Dave wrote:
Gene Fuller wrote:

Cecil Moore wrote:
Try looking in any basic physics text. I believe you will find
discussion of electrostatic forces, equipotential surfaces, fields,
and Gauss' law. It is doubtful that you will find any technical
description of charge equalization.


On the contrary, my DC circuits book has an example of the
charges on two identical capacitors equalizing when they
are paralleled.

If I cause 10 coulombs of charge to be on a 10 meter long wire, do I not
have a uniform charge distribution of 1 coulomb per meter on the wire,
under dc steady state conditions? Isn't this required for any
equipotential surface?



Dave,

No. A good conductor in DC conditions will have an equipotential
surface. Charge distribution depends on the shape of the object and the
external environment. The wire you describe will have higher charge
density near its ends.

Electrostatic analysis would be a lot easier if what you suggested was true.

73,
Gene
W4SZ