Capacitive Reactance

In the RC Network tutorial we saw that when a DC voltage is applied to a capacitor, the
capacitor itself draws a charging current from the supply and charges up to a value equal to
the applied voltage.

Likewise, when the supply voltage is reduced the charge stored in the capacitor also reduces
and the capacitor discharges. But in an AC circuit in which the applied voltage signal is
continually changing from a positive to a negative polarity at a rate determined by the
frequency of the supply, as in the case of a sine wave voltage, for example, the capacitor is
either being charged or discharged on a continuous basis at a rate determined by the supply
frequency.

As the capacitor charges or discharges, a current flows through it which is restricted by the
internal resistance of the capacitor. This internal resistance is commonly known as
Capacitive Reactance and is given the symbol XC in Ohms.

Unlike resistance which has a fixed value, for example, 100Ωs, 1kΩ, 10kΩ etc, (this is
because resistance obeys Ohms Law), Capacitive Reactance varies with the applied
frequency so any variation in supply frequency will have a big effect on the capacitors,
“capacitive reactance” value.

As the frequency applied to the capacitor increases, its effect is to decrease its reactance
(measured in ohms). Likewise as the frequency across the capacitor decreases its reactance
value increases. This variation is called the capacitors complex impedance.

Complex impedance exists because the electrons in the form of an electrical charge on the
capacitor plates, pass from one plate to the other more rapidly with respect to the varying
frequency.

As the frequency increases, the capacitor passes more charge across the plates in a given time
resulting in a greater current flow through the capacitor appearing as if the internal resistance
of the capacitor has decreased. Therefore, a capacitor connected to a circuit that changes over
a given range of frequencies can be said to be “Frequency Dependant”.

Capacitive Reactance has the electrical symbol “Xc” and has units measured in Ohms the
same as resistance, ( R ). It is calculated using the following formula:

Capacitive Reactance
  
Capacitive Reactance Formula
 

 Where:
    Xc = Capacitive Reactance in Ohms, (Ω)
    π (pi) = 3.142 (decimal) or as 22÷7 (fraction)
    ƒ = Frequency in Hertz, (Hz)
    C = Capacitance in Farads, (F)

Capacitive Reactance Example No1

Calculate the capacitive reactance of a 220nF capacitor at a frequency of 1kHz and again at
20kHz.

 At a frequency of 1kHz,

 Again at a frequency of 20kHz,

 where: ƒ = frequency in Hertz and C = capacitance in Farads

Therefore, it can be seen from above that as the frequency applied across the 220nF capacitor
increases, from 1kHz to 20kHz, its reactance value decreases, from approx 723Ωs to just
36Ωs and this is always true as capacitive reactance, Xc is inversely proportional to
frequency with the current passed by the capacitor for a given voltage being proportional to
the frequency.

For any given value of capacitance, the reactance of a capacitor, Xc expressed in ohms can be
plotted against the frequency as shown below.

Capacitive Reactance against Frequency

 

By re-arranging the reactance formula above, we can also find at what frequency a capacitor
will have a particular capacitive reactance ( XC ) value.

Example No2
At which frequency would a 2.2uF Capacitor have a reactance value of 200Ωs?

Or we can find the value of the capacitor in Farads by knowing the applied frequency and its
reactance value at that frequency.

Example No3
What will be the value of a capacitor in farads when it has a capacitive reactance of 200Ω and
is connected to a 50Hz supply.

We can see from the above examples that a capacitor when connected to a variable frequency
supply, acts a bit like a “frequency controlled variable resistor”. At very low frequencies,
such as 1Hz our 220nF capacitor has a high capacitive reactance value of approx 723.3KΩs
(giving the effect of an open circuit).

At very high frequencies such as 1Mhz the capacitor has a low capacitive reactance value of
just 0.72Ω (giving the effect of a short circuit). So at zero frequency or steady state DC our
220nF capacitor has infinite reactance looking more like an “open-circuit” between the plates
and blocking any flow of current through it.

Voltage Divider Revision

We remember from our tutorial about Resistors in Series that different voltages can appear
across each resistor depending upon the value of the resistance and that a voltage divider
circuit has the ability to divide its supply voltage by the ratio of R2/(R1+R2). Therefore,
when R1 = R2 the output voltage will be half the value of the input voltage. Likewise, any
value of R2 greater or less than R1 will result in a proportional change to the output voltage.
Consider the circuit below.

