Re: dynamics of flat conductors

["John S. Denker" <jsd@MONMOUTH.COM>]

kowalskil wrote:
> the metallic plate was 48 mm from my paper. Can this
> influence locations of equipotential points? I do not think so.

First of all:  I was doing a timing calculation, not an
equilibrium-location calculation.

Secondly:  At 48mm away, there will be technically nonzero
effects on the timing AND on the equilibrium configuration,
but they will be too small to notice with a simple voltmeter.

If OTOH you were dealing with, say, the wires on an integrated
circuit, the capacitance per unit area would be very, very
significant, because the speeds are so high and the ground-plane
is much less than 1 micron away, even though the resistivity of
the wires is pretty small.  It is easy to get into the regime where
the propagation of signals in such wires is diffusive, which is
a royal pain in the neck.

Propagation in macroscopic cables (coax and such) is wavelike,
and people sorta take this behavior for granted -- but they
sure miss it when it's gone!