Is there any instrument exist in this planet (or others!!) to measure the VALUE of a CAPACITOR?

Question

If YES! how? If doesn't, what is the other way to measure it?
And also what is the meaning of this in capacitor rating - 0.47uf/1206/50V?

Answer 1

Yes, many multimeters include capacitance meters, thought the range is a bit limited. Google "LCR meters" for better ones.

You can determine capacitance in other ways. For example, you can charge one up to a specific voltage, then discharge it through a known resistance. The amount of time that it takes to discharge 63.2% (one time constant) will be the capacitance in farads times the resistance in ohms. Therefore divide the time in seconds by the resistance to get the capacitance.

The cap you mention has a capacitance of 0.47 microfarads, aka 470 nanofarads, is rated for use up to 50 volts, and is a surface-mount package (no leads, box shape) , 0.12 inches by 0.06 inches footprint.

Answer 2

I have a multi-meter which measures capacitance over two ranges, it is probably not the most accurate but it gives some idea. It has an oscillator built in and it measures the current passed by the cap.

0.47 microfarads, rated suitable for up to 50Volts. I don't remember, if I ever knew, what the 1206 means. Might be used in audio filter application?

Answer 3

Besides what the others said, above, there are capacitance meters that put the unknown capacitor in a bridge circuit as part of Wein bridge oscillator. The frequency of the oscillator will change with different capacitance values. Based on look-up tables, a microcontroller (i.e. PIC with a frequency counter) can read the frequency of the oscillator and 'know' what capacitor value is present, then display that value.

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Answer 4

High quality DMM's like Fluke does it. Capacitance is just a measure of how much charge there is ( or can be stored)between two charged objects.