Capacitors in Parallel: Electronics Tutorial # 7

When capacitors are placed in parallel, capacitors add. The equivalent capacitance of capacitors in parallel can be calculated from the formula:

Equation 1: Ceq = C1 + C2 + C3 + C4 + ..... + CN

For the circuit below, the equivalent capacitance is calculated  with equation  1 as" 

Ceq = 1uF + 2uF + 2uF + 3uF = 8uF 

Add Capacitors in Parallel to Obtain the Equivalent Capacitance

Capacitors are measured in units of Farads. A uF or microFarad, is one millionth of a Farad. For the above example, the equivalent capacitance is 8 microFarads.  

Applications 

Capacitors are often placed in parallel to increase the capacitance to a specific value that is not available as a standard component. In DC power supply application, smaller capacitors are put in parallel because smaller capacitors will filter out ripple better than one large equivalent capacitor. Parallel capacitors are often used in Kinetic Energy Conversion systems (used in electric cars). 

Limits 

Capacitors can be placed in parallel, but in practice, the total amount of voltage that can be applied across capacitor in parallel can not exceed the lowest capacitor voltage rating of the capacitors within the parallel bank. 

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Capacitors in Parallel