Capacitor Types Explained: electrolytic, ceramic, tantalum, plastic film

Find out all you need to know about the different types of capacitor and their properties: electrolytic capacitor; ceramic capacitor; tantalum capacitor; plastic film capacitor. Plastic film capacitors can be further divided into types including polycarbonate capacitor, PTFE capacitor, polystyrene capacitor, polyester capacitor and many more.

Find out what these different types of capacitor are; how they can be used; and the various attributes of each type. We look at the characteristics of the different types of capacitor as well as the advantages and disadvantages of each capacitor type so that it is possible to choose which capacitor to use.

Choosing the correct type of capacitor is very important because some capacitors work well in some applications, but may not work at all in others – in some instances they may even fail, sometimes catastrophically. As a result it is important to know which type of capacitor to use in any given circuit or application.

[hoggif]

I've never come to think of that electrolytics have negative end marked and tantalums have positive marked even though after all the years of hobby it was always clear to me.

[StredieGabriel]

thanks a lot for this short presentation! really helps out when you have 8 chapters worth of material on dielectrics for a electrical components course

[marklewus]

Thanks for the very good quality presentation. I just wanted to add a note about aluminum electrolytic capacitors. These are available in very high voltages, up to 900V. They are also available unpolarized (known in the industry as bi-polar or non-polar) for use in AC applications like power supplies and motors.

[kipronokenneth]

Thank you so much for this! Short and clear....can you please do a more detailed tutorial on electrolytic and ceramic capacitors?

[markharrisllb]

Your speed of speech, your diction and your explanations are perfect for my level of knowledge of electronics. Which is slightly less than your average garden weed.

[fabianification]

Fantastic video! I finally understand the reason for the different types. MASSIVE THUMBS UP!

[danieldonahue]

What type would a point condenser ignition on a 60s car use ? just wondering thanks !

[Dinco]

Bro, this is top notch explanation. Kudos to you and ty for it :)

[garymartin]

Think of caps as energy storage devices. Electrolytics typically are placed where the power comes into a circuit board. This filters the incoming supply and holds a fairly large energy reserve. Energy from the electrolytics is usually distributed to several tantalums placed strategically around the board. Lastly, energy from the tantalums is distributed to ceramics. Ceramics provide the burst of transitory energy needed for digital transistor switching. For a very brief time a transistor may show a near zero resistance and shunt a lot of energey to ground. That's why there needs to be adequate number of ceramics of a range of values to provide that instantaneous current demand. Consult semiconductor or device datasheets for proper cap values and placements.

[omerzohar]

Great video with a brief well explanation. Thank you!

[cac]

Great info and at the end we get one of best summary i ever got in any presentation.

[Korystuwatch]

can I use a plastic film capacitors for a high frequency?

[classicsamusaran]

How to long-term store removable smartphone Li-Po batteries?

[bartronicsecurity]

Nice video. Would have liked to see more info on the ceramic MLCC caps in particular the temperature compensating ones.

[douggale]

Really good video, would be better if it mentioned dielectric absorption.

[michaelpukmel]

Thanks, great video, lots of useful information, good overview of cap's.

[cimmik]

Should I avoid AC on a polarized capacitor?

[iain_grant]

Thanks, I had this question of what the difference was for ages. I had discovered some of the answers myself but not all the types! :D

[jvburnes]

Couldn't find your contact information. Just wanted to say thank you for your great web article about pi and T filters and cutoff frequencies.

[Mixbag]

Just wanted to ask. Are these good quality capacitor brands?, Murata, KEMET, AVX, Vishay. im starting to do more SMD stuff and i dont know which brands are good or bad and prices go up and down all the time so that dont help