Effect of capacitor

[FreshmanNewbie]

I kept a DC blocking (or AC coupling capacitor) in series with a single phase AC line followed by a bridge rectifier.

What I observed was that, when I removed the capacitor (10nF), the voltage at the start of the bridge rectifier was equal to the line voltage.
Whereas, when the capacitor is placed, the voltage at the start of the bridge rectifier was drastically reduced. As the value of capacitor is increased to uF range, the voltage at the start of rectifier also increased.

What is this phenomenom called and how does it happen?

 

[barry]

it’s a high pass filter.

 

[danadakk]

Capacitive reactance = 1 / (2 x Pi x f x C), so when you inserted it in series
its like adding a R and so creates a V drop.

Regards, Dana.

--- Updated Aug 18, 2023 ---

As you can see when C1 is large V drop is small across it, conversely when it is
low Vdrop is high across it.