Capacitors add in parallel while inductors add in series.
Capacitors in parallel add (C=ΣCᵢ), in series 1/C=Σ1/Cᵢ. Inductors in series add, in parallel reciprocal. This is the opposite of resistor-like intuition for capacitors. Voltage rating limits series strings.
Two 10 µF capacitors in series give 5 µF.
Combining capacitors and inductors follows rules that differ from resistors, so it is important to check the values before building a filter.
Capacitors add in parallel while inductors add in series.
Combining capacitors and inductors follows rules that differ from resistors, so it is important to check the values before building a filter.
Parallel capacitors share the same voltage and their charges add, so their capacitances add directly.
Series inductors carry the same current and their voltages add, so their inductances add directly, ignoring mutual coupling.
Typical applications include choosing values for a parallel capacitor bank in a filter, combining inductors in a series chain for a required total and estimating the total capacitance in a timing network.
Study "Inductors" first (topic 17 of 106 in Electrical Engineering). It covers the groundwork this topic builds on.
Capacitor: parallel adds. Inductor: series adds. Balance resistors for series electrolytics.
Two 10 µF capacitors in series give 5 µF.
The next topic is "Electric fields and Coulomb's law", which builds directly on this one.
It is classed as Beginner in Electrical Engineering (topic 18 of 106). It is an entry-level topic. It relies only on basic school mathematics and the ideas introduced earlier in this discipline.
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