Question

A 2.0 microF capacitor is connected across a 60 Hz voltage source, and a current of 2.0 mA is measured on a VOM. What is the capacitive reactance of the circuit?

Answer 1

Let's write down and name the variables we know.

C: capacitance; C = 2 μF = 2*10^-6 F

f: frequency of voltage source; f = 60 Hz

Xc: capacitive reactance of circuit (we are solving for this)

We also know that ω = 2πf = 120π.

From this information, we can use the following equation:

Xc = 1/(ωC)

And we can solve for Xc.

Xc = 1/(120π*2*10^-6)

Xc = 1326.291 Ω