108 



EFFECT OF CAPACITY. 



current in the circuit increase. Evidently when the 

 capacity of the condenser is zero no current will flow, 



1200 



1000 



o 80 



2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20 



Microfarads. 

 FIG. 49. VARIATION OF CHARGING CURRKNT WITH CAPACITY. 



since the condenser will then be simply a break in the 

 continuity of the circuit, making all current impossible. 



The flow into and out of a condenser depends not 

 only on the capacity of the condenser, which determines 

 the amount of the charging current at each reversal, but 

 also on the frequency of charge and discharge, i.e., on the 

 periodicity of the current. As already expressed in the 

 formulae given on page 102, the current varies directly with 

 the frequency. This follows immediately from the fact 

 that a current is a rate of flow, or displacement of 

 electricity, and consequently varies directly as the number 

 of charges per second. 



The next experiment illustrates these statements. 



