- #1
GRDixon
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Two charges, q1=q2=q>0, are held apart by a dielectric rod of length L. Everything is at rest in the xy-plane of IRF K, with x1=y1=0 and x2=L cos(theta), y2=L sin(theta), 0<theta<pi/2.
Viewed from frame K’, moving in the positive x-direction of K at speed v, the Lorentz forces on the two charges constitute a force couplet that is manifest as a torque toward –z’. Since nothing rotates in K’, the rod presumably exerts a counteracting torque on the charges. Is this a self-torque, and if so, what parameters explain its direction and size?
Viewed from frame K’, moving in the positive x-direction of K at speed v, the Lorentz forces on the two charges constitute a force couplet that is manifest as a torque toward –z’. Since nothing rotates in K’, the rod presumably exerts a counteracting torque on the charges. Is this a self-torque, and if so, what parameters explain its direction and size?