How can a capacitor filter the AC and DC?

A capacitor consists of two plates separated from one another by an insulator. These plates are normally thin foil and can be sandwiched around a very thin insulator and wrapped into a small package. Since there is an insulator between the plates, DC connected to the two plates cannot flow as long as you do not exceed the breakdown voltage of the insulator. AC current is a different story. Because the insulator is very thin and the effective plate area is relatively large, a negative charge building up on one plate causes electrons to be repelled from the opposite plate, and as the charge on the first plate reverses and becomes positive, the electrons in the opposite plate are attracted back again. This results in a matching alternating current flow on the opposite side of the capacitor.