Re: Toward the equilibrium

[brian whatcott <inet@INTELLISYS.NET>]

At 10:04 1/5/01 -0500, you wrote:
> The model described does not assert any superluminal effects.  1E-19 sec
> is a time constant in the exponential decay of a quantity (charge density
> at a spatial point).  For completeness, I outline the derivation below.
> Note the similarity with the decay of a charged capacitor through a
> resistor - would a small time constant for an RC circuit imply
> superluminal effects?
/snip/
> This can be found in Scott, Corson & Lorrain, Jefimenko, etc.  Ask if you
> need specifics.
>
> Bob
>
> Bob Sciamanda (W3NLV)

I will not make a meal out of Bob's difficulty with the
idealized time constant calculation for a [compact] CR network,
or contrast it with the realities of dealing with (for example)
1.23 Gbyte PC processors which is what the folks in Silicon Valley
are handling.

Instead I will provide a simple concrete reductio example:

I arrange one kilometer of copper wire in a straight line, and
measure its resistance as five ohms.
Along side it, I arrange a series string of capacitors whose aggregate
capacitance value is 0.001 microfarad, and whose series resistance
is also five ohms.  (These are practical possibilities, given
the necessary resources).

I charge the string to a terminal voltage of 10,000 volts
and connect the ends of the capacitor string and the wire (resistor)
together.
How long will it be before the terminal voltage has fallen
to 1/e X 10000 volts?

Hint: it will not be accomplished in  one time constant of
ten nanoseconds - because that would require superluminal
intelligence of the state of the far ends.

In Bob's words, more or less, "ask if you need more justification".

This sort of electrical experiment can *easily* be handled
by a physicist. Give it a try!   <grin>






brian whatcott <inet@intellisys.net>  Altus OK
                Eureka!