Original poster: Shaun Epp <scepp@xxxxxxx>
----- Original Message ----- From: "Tesla list" <tesla@xxxxxxxxxx>
To: <tesla@xxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Wednesday, January 31, 2007 10:47 PM
Subject: Re: interesting secondary phenomonea
Original poster: "Antonio Carlos M. de Queiroz" <acmdq@xxxxxxxxxx>
Air or vacuum capacitors store energy as any other capacitor, in
the field between the oppositely charged plates. The presence
of a dielectric is equivalent to interpose a lot of small insulated
conductors between the plates, forming a network of capacitors
between the plates that has the effect of increasing the
capacitance between the terminals.
That story about capacitors storing charge at the surface of the
dielectric and not at the plates is a natural
consequence of the presence of the dielectric in contact with the
plates. The charges simply move, by creeping or sparking,
to where they are attracted by the electric field. If a capacitor
is charged at low voltage and the plates are quickly moved
away from the dielectric, most of the charge remains in the plates.
Antonio Carlos M. de Queiroz
I guess that is why variable capacitors work!
If the charge remains on the plates when the dielectric is removed,
then why does the dielectric matter? I know it does matter but your
explanation seems to counter that.