Capacitors in parallel

[AtomSoft]

I want to do a project but it requires 1 80uf capacitor which i dont have at the moment. Can i use (8) 10uf capacitors in a parallel with the same outcome? I read somewhere that this is possible.

thank you in advance

 

[dknguyen]

No problem...just takes up a lot of space. Try and use all the same value of capacitor if possible. Different capacitors have different parasitic resistances and inductances so when you use them in parallel they can react undesireably with each other to form resonating tank circuits (this only usually matters in critical applications though like radio circuits and microprocessors that run very fast like those in a PC). If they are all the same size and type though then all the parasitic Ls and Rs are the pretty much the same- and Ls and Rs get smaller when put in parallel so doing so will actually make it perform better than a single larger capacitor (and in fact, this is what the aformentioned microprocessors do since a single capacitors is not ideal enough).

 

[AtomSoft]

Thanks No problem. I bought a assorted capacitor pack but mostly came with 10s and 221(220) and stuff no 80s lol

 

[Diver300]

Most 10 :mu:F capacitors are electrolytic. They are mainly used for supply decoupling.

Their tolerance is very large. I have seen figures like -10%/+50%

That means your 10 :mu:F capacitor could be anywhere between 8 and 15 :mu:F

If you need exactly 80 :mu:F you will need expensive capacitors. If it is for smoothing or decoupling, just use a 220 :mu:F instead. It will be smaller than 8 x 10 :mu:F

 

[Hero999]

I want to do a project but it requires 1 80uf capacitor which i dont have at the moment. Can i use (8) 10uf capacitors in a parallel with the same outcome? I read somewhere that this is possible.

thank you in advance

Yuo could use eight 10:mu:F units but I don't see why you would want to. It sounds like a waste of time to me, why can't you just use a 100:mu:F capacitor instead?