Title :
Distribution of charges on conductors and Thomson´s theorem
Author :
Sancho, M. ; Sebastian, J.L. ; Giner, V.
Author_Institution :
Dept. de Fisica Aplicada III, Univ. Complutense de Madrid, Spain
fDate :
2/1/2001 12:00:00 AM
Abstract :
A simple numerical method of multidimensional minimisation is applied in order to find the equilibrium configuration of N point charges confined to a given volume or surface. The method is applied to different geometric forms with both Coulomb and nonharmonic interacting potentials. The technique presented in this paper is very useful from a didactic point of view, as it allows the approximate configuration of charges on conductors to be visualised and stresses the importance of the inverse square law for the charge distribution. For this purpose, different three-dimensional and two-dimensional examples are presented
Keywords :
Monte Carlo methods; conductors (electric); electric charge; minimisation; Coulomb potentials; Monte Carlo Metropolis simulation; N point charges; Thomson´s theorem; charge distribution; conductor charge distribution; equilibrium configuration; geometric forms; inverse square law; multidimensional minimisation; nonharmonic interacting potentials; three-dimensional examples; two-dimensional examples;
Journal_Title :
Engineering Science and Education Journal
DOI :
10.1049/esej:20010104
