110 34410A/11A User’s Guide
4 Measurement Tutorial
Capacitance Measurements
The multimeter implements capacitance measurements by applying a
known current to the capacitor as shown below:
An Illustration of the response curve while charging is shown below:
Capacitance is calculated by measuring the change in voltage (DV) that
occurs over a “short aperture” time, (Dt). This measurement is repeated at
two different times during the exponential rise that occurs. An algorithm
takes the data from these four points, and by linearizing that exponential
rise over these “short apertures”, accurately calculates the capacitance
value.