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The cable

The coaxial cable that you are going to model is shown below at equilibrium.

\resizebox{3in}{!}{\includegraphics{coax.eps}}
The cable is long and straight, so you can assume that variations in the electric field are in the radial direction only. Insulators A and B have the following properties at room temperature.
Material $\rho$ (C/m) $\epsilon$
Insulator A $6 \times 10^{-3}$ 3.2
Insulator B $2 \times 10^{-3}$ 2.2
However, when the cable is heated or cooled, the insulations expand and contract differentially. The entire cable is encased in a conducting shielding that prevents the cable radius from changing, and the conductor does not expand appreciably under the temperature changes under consideration. Thus, the boundary between insulator A and insulator B changes from the room temperature value of 50 mm.



Louis F Rossi
2002-03-21