What is a variable capacitor?
Variable capacitor is a special type of condenser, most commonly used for tuning radio, which allows the amount of electric charge it can hold to a certain extent, measured in a unit known as Farads. Regular capacitors create and store electric charge until they are ready for use. While the variable capacitor imposes the fee in the same way, it can be adjusted as many times as it requires to store different amounts of electricity. Because the most common use for a variable capacitor is in the mechanisms of tuning radio and older TV sets, it is often a condenser tuning or variable tuning.
When changing a variable capacitor, the user actually changes his capacity. Capacitance means the amount of energy that the capacitor can store. Larger capacity means more stored energy. This energy is measured in Farads, but because a variable capacitor usually has a very small capacity, a smaller unit known as Picofaradead is used.
Two types of variable capacitors include air variable capacitors and vacuum variable capacitors. While each performs the same function, one uses a high vacuum instead of air to insulate the capacitor. This allows higher capacity to be produced in a smaller capacitor size. Variable capacitors can also be checked mechanically or electronically. Electronically controlled capacitors change their capacity based on DC voltage on it, while mechanically controlled versions are designed to move parts to increase or reduce capacity.
One of the most common uses for variable capacitors is on the radio to allow the radio to tune to different stations. The capacitor is part of the LC circuit where L means an inductor and C means a capacitor. This combination of inductor/capacitor uses a variable capacitor to change frequency passing via LC circuit and so connectT with radio stations, each of which works on a different frequency that the LC circuit must correspond.
The ability to change the amount of electric charge that can hold is the main advantage of a variable capacitor over a conventional capacitor. It allows the user to edit a capacitor on objects such as radios, which must constantly connect with different frequencies. If you want to change back and forth without variable capacitors, a different capacitor would require each frequency and it would be impractical if possible. The main disadvantage is the relatively small range that they can cover. It usually only changes to a limited range and these values have low capacity.