Understanding Capacitance and Inductance Units: Farads and Henries

In electrical engineering, capacitance and inductance are fundamental components that play critical roles in various applications. Capacitance is measured in farads (F), while inductance is measured in henrys (H). In the English language, these units are pronounced as "farads" and "henrys," respectively. The farad, named after the British physicist Michael Faraday, is a unit that represents the ability of a capacitor to store charge when a given potential difference is applied across its plates. A capacitor with a capacity of one farad will store one coulomb of electric charge when a voltage of one volt is applied. Inductance, on the other hand, is a measure of the electromotive force (voltage) induced in an electrical circuit by a change in current through it. Named after Joseph Henry, an American scientist, the unit "henry" quantifies this property. One henry of inductance results in a voltage of one volt being induced when the current changes at a rate of one ampere per second. These two properties are crucial for understanding and designing circuits, particularly in alternating current (AC) systems where capacitors and inductors are used to filter signals, store energy, and resonate at specific frequencies, among other functions.