Capacitor - Capacitor Markings

Capacitor Markings

Most capacitors have numbers printed on their bodies to indicate their electrical characteristics. Larger capacitors like electrolytics usually display the actual capacitance together with the unit (for example, 220 μF). Smaller capacitors like ceramics, however, use a shorthand consisting of three numbers and a letter, where the numbers show the capacitance in pF (calculated as XY × 10Z for the numbers XYZ) and the letter indicates the tolerance (J, K or M for ±5%, ±10% and ±20% respectively).

Additionally, the capacitor may show its working voltage, temperature and other relevant characteristics.

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