Question: In what way is the dielectric used in order to cause the absolute breakdown voltage of capacitors to be limited?
Answer: The dielectric is used in very thin layers

Question: What is one factor that critically affects the breakdown voltage of the capacitor?
Answer: the geometry of the capacitor conductive parts

Question: What is the difference in the physical attributes of the dielectric used in high voltage capacitors compared to low voltage capacitors?
Answer: the dielectric must be thicker

Question: What name is given to the AC component of an applied source having either constant or alternating frequency?
Answer: Ripple current

Question: What is one cause of dielectric losses in a capacitor?
Answer: changing field strength

Question: What is another cause of dielectric losses in a capacitor?
Answer: current flow across the slightly resistive supply lines or the electrolyte

Question: What is the name given to the amount of internal series resistance needed to add to an ideal capacitor model in order to represent the heat generated by dielectric losses?
Answer: equivalent series resistance (ESR)

Question: What is one type of capacitor that has a specified rating value for maximum ripple current?
Answer: aluminum electrolytic capacitors

Question: What value of some capacitors decreases with age?
Answer: The capacitance

Question: What causes the decrease of capacitance in ceramic capacitors as they age?
Answer: degradation of the dielectric

Question: What is one of the most important aging factors in capacitors?
Answer: The type of dielectric

Question: What is another important factor which governs how a capacitor ages?
Answer: ambient operating and storage temperatures

Question: At what point can the aging effect of a capacitor be reversed if the component is heated beyond?
Answer: the Curie point

Question: What is the effect called when capacitors absorb sound waves?
Answer: microphonic effect

Question: What value of a capacitor is varied when vibration moves the conducting plates? 
Answer: the capacitance

Question: What sort of current is induced when the capacitance of a capacitor is altered?
Answer: AC current

Question: In what type of applications is piezeoelectricity especially problematic?
Answer: audio applications

Question: What is it called when a changing electric field existing between the conductive plates of a capacitor physically moves them?
Answer: the reverse microphonic effect

Question: What is one type of circuit in which voltage and current reversal are affected by damping?
Answer: DC circuits

Question: What is another type of circuit in which voltage and current reversal are affected by damping?
Answer: pulsed circuits

Question: Under what condition does voltage reversal occur in RLC circuits?
Answer: under-damped

Question: What is formed between the inductance and the capacitance when the current and the voltage switch direction?
Answer: a harmonic oscillator

Question: When a system is over-damped, what does it typically not experience?
Answer: a voltage reversal

Question: What percentage of voltage reversal does an AC circuit experience?
Answer: 100% voltage reversal

Question: What does voltage reversal create in the dielectric of a capacitor?
Answer: excess electric fields

Question: What percentage of voltage reversal will an under damped DC circuit experience?
Answer: less than 100%

Question: What does excess electric field present in the dielectric lead to?
Answer: heating of both the dielectric and the conductors

Question: When designing a capacitor, what is an important rating to consider?
Answer: Reversal ratings

Question: After discharging and disconnecting a capacitor, what causes it to develop a voltage?
Answer: hysteresis in the dielectric

Question: What does the process of dielectric absorption in a capacitor depend on?
Answer: time-dependent

Question: What level of dielectric absorption would a tantalum electrolytic capacitor display? 
Answer: very high absorption

Question: What level of dielectric absorption would a Teflon capacitor exhibit?
Answer: very small levels of absorption

Question: What amount of energy must a capacitor contain in order to be generally considered dangerous? 
Answer: over 10 joules of energy

Question: With what value is a resistor in parallel with a capacitor equal to?
Answer: Leakage

Question: What can cause excessive leakage in a capacitor?
Answer: Constant exposure to heat

Question: What sort of capacitors are used to carry a varying signal from the conductive plate of one tube to the grid circuit of the next stage?
Answer: interstage coupling capacitors

Question: What type of capacitor can cause signal distortion in the downstream tube?
Answer: A leaky capacitor

Question: If the grid circuit voltage is increased beyond its regular bias setting, what can happen to the conductive plates in power amplifiers?
Answer: cause the plates to glow red

Question: What do many capacitors contain that raises the capacitance?
Answer: a dielectric spacer

Question: What sort of dielectric is used in low capacitance devices?
Answer: a vacuum

Question: What sort of capacitors have traditionally been used in radio tuning circuits?
Answer: Variable capacitors

Question: How did the capacitor traditionally used in radio tuning circuits change over time? 
Answer: use polymer foil dielectric between the moving and stationary plates

Question: What did the later designs of capacitors used in radio tuning circuits no longer have?
Answer: no significant air space

Question: What benefit is offered by solid state paper capacitors?
Answer: relatively high voltage performance

Question: What type of capacitor has mostly replaced solid state paper capacitors?
Answer: plastic film capacitors

Question: What sort of circuit are plastic capacitors especially useful for?
Answer: timer circuits

Question: What is one type of reliable capacitor that is resistant to temperature and voltage changes?
Answer: Glass

Question: What is another type of reliable capacitor that is resistant to temperature and voltage changes?
Answer: mica capacitors

Question: What is one type of metal which the conducting plates in electrolytic capacitors are commonly made of?
Answer: aluminum

Question: What type of dielectric layer is used in electrolytic capacitors?
Answer: an oxide dielectric layer

Question: What happens to the conductivity of the electrolyte at low temperatures?
Answer: drops at low temperatures

Question: How can electrolytic capacitors be safely used after having been stored unused for a long time?
Answer: by gradually applying the operating voltage

Question: Why might the method gradually applying the operating voltage not be suitable to protect electrolytic capacitors in modern devices?
Answer: these produce full output voltage even with reduced input

Question: What is the main feature of a supercapacitor?
Answer: Supercapacitors store large amounts of energy

Question: What is one type of material with which a supercapacitor may be constructed?
Answer: carbon nanotubes

Question: As of 2010, what is the highest capacitance a supercapacitor has achieved?
Answer: up to 5 kF

Question: What type of capacitor is commonly used in electric motor circuits?
Answer: Alternating current capacitors

Question: How many times the maximum AC voltage are AC capacitors designed to withstand?
Answer: at least five times the maximum AC voltage

Question: Under what condition might the polarization of the dielectric be unable to follow the voltage?
Answer: driven with a time-varying voltage that changes rapidly

Question: What type of dipoles which add to the dielectric constant cannot move instantly if a rapidly changing time varying voltage is driving the capacitor?
Answer: the internal microscopic dipoles

Question: What is it called when a dielectric constant changes with frequency?
Answer: dielectric dispersion