What best defines a shorted capacitor?

A shorted capacitor is defined by the condition where there is a direct electrical connection between its plates due to a fault or failure mechanism, allowing current to flow freely between them. In a typical capacitor, an insulating dielectric separates the plates, permitting it to store energy in the form of an electric field. However, when a capacitor is shorted, this insulating property is compromised.

This condition disrupts the normal functioning of the capacitor and can lead to potentially damaging effects within a circuit, such as overheating or circuit overload. Unlike a properly functioning capacitor that can safely store energy without discharging it until needed, a shorted capacitor essentially behaves as a piece of wire, permitting current to bypass normal pathways.

The characteristic of allowing current to flow between the plates correctly encapsulates the nature of a shorted capacitor, highlighting that it no longer performs its intended function of energy storage.