Re: dissectible capacitor

[Leigh Palmer <palmer@SFU.CA>]

> So in Leigh's experiment, just as net charge is transferred from the
> plate to the glass during the charging (But why does this occur?), so
> net charge must be transferred back during the reassembly. (Again,
> why?)

Charge is transferred by arcing to the dielectric because the
plate is raised to a high potential relative to the surface of
the dielectric. It doesn't have to be very much higher for the
arc to jump a very small gap.

I think it likely that charge is transferred back to the plate
during discharge for the same reason.

> One or two literature references were cited which I'll try to track
> down. Surely some other folks have worked on this problem. Carl

What could be clearer?

Leigh