Capacitat

Capacitat is a term used in several languages and fields to denote the maximum amount something can contain, store, produce, or accomplish. In everyday use, it describes the volume of a container, expressed in units such as liters or cubic meters, and the capacity of equipment or facilities to handle demand, throughput, or load.

In physics and electrical engineering, capacitance (often denoted by the symbol C) is the ability of a system to store electric charge. For a simple capacitor, C equals the amount of charge Q stored per unit voltage V, that is C = Q/V, and it is measured in farads. The concept extends to energy storage in electrical circuits and to various signaling and power applications.

In ecology and biology, carrying capacity refers to the maximum population size of a species that an environment can sustain indefinitely given available resources, space, and technology. In manufacturing and information technology, capacity denotes the maximum output of a facility or system, such as production capacity or storage capacity (bytes or disks).

In law and cognitive science, capacity describes legal competence to undertake actions, including the mental capacity to make decisions and contracts.

Etymology: capacitat derives from Latin capacitas, via Catalan and other Romance languages. In many languages, the term also covers related notions of ability or competence, reflecting the broad use of capacity across domains.