<p>Question: is it important that the glass is in contact with the metal, ie, is there an actual charge transfer, or is the capacitor field inducing a charge separation (polarization) inside the glass? If it is the latter (and physics texts typically offer this as the explanation for the dielectric effect), then it is subtle that the Leyden jars allow a large amount of charge to be collected. If the phenomenon is that the charge flows (separates) via the contact with the metal, then the explanation is more obvious, but not along the lines of what is offered in textbooks.</p>

Posted on 2009-03-18 22:25:15 -0400 by Anonymous