacitance in the first place… Reply reply BenTheHokie • Depending on the IV curve …
Why is a resistor always connected to a capacitor in …
If a capacitor is connected to a power source without a series resistor, it acts briefly as a short circuit. This may blow a fuse and/or damage …
As a general rule, should input pins be protected with a series resistor?
But ask yourself the question; why is the chip supplier telling you this information - why is the chip supplier telling you that when you use a port as an input you should ensure the current into it is less than (say) 1 mA. After all, you''d expect that when applying Vcc to the port, that just a few nA will flow. That would be true under normal circumstances of course.
Why is the capacitor short-circuited in this example?
Any element for which terminals are connected by a conductor, as the capacitor in the figure, is said to be shorted. By having their shorted terminals, the voltage thereof is zero (more precisely, the potential difference between them), so that this element is not operational in the circuit, and can be removed for analysis. The other two capacitors are in series, hence that:
Why do resistors in parallel with each diode in a diode string …
Capacitors should be added as well to swamp the differences. Ordinary junction diodes have quite significant charge storage, and this can vary between diodes. If a reverse current is applied abruptly, the diodes stay on until this charge is exhausted, and then the fastest diode turns off first.
Series and Parallel Capacitors | Capacitors | Electronics Textbook
When capacitors are connected in series, the total capacitance is less than any one of the series capacitors'' individual capacitances. If two or more capacitors are connected in series, the overall effect is that of a single (equivalent) capacitor having the sum total of the plate spacings of the individual capacitors. As we''ve just seen ...
Capacitors in Series and Parallel | Physics
Find the total capacitance for three capacitors connected in series, given their individual capacitances are 1.000, 5.000, and 8.000 µF. Strategy With the given information, the total capacitance can be found using the equation for capacitance in series.