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Re: coulombs



At 07:40 AM 10/10/96 -0700, you wrote:

Here's a perspective on I vs Q which I've yet to encounter anywhere.
Opinions?

The ampere is far easier to measure with precision than is the coulomb.
The second is easy to measure. Therefor, the ampere and second are
measured, and the coulomb is derived.

This concept cuts all through educational materials, but it appears in a
twisted form: that current is "real" and charge is not.


In a textbook by Pieter Visscher (Fields and Electrodynamics), he takes the
approach that the source term for all electromagnetic fields is the current
density, not the charge. He assumes this perspective by using discrete
rather than continuum mathematics (equivalent to working in a universe with
a much smaller speed of light).

I used the book once for a junior-senior E&M course, found it delightful in
giving me better insights - but the students hated it because it was not
like the "other" texts.

George Spagna **********************************************
Department of Physics * *
Randolph-Macon College * Pro is to Con ... *
P.O. Box 5005 * *
Ashland, VA 23005-5505 * as Progress is to Congress. *
* *
phone: (804) 752-7344 * - Anonymous *
FAX: (804) 752-4724 * *
e-mail: gspagna@rmc.edu **********************************************
URL: www.rmc.edu/~gspagna/gspagna.html