Capacitor

A capacitor is a device that stores energy in the electric field created between a pair of conductors on which equal but opposite electric charges have been placed. A capacitor is occasionally referred to using the older term condenser.

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We know from reports of the lost writings of Thales of Miletus (around 600 BC) that the Ancient Greeks knew how to generate sparks by rubbing balls of amber on spindles. This is the triboelectric effect, the mechanical separation of charge in a dielectric.

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The ancient experimenters, however, did not know that the charge density could be dramatically increased by sandwiching the insulator between two metal plates. This was the basis of the capacitor. Ewald Georg von Kleist of Pomerania invented the first recorded capacitor in October 1745. It was a glass jar coated inside and out with metal. The inner coating was connected to a rod that passed through the lid and ended in a metal sphere.

Energy: Energy is a fundamental quantity that every physical system possesses. Energy of physical system in a certain given state is defined as the amount of work W needed to change the state of the system from some initial state (called reference state or reference level) to the given state....

Electric field: In physics, an electric field or E-field is an effect produced by an electric charge that exerts a force on charged objects in its vicinity. The units of the electric field are newtons per coulomb or volts per meter (both are equivalent). Electric fields are composed of photons and contain electric...

Charge: Charge is a word with many different meanings....

Capacitor related Images and Photos (experimental)

Flux Capacitor Replica	Back to the Future Flux Capacitor T-Shirt	Back To The Future Flux Capacitor Replica	Back To The Future - Flux Capacitor
Back To The Future - Flux Capacitor