Load capacitance
Beginner
How much electric charge a gate’s output wire must fill up with before the next gates see the new value. Like the size of a bucket.
Novice
The capacitance a gate’s output must charge or discharge: the input (gate) capacitance of every transistor it drives, plus the wire, plus its own output junctions. Measured in femtofarads (fF).
Expert
. Delay and switching energy are both linear in it, which is why wire length and fanout appear in every timing and power estimate.
Explained in Speed and power (Transistors).
See also: Gate delay (propagation delay), Dynamic power.