Simple conductor question.

[[email protected]]

Hey all;

Got another question. If I have a wire that's got a voltage on it
but it's tapped in the middle, does the signal go out to the end?
In other words...

+-------------------------+------------------------
| | ^ is there anything ^
| | ^ going on in this ^
+----------V{ac}----------+ ^ chunk of wire? ^

Thanks
Colin

 

[John Fields]

Hey all;

Got another question. If I have a wire that's got a voltage on it
but it's tapped in the middle, does the signal go out to the end?
In other words...

+-------------------------+------------------------
| | ^ is there anything ^
| | ^ going on in this ^
+----------V{ac}----------+ ^ chunk of wire? ^

This connection and all the wire
to the left of it, plus some of
the wire to the right of it
is getting hot!
/
/
+-------------------------+------------------------
| | ^ is there anything ^
| | ^ going on in this ^
+----------V{ac}----------+ ^ chunk of wire? ^

 

[[email protected]]

This connection and all the wire
to the left of it, plus some of
the wire to the right of it
is getting hot!
/
/
+-------------------------+------------------------
| | ^ is there anything ^
| | ^ going on in this ^
+----------V{ac}----------+ ^ chunk of wire? ^

Oh crap, you're right of course. Brain fart, I guess. Something like
that.

How about this:

+-------------------------+------------------------
| | ^ is there anything ^
| | ^ going on in this ^
| | ^ chunk of wire? ^
Source Load

 

[John Popelish]

Oh crap, you're right of course. Brain fart, I guess. Something like
that.

How about this:

+-------------------------+------------------------
| | ^ is there anything ^
| | ^ going on in this ^
| | ^ chunk of wire? ^
Source Load

Sure. Exactly what depends on the frequency of the AC. As long as
any AC waves that are connected to the wire are at least 8 times the
length of the wire, the voltage is pretty much the same, all along the
wire. In other words, its length can be neglected, and the entire
wire is a single node. The only effects you have to worry about are
the resistance of the wire and any voltage losses that current through
the wire produce. But if you connect a source of waves that are
shorter than that, you have to start thinking of the wire as a
transmission line carrying waves, and what those waves do as they
bounce back and forth along the wire.