Chapter4ACCurrentThroughanOpenCircuit.PDF

Chapter 4 AC Current Through an Open Circuit: Demonstration of Capacitor as a Reservoir 4.L Introduction In this chapter we describe an experiment which is designed to demonstrate the novel aspect of capacitance a^s a reservoir of charge (Bisquert et aL (2000); Dinca (2011); Innran Miller (1972); Kamata Hara (2005); Lucas et aL (2008); Mita Boufaida (1999); Newburgh (2005); Witzel (2002)). We believe that this experiment clarifies something very fundamental about capacitance ancl AC circuits, A common belief is that current flows only when a circuit is complete, and typically AC circuits are completed by connecting one of the wires to ground (eartlr) (Carvalho Sousa (2008); Idowu Root (2010); Pellicer-Porres et al. (2006); Reeves (2003)). If the circuit is not complete, current is not supposed to flow, and that is the textbook explanation for why birds sitting on a high- tension AC rvire do not get electrocuted or why a person standing on an insulating platform does not get electrocuted even if he/she touches a live wire (Fischer Gluck (2008); Morse (2006); Valenzuela Santana (2010)). Although these observations are correct, there is something incomplete in the e.xplanation. The setup consists of a variable frequency AC voltage source connected to a necrn lamp (Ohsawa (2005)), If only one lead of the source is connected to the neon lamp the circuit is not completed and the neon lamp does not glow, while if the circuit is completed the neon lamp glows. This is the starting point of the 4. AC Current Through an Open Circuit: Demonstration of Capacitor as a Reservoir experiment. Instead of completing the circuit, if a large conductor with a certain capacitance is connected, the neon lamp glows a little demonstrating that there is current flowing in this open circuit. By systematically increasing the capacitance in the open end of the circuit, the ueon larnp glow intensity can be control