27-03-2013, 11:40 AM
Thanks Nick.
In other words, I made the following oversight.
When I connected the first, charged capacitor to the second, initially discharged capacitor, my argument was that all the energy from the first capacitor would be transferred to the second one, with zero stored energy remaining in the first capacitor. And that, of course, is simply and obviously incorrect: the energy is shared between the two capacitors - and the mathematics needs to be 'adjusted' to reflect that - as you have done.
I just knew I was missing something totally obvious: 'woods and trees' spring to mind.
Al. / March 27. //
In other words, I made the following oversight.
When I connected the first, charged capacitor to the second, initially discharged capacitor, my argument was that all the energy from the first capacitor would be transferred to the second one, with zero stored energy remaining in the first capacitor. And that, of course, is simply and obviously incorrect: the energy is shared between the two capacitors - and the mathematics needs to be 'adjusted' to reflect that - as you have done.
I just knew I was missing something totally obvious: 'woods and trees' spring to mind.
Al. / March 27. //
