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Re: voltages etc.



There is a place where it really makes a difference and that is chemical
reference cells. There you want the equilibrium potential, that is when
no current is flowing, or in other words there is no chemical reaction.

cheers,

joe

On Tue, 4 Mar 2003, John S. Denker wrote:

Joseph Bellina wrote:

the point is that when the measurement is finally made the current is
essentially zero....now we can argue about what zero means...I
suggest it changes daily with technology.

Right.

Or avoid the need to argue by saying that the
current is negligible. That is, even if you
think the current is nonzero, making it ten
times bigger or ten times smaller won't have
any meaningful effect on the quantity of
interest (the battery voltage).

(If it does have an effect, either your
battery or your voltmeter is severely broken.)


Joseph J. Bellina, Jr. 574-284-4662
Associate Professor of Physics
Saint Mary's College
Notre Dame, IN 46556