Two copper spheres have the radii of R and 3R and are located far away from each other. In the first experiment, an initial charge +Q is placed on each sphere. The spheres are then connected by a thin straight wire. It is discovered that maximum current through the wire is I0. In the second experiment, the larger sphere has the initial charge +Q, and the smaller one is neutral. The spheres are then connected by the same wire. What would be the maximum current I through the wire this time?
We received a large number of solutions to our February Challenge Performance under pressure. We are pleased to recognize the following contributors:
Wayne R. Anderson (Sacramento City College, Sacramento, CA, emeritus)
Tiancheng Bao (Big Bridge Academy, Wuxi, China)
Phil Cahill (The SI Organization, Inc., Rosemont, PA)
Alan J. DeWeerd (University of Redlands,...
