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Re: TC Electrostatics
You wrote:
snip
>
> My physics book says that one coulomb equals about 6 x 10^18
>electrons, all negative charges. So how do you explain the positive
>charges? Tesla made several remarks in the CSNotes about the situation
>mentioned above.
>
>Jack Couture
>
12/3/96
The unit of charge is the coulomb. Following Henry Cavendish's
original torsional balance measurements of electrical charge, Charles
Coulomb in 1785 summarized the results into a single statement.
F = k[qq'/r^2]. Eventually Ben Franklin proposed that electric charge
was a single fluid (later proven incorrect) and assigned positive and
negative charges corresponding to surplus (+) fluid and deficit (-)
fluid. The terms positive and negative are derived from Franklin's
discription of his original electrostatic experiments. Franklin also
hypothesized that electric fluid was conserved in a closed system and
conservation of charge remains remains one of the fundamental laws of
physics.
The unit of charge is the coulomb. Experimentally, it is easier to
define the coulomb (C) as the amount of charge per second passing
through a cross section of wire carrying a constant current of one
ampere. Experimentally, the charge on a single electron may be
calculated as e = 1.602 x 10^-19 C. This was the smallest electrical
charge found on any partical. Note also it is equal to the positive
charge on a single proton. The charges on these particals are measured
experimentally in in terms of fractions of the original Coulombic unit
which is experimentally connected to the SI unit for force, Newton (N).
It is equally correct to express a positive coulombic charge residing
on a proton or a positron.
As an interesting aside, charges are no longer restricted to positive
and negative integers, but also are fractional. Some quarks have 1/3
and 2/3 charges. Question is will future particals be discovered
denoted by irrational fractions? A marked digression from the topic.
Back on point, could you or R. Hull elaborate on Tesla's CSN thoughts
on charges produced by TCs?
RWW