Farad
The farad (symbol: F) is the SI derived unit of electrical capacitance, the ability of a body to store an electrical charge. It is named after the English physicist Michael Faraday.
Definition
One farad is defined as the capacitance of a capacitor across which, when charged with one coulomb of electricity, there is a potential difference of one volt. Conversely, it is the capacitance which, when charged to a potential difference of one volt, carries a charge of one coulomb. A coulomb is equal to the amount of charge (electrons) produced by a current of one ampere (A) flowing for one second. For example, the voltage across the two terminals of a 1 F capacitor will increase linearly by 1 V when a current of 1 A flows through it for 1 second.
For most applications, the farad is an impractically large unit of capacitance. Most electrical and electronic applications are covered by the following SI prefixes:
1 mF (millifarad, one thousandth (10−3) of a farad) = 1000 μF = 1000000 nF
1 μF (microfarad, one millionth (10−6) of a farad) = 1000 nF = 1000000 pF