Capacitors
Formulas for Capacitors in series and capacitors in parallel. Description of the RC Time Constant.
Capacitors in series
The total capacitance $c_{\text{total}}$ of capacitor in seriel is the reciprocal of the sum of their reciprocals:
$C_{\text{total}} = \frac{1}{\frac{1}{C_1} + \frac{1}{C_2} + \frac{1}{C_3} + \dots + \frac{1}{C_n}}$
Capacitors in parallel
The total capacitance $C_{\text{total}}$ of capacitor in paralel is the sum of their individual capacitance:
$C_{\text{total}} = C_1 + C_2 + C_3 + \dots + C_n$
RC Time Constant
The time constant $\tau$ of an RC circuit is the product of the resistance $R$ and capacitance $C$ :
$\tau = R \times C$
| $1\tau$ | $2\tau$ | $3\tau$ | $4\tau$ | $5\tau$ | @1V |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0.632V | 0.864V | 0.950V | 0.981V | 0.993V |
