is it possible to arrange capacitors in series?

Question

i was doing experiments with capacitors and couldnt get the capacitors to charge when they were in series, and no one i know can tell me whether they could be arranged in any other way than parralel, if this is possile, please tell me, or tell me how it could be done.

Answer 1

If the capacitors are all roughly equal value they will charge. If there is a big difference in values the small ones will charge and the big ones won't. Remember, in a series circuit the current is the same through all of the elements. It takes more current to charge a big cap than a small one. When the small ones charge their current goes to zero and stops the big ones from completing their charging. The voltage across each cap will be inversely proportional to its value. A 10uF cap will have 1/10 the voltage of a 1uF cap. Remember, Q=CV. Q is the same for all the caps in a series circuit since the current is the same for all the caps. You only need to know the value of C to figure out V.
Also remember that it may be difficult to measure the voltage across a small cap with a voltmeter. Anything smaller that about 1uF will be difficult to measure because most voltmeters take a small amount of current, discharging the cap, in order to make a voltage measurement.

Answer 2

Learn what they are and think about what you want to do with them. If you need a capacitor to operate in a 100v circuit but all you have is two identical capacitors rated at 50v, you can connect them in series. In practice, no two capacitors are identical, so you would connect an equalizing resistor across each to be sure they stayed within their ratings.

Another thing you could do is charge 10 capacitors in parallel to 10 volts. Then, connect them in series, and you have a capacitor charged to 100 volts. Again, equalizing resistors would be a wise precaution.

Answer 3

Yes you can. But the capacitances add inversely so the total capacitance actually decreases. In other words;

1/Ct = 1/C1+1/C2+1/C3+...+1/Cn
where Ct is the total effective capacitance and C1 , C2, etc are the capacitances hooked in series.

Ct = (C1*C2*...*Cn)/(C2*C3*...*Cn+C1*C3*...*Cn+...+C1*C2*..Cn-1)

Now the total charge is Q= Ct*V where V is your charging voltage. Q can be smaller than you think. For instance take two capacitors each having 1 uF capacitance. Then Ct = 0.5 uF and if you charge with a 10V supply you get only 2 uCoulombs (2 micro-Coulombs). Each capacitor separately charge would hold 1 uCoulomb.

So you may be seeing less charge and not recognizing it as the capacitors being charge at all.

Answer 4

Yes, they will charge in series, according to their relative capacitance, and also somewhat to their ESR, and they will divide the voltage accordingly. For example, if you apply a voltage of 10 volts to a string of 10 equal-valued caps, each one will charge to 1 volt. But also in this case, the total capacitance seen will be 1/10 the value of one cap.

Answer 5

Capacitors block DC current. So, if you are using DC to charge your capacitors (I.E.: a battery charger), then they should not charge when connected in series.