In a 2 plate capacitor when together the field strength is concentrated more on the inside of the 2 plates, while there is the same net field once separated now it is spread out, and the field of the opposite plate isn't in range so actually it is a lot weaker.
On 2/14/07, Robin van Spaandonk <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
In reply to John Berry's message of Fri, 9 Feb 2007 08:12:00 +1300: Hi, [snip] >That's how many electrostatic machines work such as the Wimshurst. > >There are 3 different things, voltage, field strength and charge imbalance, >in this case the Voltage goes up, however the field strength goes down >(though is still considerable and covers more area) and the charge imbalance >obviously remains the same. > >It is also possible to increase the electric field density without changing >the voltage or net charge imbalance by use of a point. [snip] If the charge remains constant while the plates are being pulled apart, and the capacitance if inversely proportional to the separation distance, then the voltage should be proportional to the separation distance, and consequently the field strength (Voltage / distance) should be constant. However it's afternoon, and I may I have goofed once again. :( Regards, Robin van Spaandonk http://users.bigpond.net.au/rvanspaa/ Competition provides the motivation, Cooperation provides the means.
