Physical unit
Unit symbol ${\ displaystyle \ mathrm {F}}$
Physical quantity (s) Electrical capacitance
Formula symbol ${\ displaystyle C}$
dimension ${\ displaystyle {\ mathsf {M ^ {- 1} \; L ^ {- 2} \; T ^ {4} \; I ^ {2}}}}$
system International system of units
In SI units ${\ displaystyle \ mathrm {1 \, F = 1 \; {\ frac {C} {V}} = 1 \; {\ frac {A ^ {2} \, s ^ ​​{4}} {kg \, m ^ {2}}} = 1 \; {\ frac {s} {\ Omega}}}}$
Derived from Coulomb , volt

Farad is the unit of measurement used in the International System of Units (SI) for electrical capacitance . It was named after Michael Faraday .

A capacitor that stores a charge of one coulomb (C) by charging to a voltage of one volt (V) has a capacity of one farad (F):

${\ displaystyle 1 \, \ mathrm {F} = 1 \, {\ frac {\ mathrm {C}} {\ mathrm {V}}} = 1 \, {\ frac {\ mathrm {A} \ cdot \ mathrm {s}} {\ mathrm {V}}} = 1 \, {\ frac {\ mathrm {A} ^ {2} \ cdot \ mathrm {s} ^ {4}} {\ mathrm {kg} \ cdot \ mathrm {m} ^ {2}}}}$.

The majority of capacitors used in electrical engineering have values ​​that are considerably smaller than a farad, so that information with the aid of SI prefixes such as microfarad (µF = 10 −6  F), nanofarad (nF = 10 −9  F) and Picofarads (pF = 10 −12  F) are encountered.

## history

The term Farad was introduced by the two English electrical engineers Josiah Latimer Clark and Charles Tilston Bright in honor of the English physicist Michael Faraday and proposed in 1861 as a unit for the electrical charge . In 1881, however , the International Electricity Congress established the farad as the unit for electrical capacity and the coulomb (after the French physicist Charles Augustin de Coulomb ) as the unit for electrical charge.