Question
Which of the following is characteristic of an electrolytic capacitor?
Answer Options
- A) Tight tolerance
- B) Much less leakage than any other type
- C) High capacitance for a given volume
- D) Inexpensive RF capacitor
Correct Answer: C
Explanation
Electrolytic capacitors are highly polarized capacitors commonly used in DC power supply filter circuits and audio coupling applications. Their construction, which uses a very thin oxide layer as a dielectric, allows them to pack a huge amount of charge storage into a small physical space.
Therefore, the main characteristic of an electrolytic capacitor is high capacitance for a given volume. Their large capacitance values (often measured in \mu\text{F}) are necessary for smoothing out the AC ripple in power supplies. However, this construction comes with drawbacks: they have poor tolerance, high leakage current, and are generally unsuitable for high-frequency RF applications.
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