Measurement of capacitance

Safety Application Guide for Multilayer Ceramic Chip Capacitors

Design

Electrical factors

Measure capacitance with the voltage and the frequency specified in the product specifications.

Measure the capacitance under the conditions specified in the product specifications.

Example of measuring conditions of capacitance

Class	Rated capacitance	Measuring frequency	Measuring voltage V r.m.s.
Class 1	CN ≦1000pF	1 MHz ±10%	0.5 ～ 5.0
Class 1	CN >1000pF	1 kHz±10%	0.5 ～ 5.0
Class 2	CN≦10mF	1 kHz±10%	1.0 ± 0.2
Class 2	CN > 10mF	120Hz±10%	0.5 ± 0.2

Class 1 : Temperature compensating capacitor (C0G, NPO)
Class 2 : High dielectric constant capacitor (X5R, X7R)

Some measuring equipment may not be able to apply the required measuring voltage and the measured value will be underestimated, when capacitance
is high.
Measuring equipment with Auto Level Control (ALC) function is recommended.

Most of the causes of difference in measured capacitance among each measuring equipment result from
difference in actual voltage applied by each measuring equipment even if the same measuring voltage is set up.

Since higher capacitance makes smaller impedance in capacitors, it shall not disregard the influence of the
voltage drop by voltage divider with the output resistance of measuring equipment.

The measuring equipment, which has the function to adjust to the measuring voltage automatically, is recommended for the measurement of a high
capacitance capacitor.

And, when the measuring equipment without the ALC function is used, it is recommended to check and adjust the measuring voltage by a voltmeter.

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