Experiment 5 - The Capacity

You've probably wondered what is the capacity of a capacitor all about. And what is the unit "Farad"?

Replace in the circuit from the last experiment the capacitor C1 by a through a 10 μF capacitor. Observe the difference from the last experiment ...

• The LED1 lights up significantly shorter while charging.
• The LED2 also lights up significantly shorter when discharging .

A 10 μF capacitor stores less electrical energy than a capacitor with 100 μF.

Circuit with electrolytic capacitor. (Enlarge)

Circuit diagram with electrolytic capacitor.

What is meanst by a capacity of 1 Farad?

You might be wondering whether this is much or little. In the next experiment you compare a capacitor with a battery.