Re: capacitor calculations

["Tesla list" <tesla-at-pupman-dot-com>]

Original poster: "by way of Terry Fritz <twftesla-at-qwest-dot-net>" <Hollmike-at-aol-dot-com>

Jesse, 
  The one thing to keep in mind is that all the capacitor in a series string
obtain the same charge which is Charge, Q = C*V.  If all the caps are identical
this results in the voltage being the same for each cap.  If they are not the
same, then each each capacitor's voltage will be inversely proportional to the
capacitance of the unit.  For example a cap of 10uF will only have 1/10 of the
voltage across it than a 1uF cap when connected in series. 
   Of course, if different types of caps are wired in parallel the result is
simply an addition of of their capacitances (and can be treated as a single
cap) and they will all be charged to the same voltage.  The only concern here
is that the voltage must not exceed the lowest rated cap. 
 Hope this answers your question. 
Mike     


>
> Hello, Quick question 
> I am at a point where I need to start thinking about 
> building a capacitor.  I have decided to go with the 
> MMC.  Now I understand the adding and dividing of 
> capacitance depending on how they are wired together, 
> but how do the voltages work to get the desired high 
> voltage value?  Does voltage also change depending on 
> wiring characteristics or is it something else? 
>
> Thank You 
>
> Jesse Hampton