Parasitic Elements

Parasitic elements are electrical components that arise from the structuring of a circuit due to inherent electromagnetic effects. They produce an inappropriate and inefficient signal in an electric circuit, generally one that is higher or lower than an appropriate frequency.

Parasitic elements include:

• Parasitic Capacitance – the inherent capacitance of a component (e.g., the capacitance between windings in a transformer).
• Parasitic Inductance – the inherent inductance in a component (e.g., the inductance of a wirewound resistor).
• Parasitic Resistance – the inherent resistance of a component (e.g., the finite resistance of the package leads in a capacitor).