Dielectric absorption

The voltage at the terminals generated by the dielectric absorption may possibly cause problems in the function of an electronic circuit or can be a safety risk to personnel.

In order to prevent shocks, most very large capacitors are shipped with shorting wires that need to be removed before they are used and/or permanently connected bleeder resistors.

This change in the molecular dipoles is called oriented polarization and also causes heat to be generated, resulting in dielectric losses (see dissipation factor).

When the capacitor is discharging, the strength of the electric field is decreasing and the common orientation of the molecular dipoles is returning to an undirected state in a process of relaxation.

[3][4][5][6][7] The voltage at the terminals generated by the dielectric absorption may possibly cause problems in the function of an electronic circuit.

This effect has been known of only recently:[failed verification] it is now a proportionately greater part of leakage current due to the significantly improved properties of modern capacitors.

A description appeared in James Clerk Maxwell's 1873 book A Treatise on Electricity and Magnetism, in which he derived its physical model, but it was only applicable to an inhomogeneous dielectric material with multiple layers.