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Re: Electrostatic shielding



Can anyone share a reference to a favorite explanation of "electrostatic
shielding" (at the level of calculus-based introductory physics)?

Also, in the process of seeking a satisfactory explanation, I tried A. D.
Moore's little book on electrostatics. In Moore's discussion of Faraday's
cage experiment, he says:

" . . . . He proved that any electric field he might set up outside of the
cage had no effect whatever on detection instruments placed inside.
Likewise, fields set up inside had no effect outside."

Is that last statement correct? (Maybe the answer depends on whether the
cage is "grounded" or isolated?)

That is certainly what we've all been led to believe. The cage does
not need to be grounded and, in fact, it can be hooked up to a Ford
spark coil outside without affecting instruments inside.

The "cage" should be opaque for this to work. If it is made of open
wire mesh, the effects of sufficiently short wave electromagnetic
radiation will be felt inside.

Leigh