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Capacitor

Webopedia Staff
Last Updated May 24, 2021 7:37 am
A passive electronic component that holds a charge in the form of an electrostatic field. They are often used in combination with transistors in DRAM, acting as storage cells to hold bits.

Capacitors typically consist of conducting plates separated by thin layers of dielectric material, such as dry air or mica. The plates on opposite sides of the dielectric material are oppositely charged and the electrical energy of the charged system is stored in the polarized dielectric.