What is the effect of increasing the frequency on the impedance of a capacitor in an AC circuit? (2020)
Practice Questions
1 question
Q1
What is the effect of increasing the frequency on the impedance of a capacitor in an AC circuit? (2020)
Increases
Decreases
Remains constant
Becomes infinite
The capacitive reactance decreases with increasing frequency, thus decreasing the impedance.
Questions & Step-by-step Solutions
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Q
Q: What is the effect of increasing the frequency on the impedance of a capacitor in an AC circuit? (2020)
Solution: The capacitive reactance decreases with increasing frequency, thus decreasing the impedance.
Steps: 8
Step 1: Understand what a capacitor is. A capacitor is a device that stores electrical energy in an electric field.
Step 2: Know that in an AC (Alternating Current) circuit, the current changes direction periodically.
Step 3: Learn about frequency. Frequency is how often the current changes direction in one second, measured in Hertz (Hz).
Step 4: Understand capacitive reactance. This is the opposition that a capacitor offers to the flow of AC current, and it is affected by frequency.
Step 5: Remember the formula for capacitive reactance: Xc = 1 / (2 * π * f * C), where Xc is capacitive reactance, f is frequency, and C is capacitance.
Step 6: Notice that as frequency (f) increases, the value of Xc (capacitive reactance) decreases because they are inversely related.
Step 7: Understand that impedance is the total opposition to current in an AC circuit, which includes both resistance and reactance.
Step 8: Since capacitive reactance decreases with increasing frequency, the overall impedance of the capacitor also decreases.