Capacitors

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Capacitors in Series/Parallel

Much like resistors, multiple capacitors can be combined in series or parallel to create a combined equivalent capacitance. Capacitors, however, add together in a way that's completely the opposite of resistors.

Capacitors in Parallel

When capacitors are placed in parallel with one another the total capacitance is simply the sum of all capacitances. This is analogous to the way resistors add when in series.

So, for example, if you had three capacitors of values 10µF, 1µF, and 0.1µF in parallel, the total capacitance would be 11.1µF (10+1+0.1).

Capacitors in Series

Much like resistors are a pain to add in parallel, capacitors get funky when placed in series. The total capacitance of N capacitors in series is the inverse of the sum of all inverse capacitances.

If you only have two capacitors in series, you can use the "product-over-sum" method to calculate the total capacitance:

Taking that equation even further, if you have two equal-valued capacitors in series, the total capacitance is half of their value. For example two 10F supercapacitors in series will produce a total capacitance of 5F (it'll also have the benefit of doubling the voltage rating of the total capacitor, from 2.5V to 5V).