I have a technical question that I can't find a very good answer for. This question was asked of me during a recent interview and I am frankly at a loss as to the real answer.
Here's the actual question: What are the different types of capacitors that you are familiar with and why would you use them?
"Types" was no problem, but "uses" was more difficult. I know there are different characteristics of the various dielectrics, but why ceramic over electrolytic, as an example. I know the various dielectrics have different material characteristics that make them better for frequency response or voltage levels etc, but some of the applications overlap. For instance, I know (maybe I should say I believe) ceramics and electrolytics are both applicable to decoupling and noise filtering. So why would I use a ceramic over an electrolytic?
I understand this is a really broad topic and I should probably already know this, but I don't recall ever hearing this in school and I have never had the cause to research it in my previous employment. Now I need and want to know.
Here's the actual question: What are the different types of capacitors that you are familiar with and why would you use them?
"Types" was no problem, but "uses" was more difficult. I know there are different characteristics of the various dielectrics, but why ceramic over electrolytic, as an example. I know the various dielectrics have different material characteristics that make them better for frequency response or voltage levels etc, but some of the applications overlap. For instance, I know (maybe I should say I believe) ceramics and electrolytics are both applicable to decoupling and noise filtering. So why would I use a ceramic over an electrolytic?
I understand this is a really broad topic and I should probably already know this, but I don't recall ever hearing this in school and I have never had the cause to research it in my previous employment. Now I need and want to know.
