Capacitor

Capacitor Overview#

A capacitor is a component that is able to store charge. There are a number of different types of capacitors that have different physical properties, but the two most common that you will encounter are the ceramic capacitor and the electrolytic capacitor.

Electrolytic Capacitor#

Photograph of an Electrolytic Capacitor with overlaid anode and cathode symbols; Patchr and Schematic symbols also shown; on a blue background.

An electrolytic capacitor is polarized component with a tubular body and two leads. A stripe down the side of the component's body indicates the cathode — the more negative lead.

Electrolytic Capacitor Patchr Symbol#

Electrolytic Capacitor Schematic Symbol#

Ceramic Capacitor#

A ceramic capacitors are disk shaped and are not polarized like an electrolytic capacitor. This means you don't need to worry about which way the ceramic capacitor is wired in a circuit.