Re: Electric Potential

[Brian Whatcott <inet@INTELLISYS.NET>]

At 01:11 PM 2/6/02, Michael Edmiston wrote:
> ...
> If students understand that a region of zero electric field can have
> non-zero potential, they are on the road to understanding the two concepts.
> If they think zero electric field implies zero potential, then they have
> some conceptual bugs that need worked out.
...
> Michael D. Edmiston, Ph.D.

I found this homily helpful.  I endlessly reify the field.
Then I remember that the word 'field' is a construct
to signify the observation of a force on a suitable object exerted
at a distance. So if I know that a massy object in a spherical  massy shell is
free drifting, I know there is no gravitational field, by definition:
 and if a charged object in a charged spherical sphere drifts free,
there's no electric field there evidently!



Brian Whatcott
  Altus OK                      Eureka!