What type of capacitor do I need?

Question

I have a basic IC ciruit that calls for a 0.1uF cap. This cap will work off a 3.3V supply, so I'm guessing this is some sort of tiny cap that might be found on a PCB.

I checked with Mouser, and they have some 110,000 capacitors, and they sort them by type (electrolytic, film, etc). I have no idea what I am looking for; just a basic small non-polarized cap.

I imagine that what I need is the equivalent of the 1/8W 5% resistor; something very small and basic. What do I look for?

Thanks,

--Yan

John Popelish · Accepted Answer

Aside from the electrical characteristics needed, are you wanting a wire leaded capacitor or a surface mount one?

Captain Dondo · Answer

Wire leaded... I can't do surface mount by hand... :-)Actually the IC I am working with requires 4 caps.  So the entire circuitis 1 20-pin DIP IC and 4 caps; I am trying to figure out a way to put thewhole thing into a heat-shrink tubing housing.The IC I am planning to use is here:And the idea is to end up with a 'fat bulb' in a serial cable.--Yan--   o__  ,>/'_          o__  (_)\(_)        ,>/'_        o__Yan Seiner, PE  (_)\(_)       ,>/'_     o__Certified Personal Trainer   (_)\(_)    ,>/'_        o__Licensed Professional Engineer         (_)\(_)       ,>/'_Who says engineers have to be pencil necked geeks?  (_)\(_)

John Popelish · Answer

(snip)So size matters.  For this small value, it is pointless to use electrolytics, since their forte is lots of capacitance in a small volume.I suggest either a good film capacitor like the Panasonic V series: run about 11 cents each in quantity 10 from Digikey,or a radial leaded ceramic (X7R or X5R, for low losses), like these: run about 8 cents each in quantity 10 from Digikey.There are cheaper possibilities, but the left overs of either of these will be good for lots of other uses.

What type of capacitor do I need?

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