CAPACITOR
\kəpˈasɪtə], \kəpˈasɪtə], \k_ə_p_ˈa_s_ɪ_t_ə]\
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An electronic device that can store electricalcharge. The charge stored Q in Coulombs is related to thecapacitance C in Farads and the voltage V across the capacitorin Volts by Q = CV.The basis of a dynamic RAM cell is a capacitor. They arealso used for power-supply smoothing (or "decoupling"). Thisis especially important in digital circuits where a digitaldevice switching between states causes a sudden demand forcurrent. Without sufficient local power supply decoupling,this current "spike" cannot be supplied directly from thepower supply due to the inductance of the connectors and sowill cause a sharp drop in the power supply voltage near theswitching device. This can cause other devices to malfunctionresulting in hard to trace glitches.
By Denis Howe
Word of the day
Dopamine Acetyltransferase
- An enzyme that catalyzes the of groups from acetyl-CoA to arylamines. They have wide specificity for aromatic amines, particularly serotonin, and can also catalyze acetyl transfer between arylamines without CoA. EC 2.3.1.5.