Capacitance measurement

Article By:

Kibble, Bryan P. Formerly, Division of Electrical Science, National Physical Laboratory, Teddington, Middlesex, United Kingdom.

Kotter, F. Ralph National Bureau of Standards.

Rayner, G. H. Consultant, Teddington, Middlesex, United Kingdom.

Awan, Shakil A. Department of Bioengineering, Imperial College London, South Kensington Campus, Bagrit Centre, United Kingdom.

Last reviewed:November 2019

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1036/1097-8542.106880

The measurement of the ratio of the charge induced on a conductor to the difference in potential between it and a neighboring conductor which induces the charge. In a multiconductor system there are capacitances between each pair of conductors. In general, these capacitances are functions of the total geometry, that is, the location of all of the conducting and dielectric bodies. When, as is usually true, only the capacitance between two conductors is of interest, the presence of other conductors is an undesirable complication. It is then customary to distinguish between two-terminal and three-terminal capacitors and capacitance measurements. In a two-terminal capacitor, either one of the conductors of primary interest surrounds the other (in which case the capacitance between them is independent of the location of other bodies except in the vicinity of the terminals); or the somewhat indefinite contributions of other conductors to the capacitance of interest are accepted.

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