# ceramic capacitance value

I am trying to figure out how to read the nominal value of this capacitor. When I use a meter it reads 3.4nF. I have several caps that have the format of .00X where X is an integer. Not sure how that decimal point works in there.

Common capacitances range from 1nF to whole farads for supercapacitors. The standard notation for larger values is like for resistors, but with nanofarads instead of ohms as the base unit.

(all digits before the last) * 10 ^ (last digit) nF

Here, that format would produce a 30 indicating 3*10^0 nF. Instead, they used "fraction of a microfarad" decimal notation:

.003uF = 3nF

It's no more compact, but at least you can tell that it represents a component value, and the format allows higher precision without resorting to negative exponents. Considering the tolerance, it's in agreement with your reading.

• Thank you. There does not seem to be a standard for capacitors as there is with resistors. – Jay Jul 19 '18 at 23:57

It is 0.003$\mu$F or 3nF nominal. The tolerance appears to be marked as +/-20%.

Dielectric type Z5F, which is reasonably stable with temperature.