Here you can examine a capacitor in a frequency simulator. In addition to the capacitance, a capacitor also has an internal resistance and inductance. These characteristics appear more clearly in constructions that work at high frequencies. The legs of the capacitor and its dielectric are mainly carriers of these quantities. The parallel resistance (leakage resistance) can be ignored above 100Hz, and is therefore not of interest here.

During the dimensioning process, you can choose to download a standard type and enter the resistance and any component leg data, or you can enter all parameters manually. The impedance ratio of the component can be studied in a frequency graph. This tells you what impedance a component has at a certain frequency. Unlike resistors, capacitors behave quite predictably - the impedance drops with increased frequency. The rate at which this occurs depends almost exclusively on the nominal capacitance of the capacitor.

There are two ways to specify the capacitor's internal resistance, either as a resistance or as a factor. The dissipation factor, DF or tanø gives a better picture of reality because this is equivalent to a resistance that varies with the frequency.

Ceramic capacitors
Benefits
Available for low capacitance values, small dimensions and good temperature characteristics.
Disadvantages
Not for larger capacitances.
Generally
Suitable for HF circuits and oscillators. Available in different classes. The range of different materials and designs is huge. Frequency range: 1k - 500MHz.

Surface mounted capacitors
Benefits
Small dimensions, reliable, suitable for very high frequencies.
Disadvantages
Not for larger capacitances.
Generally
Often used in communications, radar, medicine and aviation. Constructed as ceramic capacitors. Frequency range: 1k - 500MHz. Class divided!

Mica capacitor
Benefits
High temperature stability, frequency stability and low losses.
Disadvantages
Large dimensions and expensive.
Generally
Often used in HF applications and for highly stable circuits. The metal silver is used as electrode material. Frequency range: 1k - 500MHz.

Polyester capacitor (PET, polyethylene terephthalate, Mylar)
Benefits
Small dimensions and low price.
Disadvantages
Worst performance of all plastic capacitors.
Generally
Used in many non-critical applications such as decoupling. Frequency range: 0 - 10MHz.

Polycarbonate capacitor (PC)
Benefits
Low losses and very stable.
Disadvantages
Quite large dimensions and expensive.
Generally
Used in critical applications such as tuned filters and oscillators. Frequency range: 0 - 10MHz.

Polypropylene capacitor (PP)
Benefits
Very low losses, high stability and low dielectric absorption.
Disadvantages
Expensive.
Generally
Often used in pulse circuits, sample and hold circuits and in audio equipment. Frequency range: 0 - 10MHz.