Question

Describe why capacitors and inductors give delay.

Answer 1

Capacitors do not behave the same as resistors. The flow of electrons “through” a capacitor is directly proportional to the rate of change of voltage across the capacitor. This opposition to voltage change is another form of reactance, but one that is precisely opposite to the kind exhibited by inductors

Inductor: at t=0 is like an open circuit at 't=infinite' is like an closed circuit (act as a conductor)

Capacitor: at t=0 is like a closed circuit (short circuit) at 't=infinite' is like open circuit (no current through the capacitor)

A capacitors charge is given by Vt=V(1−e(−t/RC))Vt=V(1−e(−t/RC)) where V is the applied voltage to the circuit, R is the series resistance and C is the parallel capacitance.

At the exact instant power is applied, the capacitor has 0v of stored voltage and so consumes a theoretically infinite current limited by the series resistance. (A short circuit) As time continues and the charge accumulates, the capacitors voltage rises and it's current consumption drops until the capacitor voltage and the applied voltage are equal and no current flows into the capacitor (open circuit). This effect may not be immediately recognizable with smaller capacitors.