Voltage Divider

We now know that a capacitors reactance, Xc (its complex impedance) value changes with
respect to the applied frequency. If we now changed resistor R2 above for a capacitor, the
voltage drop across the two components would change as the frequency changed because the
reactance of the capacitor affects its impedance.

The impedance of resistor R1 does not change with frequency. Resistors are of fixed values
and are unaffected by frequency change. Then the voltage across resistor R1 and therefore the
output voltage is determined by the capacitive reactance of the capacitor at a given frequency.
This then results in a frequency-dependent RC voltage divider circuit. With this idea in mind,
passive Low Pass Filters and High Pass Filters can be constructed by replacing one of the
voltage divider resistors with a suitable capacitor as shown.

Low Pass Filter

High Pass Filter

 

The property of Capacitive Reactance, makes capacitors ideal for use in AC filter circuits or
in DC power supply smoothing circuits to reduce the effects of any unwanted Ripple Voltage
as the capacitor applies an short circuit signal path to any unwanted frequency signals on the
output terminals.

Capacitive Reactance Summary

So, we can summarize the behaviour of a capacitor in a variable frequency circuit as being a
sort of frequency controlled resistor that has a high capacitive reactance value (open circuit
condition) at very low frequencies and low capacitive reactance value (short circuit
condition) at very high frequencies as shown in the graph above.

It is important to remember these two conditions and in our next tutorial about the Passive
Low Pass Filter, we will look at the use of Capacitive reactance to block any unwanted high
frequency signals while allowing only low frequency signals to pass.

Concerning Bemf it may help to understand the basic theory.

First, Emf is Electro-motive-force which relates to the force imparted on a charge.

Conductors are made of atoms.... Proton(+), Neutron, Electron(-) however only the
electrons are considered mobile and these are called "free electrons". The Protons cannot
move thus when a Proton moves the conductor is said to be moving and when a free
electron moves a current is said to be flowing.

A moving charge, a free electron, produces a magnetic field and when a charge moves in
any way this is considered an electric current which produces a magnetic field.

Now consider a coil of wire, if we connect a source such as a battery to the coil forming a
circuit then free electrons flow from the negative(-) terminal through the coil and into
the positive(+) terminal of the battery. This flow of free electrons through the coil is an
electric current which produces an expanding magnetic field in the coil. Now we have a
problem, the flow of electrons through the coil is due to an EMF from the source
battery ... a force which causes the electrons to move. However the moving electrons in
the coil produce an expanding magnetic field and this expanding magnetic field is cutting
the conductors of the very same coil. This expanding field induces another EMF, a force
pushing the free electrons in the opposite direction to that of the battery.

Here we can see two forces at work, one an EMF or force acting on the free electrons
from the source battery which will cause an electric current to flow in the coil and two
another EMF a force acting on the same free electrons in the opposite direction due to
the expanding magnetic field which we call "self-induction" or a Cemf ... Counter Electro-
Motive-Force, counter meaning in opposition to the other force we call the EMF.

Now the terminology can get confusing because different people use the terms in
different ways however an EMF generally refers to a source such as a battery or
generator which produces an "Force", an EMF causing an electric current to flow in a
circuit.

A Cemf (counter EMF)generally refers to a "Force" an EMF which acts in the opposite
direction of the source EMF due to the property of self-induction.

A Bemf (back EMF) generally refers to the action of a Cemf in an electric motor or
generator and this Cemf is due to the self-induction of the motor/generator coils.

The electrical phenomena most here are talking about is what I call an "Inductive
Discharge". That is when an electric current is flowing in an inductance, a coil, and the
current is disrupted then the coil will try to maintain the current flow. Now consider what
is happening, a source EMF produces a current which produces an expanding magnetic
field in our coil. This expanding magnetic field produces a Cemf (self-induction)which
opposes the Emf from the source.
Now if we remove the source Emf what happens?, well if an expanding magnetic field
produces a Cemf opposing the source Emf then a contracting(collapsing)magnetic field
should produce an Emf opposite to the Cemf. It just so happens that an Emf opposite to
the Cemf is the same as the source Emf and the contracting magnetic field induces a
current in the same direction as the source battery or generator which was disconnected
from our circuit.

Regards
AC