A pedagogical example of the application of transmission-line theory to study conductor grounding effects

Grounding effects and transmission-line theory are very important topics in applied electromagnetics courses in electrical engineering curricula. A pedagogical example, dealing with a coaxial cable above ground, is developed in this paper. The purpose of this example is to underline the necessity of using the correct tools in analyzing the effects of ground connections, to help realize and prevent the possibility of ill-defined grounding problems, and to show how transmission-line theory results can be used simply to solve conductor-grounding problems in high-rate communication systems.