At its most simple, a capacitor can be little more than a pair of metal plates separated by air. As this constitutes an open circuit, DC current will not flow through a capacitor.
Is a capacitor an open circuit?
A capacitor is not well-described as an open circuit even in DC situations. I'd rather describe it as a charge-controlled ideal voltage source in that it can deliver and accept arbitrarily high currents at the cost of adapting its voltage depending on the delivered charge.
What is the difference between a capacitor and a closed circuit?
Capacitor: at t=0 is like a closed circuit (short circuit) at 't=infinite' is like open circuit (no current through the capacitor) Long Answer: A capacitors charge is given by Vt = V(1 −e(−t/RC)) V t = V (1 − e (− t / R C)) where V is the applied voltage to the circuit, R is the series resistance and C is the parallel capacitance.
Short Answer: Inductor: at t=0 is like an open circuit at 't=infinite' is like an closed circuit (act as a conductor) Capacitor: at t=0 is like a closed circuit (short circuit) at 't=infinite' is like open circuit (no current through the capacitor) Long Answer:
Can a closed circuit charge a capacitor?
Then this is a closed circuit that will charge the capacitors. (sorry for the ascii circuit, the -| |- are capacitors, the MMM is a resistor, and the (-+) is a voltage source). Your argument is: If the circuit is open, the current must be zero. Consequently the field must be zero.
Will a capacitor be charged if a switch is open?
The circuit is open since the switch is open. My book says that the capacitor will only be charged when the switch is closed, but I don't see why this is true. I would expect the capacitor to be charged a little - not as much as if the circuit is closed, but still charged none the less.
Seeing it really helps you grasp what's going on. A capacitor looks like an open circuit to a steady voltage but like a closed (or short) circuit to a change in voltage. And inductor looks like a closed circuit to a steady current, but like an open circuit to a change in current.