Re: Charged disk; was electrostatic ...

[Leigh Palmer <palmer@SFU.CA>]

> Can somebody answer this question? Suppose the electrified
> object is like a pear. Or more exactly it is a set of two spherical
> segments connected smoothly with a truncated cone. Let the
> left segment have R1=20 cm, the right segment R2=5 cm and
> the distance between the centers of segments 30 cm. There is
> nothing special about this geometry; it is an illustration.
>
> We all known that concentration of charges will be higher on
> the right "pole" than on the left "pole". But how many times
> larger? Factor of 4? Factor of 16? Neither of the above? Is
> there any rule of thumb about this?

The answer will be nearer to 4 than to 16, but it is also well
known that if you wish to solve this problem you must do so
numerically.

Leigh