Re: There's work, and then there's work

[Bob LaMontagne <rlamont@POSTOFFICE.PROVIDENCE.EDU>]

David Rutherford wrote:

> > We are talking about quasi steady state currents. There is no net
> > Transverse current.
>
> I never said there was. The net motion in the transverse direction is
> zero, but the net heat rise in the water due to the transverse
> components of the motion is not zero.

The focus is on measuring the energy stored in the capacitor. This is done by
discharging it - giving a dq/dt, which is the current. This is the current used
in calculating the i^2 R heating in the resistor. When the experiment is over,
the energy in the capacitor is zero, and there has been a rise in the
temperature of the water. The mass of the water times the specific heat of water
times the temperature rise is numerically a measure of the energy previously
associated with the capacitor. It's that simple.

Bob at PC
P.S. I hope the group is not becoming annoyed by the continuation of this
thread. I assume those not interested are hitting their delete keys. If this is
burdensome for those who read the list from archives, we can take this off list
if you'd like.