variation of dielectric constant of water....

Thread Starter

shreyas_bhat

Joined Jul 26, 2004
47
The variation of dielectric constant of water with addition of salt to it, does not probably follow normal logic. To my mind, the perception is that an addition of salt to water should decrease its dielectric constant. However, the reverse seems to occur. To know more about it, follow the link
http://www.mbg.cornell.edu/nicholson/biobm...nt/solvent.html
I tried performing some experiments regarding the same, and seem to corroborate with what the above link has to say.
Kindly send in ur opinions too.
 

felix_lu

Joined Jul 22, 2004
6
well, the dielectric constant is a measure of how much charge (or maybe how polarizable (sp?) ) a material is. In a simple capacitor, it basically acts as a gap separator between two charged conductive plates, however the charge per plate (you can sort of relate this to capacitance) can be increased if the dielectric material can house a larger charge density. Of course, there is a fine line in that, if the dielectric becomes too conductive, then current will pass through it (in the parallel plate capacitor configuration) and the charge density will decrease because the charges will repel each other.

any thoughts, rebuttals or comments?
 
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