What is the purpose of a capacitor in a circuit?
A capacitor in a circuit is used for storing electrical energy temporarily in an electric field. It consists of two conductive plates separated by an insulating material or dielectric. Capacitors are commonly used for filtering unwanted frequency components from signals, for power smoothing in power supplies, in timing circuits, and for energy storage in pulsing laser applications. They play a crucial role in both analog and digital electronic devices.