RE: Variable Capacitance and Inductance

["Tesla list" <tesla-at-pupman-dot-com>]

Original poster: "David Thomson by way of Terry Fritz <twftesla-at-qwest-dot-net>" <dave-at-volantis-dot-org>

Hi Bart,

>It is unclear to me if Tesla was referencing affects of object to the test
object or if he actually thought the object itself was changing.

It would appear to me to be both.  As the ball is raised, the physical
object is changing due to distance between the "plates."

Due the large scale of distance added between the "plates" anything that can
increase the strength of the dielectric must enter into the equation.  One
has to question if we fully understand all the "stuff", if any, that is
getting between the ball and ground as well as the effect of surrounding
charge changes.

It has been pointed out by some that the earth has an electrostatic
gradient.  If the electrostatic gradient is logarithmic (due to the inverse
square law of charge) there could be a substantial change in a 40 feet
elevation difference.  I'm looking for some detailed data on this
electrostatic gradient.

Dave