raschemmel:
Thanks.
I have a BSEET.
I don't think the OP needs a whole class in electronics.
If the OP is asking this question do you think he needs to know about rapid discharge or xenon strobe lights ?
Sorry, you're probably right. So often I have encountered people (seasoned technicians, even) who have picked up wrong ideas about electronics. And often that's because of the way an "authority" worded something. I was concerned that the notion that a capacitor value defines an application might be taken away from this discussion, by a Newbie, now, or in the future.
I mean, I have heard quite a few strange ideas in my time, and it wasn't always an easy thing to correct their thinking. For instance, and this is a common one, the notion that voltage "flows". Current flows, and voltage exists "across" things. Or that the color of the insolation on the wire is crucial to proper current flow. Or that ground can only be the negative pole. Or that an LED's forward voltage is the best determining factor in how to drive it. Stuff like that.