d,
I'd like to know, myself, why people think that the charge is stored in the
dielectric. It's stored on the plates, the dielectric just facilitates
electron transfer.
Sorry, but the charge is stored in the dielectric. That's why the amount of
capacitance depends in part on the kind of dielectric. A conductor will not
store a charge, only provide a path for it. Insulators respond to the potential
difference and the atoms get distorted in the sense that some lose or gain
electrons. Any imbalance in the atoms of a conductor equalizes when the current
stops, not so with insulators. The fact that I can't see how a vacuum stores a
charge doesn't alter the fact that it is the dielectric that stores the charge.
Jim
