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Capacitors in series

Connecting capacitors in series has the effect of decreasing the total capacitance (this is the opposite of connecting resistors or inductors in series).


Capacitors in Series     
Capacitors in Series
Two capacitors of equal value connected in series essentially doubles the distance between the conducing plates. However, the plate area remains the same.
The capacitors in series on the left essentially act like this capacitor. It has the same plate area as each of the capacitors on the left but the distance between the plates is twice the distance of each capacitor on the left.

To calculate the total capacitance of capacitors connected in series use the same formula that is used for resistors in parallel. You can use the product-over-sum method or the reciprocals method, as below.


 



Capacitors Part 3 - Capacitors in Series and Parallel
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