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When two switches are
closed linking a battery to two parallel conductors, electric current flows
into (and out of) the two conductors. At the same time, an electromagnetic
field appears between the two conductors. Thus, there is a change from two
conductors with nothing, to (1) two conductors with electric current in
them and electric charge on their surface, and also (2) electromagnetic
field between them. This change travels along between the conductors at the
speed of light. As it advances, more and more negative electric charge
appears on the surface of the bottom conductor, to terminate the electric
field arising between the conductors.
The first problem
appeared in 1982 with "The
Catt Question" . The question was; “Where does the negative charge
appearing on the bottom conductor come from?” Some experts said it came
from the battery, somehow getting to its destination without travelling at
the speed of light. Other experts said that such charge coming from the
battery would have to travel at the speed of light, which was impossible.
They said that the charge needed to terminate the electric field came up
from inside the bottom conductor. Neither is correct.
The next problem for
electricity came 30 years later. Again, it related to a signal travelling
between parallel conductors at the speed of light. It was first published
in "Electronics
World" in January and February 2011. The same problem simplified
was published as "Does
Faraday allow Superposition?" by the "Natural Philosophy
Alliance" later in 2011. NPA caused me to give a Two Hour
Lecture based on that paper.
Whereas in "The Catt Question"
the electric charge could not get into place unless it travelled at the
speed of light, in the new
problem we found two electric currents travelling in opposite
directions along a single conductor.
Both problems are
resolved if we postulate “Theory C”, which says that when a battery is
connected to a lamp via two conductors and the lamp lights, electric
current is not involved. The conductors, which Heaviside called “obstructors”, merely guide the electromagnetic energy
(TEM Wave) in the space between them. Since the dielectric constant of
copper is infinite, its impedance to a TEM Wave is zero, so energy cannot
enter it. Similarly, rails are extremely rigid, so a train cannot enter
them, but is guided forward by them in the space between them.
It is not clear what was the dialogue during the removal of caloric or
phlogiston from mainstream science in the 19th century. It is
likely that the trauma of removing electricity will last through the twenty-first
century. There is today much more at stake when paradigm change is
threatened.
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