wave propagation in transmission line

Thread Starter

screen1988

Joined Mar 7, 2013
310
I am learning about Transmission Line here:http://www.allaboutcircuits.com/vol_2/chpt_14/3.html
And this is the part that I don't understand.
Because the electrons in the two wires transfer motion to and from each other at nearly the speed of light, the “wave front” of voltage and current change will propagate down the length of the wires at that same velocity, resulting in the distributed capacitance and inductance progressively charging to full voltage and current, respectively, like this:


In this picture, it seems to me that capacitors are charged graduallly, one after another. After the first capacitor is fully charged, the second capacitor will begin to be charged.

I don't know why it happens like that. Why capacitors don't charge like this:
At the beginning, the first capacitor is charged but when it has some voltage(not fully charged), it will act as a source and continue to charge to second capacitor. And the same happen for the rest capacitors.
 

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ninjaman

Joined May 18, 2013
341
i think its a representation. im starting amateur radio and find this a bit confusing myself. there arnt a lot of capacitors in the cable. its the inner core and dielectric surrounding it, then the braid. the inner core and braid are the plates and the dielectric in the middle. the braid acts as shielding stopping the signal inside transmitting. the inner core is an antenna that is not transmitting as a result of the braid. dont know if this helps
all the best
simon
 

Thread Starter

screen1988

Joined Mar 7, 2013
310
Thanks simon,
I'd like to know how these capacitors are charged.
Are they charged in turn, one after another? I mean, for example, initially the first capacitor is charged fully to its maximum value then the second begin to charge from zero volt.
I read the worksheet and it seems that the above is right but I wonder why the following is not:
Initially, all capacitors are uncharged. Now the switch is closed and the first capacitor is charged but after a short time it has a small voltage across it (not fully charged to maximum), it will act as a voltage source and charge the second capacitor.
 

ninjaman

Joined May 18, 2013
341
hello
that part is over my head. i think it just represents that the cable has capacitance across it and inductance along it. a cable like that will have a characteristic impedance. for radio use its usually 50 ohms, tv is usually 75 i believe. the impedance has to match the output of the radio to allow maximum power transfer. i dont think the length of the cable really affects it so much unless its really long.
sorry i cant be of any more help.
 
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