unit of electrical capacitance (ability to hold an electric charge), in the metre–kilogram–second system of physical units, named in honour of the English scientist Michael Faraday. The capacitance of a capacitor is one farad when one coulomb of electricity changes the potential between the plates by one volt. In terms of ordinary electric and electronic equipment, the farad is enormous, and capacitors are generally rated in microfarads (one microfarad equals 10^-6 farad) or picofarads (10^-12 farad).