RimstarOrg | How to Make Electrolytic Capacitors @RimstarOrg | Uploaded 11 years ago | Updated 12 hours ago
How to make a simple electrolytic capacitor using aluminum from a soda can, distilled water and baking soda, or sodium bicarbonate. I start out explaining what an electrolytic capacitor is, how it's one where the dielectric is a very thin layer of aluminum oxide. The plates are really the aluminum plate that the oxide is coated on and an electrolyte made of distilled water and sodium bicarbonate that the whole thing is submerged in. I then explain how to form the oxide layer and demonstrate it using a simple adapter as the DC power supply. During formation I monitor the electrical current using a digital meter on the amp scales. Once formed, I measure the capacitance using another digital multimeter and then use the new electrolytic capacitor as part of a circuit that makes a light flash.
See also my "How to Make Capacitors - Low Voltage" video, one's that aren't polarized:
http://youtu.be/GveI9gXIsHw
and my "How to Make High Voltage Capacitors" video:
http://youtu.be/MPD7skZ8OSo
And for even higher capacitance, 580 microfarads, see my "How to Make a High Capacitance Electrolytic Capacitor" video here:
http://youtu.be/lmVVdV8wuB0
My webpage about making electrolytic capacitors:
http://rimstar.org/science_electronics_projects/make_electrolytic_capacitor.htm
The "How to make Rochelle salt piezoelectric crystals" video I mention is here:
http://youtu.be/E1Ct3VUWvhQ
Follow behind-the-scenes on:
Twitter twitter.com/#!/RimStarz
Google+ plus.google.com/116395125136223897621
http://rimstar.org
How to make a simple electrolytic capacitor using aluminum from a soda can, distilled water and baking soda, or sodium bicarbonate. I start out explaining what an electrolytic capacitor is, how it's one where the dielectric is a very thin layer of aluminum oxide. The plates are really the aluminum plate that the oxide is coated on and an electrolyte made of distilled water and sodium bicarbonate that the whole thing is submerged in. I then explain how to form the oxide layer and demonstrate it using a simple adapter as the DC power supply. During formation I monitor the electrical current using a digital meter on the amp scales. Once formed, I measure the capacitance using another digital multimeter and then use the new electrolytic capacitor as part of a circuit that makes a light flash.
See also my "How to Make Capacitors - Low Voltage" video, one's that aren't polarized:
http://youtu.be/GveI9gXIsHw
and my "How to Make High Voltage Capacitors" video:
http://youtu.be/MPD7skZ8OSo
And for even higher capacitance, 580 microfarads, see my "How to Make a High Capacitance Electrolytic Capacitor" video here:
http://youtu.be/lmVVdV8wuB0
My webpage about making electrolytic capacitors:
http://rimstar.org/science_electronics_projects/make_electrolytic_capacitor.htm
The "How to make Rochelle salt piezoelectric crystals" video I mention is here:
http://youtu.be/E1Ct3VUWvhQ
Follow behind-the-scenes on:
Twitter twitter.com/#!/RimStarz
Google+ plus.google.com/116395125136223897621
http://rimstar.org
