Re: Capacitor Charged, Right term

["Rauber, Joel Phys" <RAUBERJ@mg.sdstate.edu>]

I am still unconvinced, I wasn't nor do my students seem to be overly 
confused by phrases like "charging" a capacitor or discharging it. 
 Furthermore, since you must explain anyway what "separating the charge on a 
capacitor" or more simply put "charging a capacitor" means and how to do it; 
(by hooking it to a emf). Either way you have to define the words and 
explain them to the students.  ( I still maintain its not a misconception, 
and at worst is a poor choice of words).

> To stop saying "a capacitor is charged" is like stop using the noun "heat".
> It is too late; an individual teacher has no control over what textbook
> writers and other teachers say. What I would do, as the result of this
> exchange of ideas
> Oop, I ment to say what I WILL start doing is to emphasize that the net
> charge is always zero because ..., etc. I was not aware how the common
> phrase can be interpreted.

BTW I also think that saying the capacitor "stores charge " is reasonable; 
for two reasons.

(1) the silly trivial reason, it is storing a paritcular configuration of 
charge; for example a neutral spherical conductor is storing charge. 
Admittedly as much negative as positive charge.

(2) What is a misconception with the following statement, regarding ordinary 
two conductor capacitors (ordinary, meaning what we see in intro physics, 
e.g. the parallel plate capacitor)

" A capacitor is a device, that stores charge; the charge stored by the 
capacitor is defined to be the net charge on the conductor that has a net 
positive charge on it."

There is verbage that follows this, i.e. the verbage of examples and how 
charge the thing up with an emf, etc etc.  It is important verbage as it is 
the discussion and explanation of the words mean and is analogous to all the 
verbage that follows the definition of velocity and acceleration that one 
uses to explain what those words mean.

Perhaps there are a better set of words to describe the situation, but the 
words along with their definitions do not constitute a misstatement of the 
facts and are therefore not a misconception of the same type as is "the 
higher temperatures in a green house are due to the 'Green House effect' ".

Joel