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Re: Cap charge, where is it?



At 10:25 PM 10/30/96 -0700, Richard Hull wrote:
>> Subject: Re: Cap charge, where is it?
>
>>From hullr-at-whitlock-dot-comWed Oct 30 21:32:39 1996
>Date: Wed, 30 Oct 1996 11:02:38 -0800
>From: Richard Hull <hullr-at-whitlock-dot-com>
>To: tesla-at-pupman-dot-com
>Subject: Re: Cap charge, where is it?
>
>Tesla List wrote:
>> 
>> >From storey-at-stic-dot-netTue Oct 29 23:00:37 1996
>> Date: Tue, 29 Oct 1996 22:50:37 -0600
>> From: Storey Clamp <storey-at-stic-dot-net>
>> To: tesla-at-pupman-dot-com
>> Subject: Re: Cap charge, where is it?
>> 
>> Hi Folks,
>>         With all this lenghthy thread going on, I am surprised that no
one has
>> mentioned the old styrofoam cup trick. One of my firmest recollections
>> of freshman physics class is the day when the instructor demonstrated
>> how to make a capacitor out of a styrofoam cup. He lined the inside with
>> one piece of aluminum foil, and wrapped the outside with another piece,
>> and then charged it with a HVDC supply. Then he carefully removed the
>> aluminum foil, and since I always sat on the front row and like to be in
>> the middle of everything, he handed me the "empty" cup and invited me to
>> fill it with water and have a drink, which somehow I felt compelled to
>> at that moment. I got zapped on the first sip, and spilled water all
>> over myself, and the class got a big laugh, but I think I will always
>> remember where the charge resides.
>> 
>> Storey Clamp
>
>
>Storey,
>
>You got your physics education the old fashioned way,  "You earned it"!
>
>I gotta remember that one!!
>
>Richard Hull, TCBOR
>
Heh, I remember an article in Physics Today, quite a few years back, on "The
Human Body as a Measuring Instrument".  As one example, the Prof. asked
students to put their fingers on two unlabelled terminals and observed their
responses.  He reported that with 110 VAC the response was commonly
"Godammit!"; with 220 VAC it was "Godammit to hell!"

Old-fashioned physics, indeed!

Norm