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Re: 50%
Wow! I just have to respond to this post on the 2 cap problem.....
> Energy is conserved. Mistakes in capacitor circuit theory and
> algebra are the problem. That is why you did not remember it from
> college. The voltage across the two capacitors after the
> reconnection is not V/2. It is V/sqrt2. This can be easily checked
> by test and correct algebra.
>
> The voltage will be a little less than V/sqrt2 because there is
> some spark loss in the reconnection. In the test that I made the
> voltage across the two capacitors was slightly less than V/sqrt2
> because of losses but was still much more than V/2. Using V/sqrt2
> in the equation will give a total of 100% energy (50% in each) for
> the two capacitors if the algebra is done correctly.
So we now have Q = 2C x V/sqrt2 when we started with Q = CV. I think
your result begs an explanation. If no energy is expended in
connecting the two caps, how did the extra charge separation come
about?
I have just this very minute done this experiment with two high
quality capacitors and the voltage comes to V/2 near as.
Malcolm