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Re: Charged disk; was electrostatic ...



Chuck Britton wrote:

A fairly common misconception is that 'most' of the charge will
collect on the more sharply curved surface, (needle tip). A closer
analysis will indeed show that the charge DENSITY is quite large on
the highly curved surface, but the small area involved does NOT lead
to a preponderance of charge being on the tip. .....

If this misconception is common, as it was in my case, then it is fair
to ask about its origin. We can certainly not blame Aristotle for it. Neither
it comes to us with everyday language. Why is it so common?
Ludwik Kowalski