Electrostatics

This new edition like the first edition provides a comprehensive and coherent account of static electric phenomena and concepts based on a mathematical-physical approach. It is intended for the nonspecialists interested in understanding the electrostatic concepts, and for the specialized engineer who may not be familiar with the basic fundamentals. This work has been updated to include new and expanded material on charge decay, charge neutralization by air ions, breakdown between conductors with different electrode geometry and a completely rewritten chapter on electrostatic measurements with special emphasis put on showing the difficulty in relating the voltage of a conductor with a measured field strength. Another important issue in this chapter is demonstrating that the concept of voltage can not be applied in connection with insulators. This ESD-handbook is written in an easy to read style similar to the approach taken in the author's "Mr. Static" column. Electrostatics, Second Edition is an essential reference work for the non-specialist because of the numerous examples that show the many ways static electricity makes itself known as a nuisance as well as the ways in which static electric effects can be used, from cleaning the air in an electrofilter to making photocopies.