New York State Master Electrician Practice Exam

Which of the following components is commonly used to store charge in an electrical circuit?

1. Resistor

2. Capacitor

3. Inductor

4. Diode

The correct answer is: Capacitor

A capacitor is the component that is commonly used to store charge in an electrical circuit. Capacitors function by accumulating energy in an electric field, which enables them to hold and release electrical charge. This characteristic makes them essential in various applications, such as smoothing out voltage fluctuations, filtering signals, and supporting energy storage in power systems. In contrast, while resistors are used to limit current and dissipate energy as heat, they do not store charge. Inductors, on the other hand, store energy in a magnetic field when current flows through them but do not hold electrical charge in the same way that capacitors do. Diodes are semiconductor devices that allow current to flow in one direction only, serving primarily as rectifiers but also do not serve the purpose of charge storage. Thus, the capacitor is specifically designed for the purpose of storing electrical charge, making it the correct choice here.