Capacitor Calculator
Calculate capacitance, charge, energy, and series/parallel capacitor combinations.
Mode
V
Charge (Q)
Stored energy (E)
Charge and Energy
The charge stored on a capacitor is proportional to the voltage across it, while the energy stored grows with the square of the voltage.
- Q = C · V — charge in coulombs (C)
- E = ½ · C · V² — stored energy in joules (J)
Series vs Parallel
Connecting capacitors changes the equivalent capacitance of the network.
- Parallel: C_total = C₁ + C₂ + … + Cₙ. The total capacitance is larger than any single capacitor.
- Series: 1 / C_total = 1/C₁ + 1/C₂ + … + 1/Cₙ. The total capacitance is smaller than the smallest capacitor.
Capacitor Unit Prefixes
- 1 F = 1 farad (base unit)
- 1 µF = 10⁻⁶ F (microfarad)
- 1 nF = 10⁻⁹ F (nanofarad)
- 1 pF = 10⁻¹² F (picofarad)