Capacitance-Type Sensor

a measuring converter of nonelectrical values (such as the level of a liquid, a mechanical force, pressure, or humidity) into values of electrical capacitance. A capacitance-type sensor may be designed as an electrical capacitor with either plane-parallel or cylindrical geometry.

A distinction is made among capacitance-type sensors whose operation is based on a change in the gap between the plates or in the overlap of the plates, on deformation of the dielectric, and on a change in the location, composition, or permeability of the dielectric. Capacitance-type sensors are most frequently used in measuring variable pressures or levels and in accurate measurements of mechanical displacements.