If two equal-value capacitors are connected in series, what is their total capacitance?

When capacitors are connected in series, the total capacitance decreases. This behaves in the exact opposite manner to resistors, which add their values together when placed in series. The formula for calculating total series capacitance is 1/C_total = 1/C1 + 1/C2. If you have two equal-value capacitors (let us say they each have a value of C), the math becomes 1/C_total = 1/C + 1/C = 2/C. When you invert this to solve for C_total, you get C/2. Therefore, two identical capacitors in series will always yield exactly half the capacitance of a single one. Distractors suggesting the value doubles or changes by a factor of 4 mistakenly apply parallel capacitor rules or assume incorrect power-law relationships.