Basic Electronics Question

[becsta]

Guys,

I have a need to find a capacitor of a certain size, but cannot find the exact one I need. Thus, I'm thinking it may be possible to combine multiple capacitors to arrive at the end capacitance required.

Can I add capacitors in series (or parallel) to achieve a desired total capacitance?

[JimCob]

You can do it both ways.

In parallel, simply add the values: C3 = C1 + C2

In series, use the formula: C3 = 1 / (1/C1 + 1/C2...) for any number of capacitors.
If you have only 2 capacitors in series you can use C3 = (C1xC2) / (C1+C2)

Good Luck!

-Jim

[village_idiot]

What is the cap doing? If it is just filtering ripple off a power supply, then exact isn't important and you can go "bigger" without problems.