Hello everyone! Which capacitor is more dangerous? A high voltage capacitor with low capacitance or a low voltage one with high capacitance? If we asume that both of them have the same charge, which of them will discharge faster and which of them would be able to push more current? Do they have the same equation for chargin and discharging? Thank you!

 

they can both be dangerous, the high voltage cap can do physical damage or kill you, and the low voltage cap can cause arc damabe to whatever shorted it, with molten metal thrown about. the discharge time is dependant on the construction of the cap, and whatever it is connected to. some caps are designed for rapid discharge, and some have too much internal resistance and inductance to discharge quickly. caps designed for power supplies are designed to filter a few hunderd hz, and dont have to discharge fast. pulse caps are designed to discharge real fast, and do.

 

they can both be dangerous, the high voltage cap can do physical damage or kill you, and the low voltage cap can cause arc damabe to whatever shorted it, with molten metal thrown about. the discharge time is dependant on the construction of the cap, and whatever it is connected to. some caps are designed for rapid discharge, and some have too much internal resistance and inductance to discharge quickly. caps designed for power supplies are designed to filter a few hunderd hz, and dont have to discharge fast. pulse caps are designed to discharge real fast, and do.

It's true that both can be dangerous, for different reasons. However, if you want to consider which would be the most dangerous to handle/touch, then it would be the high voltage capacitor. A cap charged to a few volts can be handled with no danger to shock (not including wet hands or jewelry contact, etc.). But, a cap charged with several hundred or thousand volts can easily push a dangerous amount of current through your body, potentially disrupting your heart, etc.