The Movement of Ions and Electrons and Gravity

Capacitance stores voltage between plates or charge on the plates. Energy is said to be stored between the plates of a capacitor in an electric field. The electric field exists in a dielectric. A dielectric is a material that does not conduct electricity. Contrasting good conductors and dielectrics may be a worth while exercise. How do the electrons move in both cases?

If a negative voltage is presented at one end of a good conductor the surplus electrons with relatively high root-mean-squared speed is injected into the wire. The high root-mean-squared speed will dissipate over the more free electrons in the conducting lattice of copper or aluminium. Furthermore, the excess electrons will exert significant pressure in an attempt to reach an equilibrium number of electrons relative to the number of electrons the element prefers to keep in its outer shells. If a positive voltage is presented at the conductor then electrical tension not pressure will ensue.

If a negative voltage is presented at one end of a capacitor the charge will dive into the dielectric towards the opposing plate. The root mean squared speed of the electron will dissipate as the electron moves through the dielectric. Another really important thing will happen. In a dielectric, electrons will quickly back-fill the charged electron that has moved through the dielectric. This back-fill property is important because it serves to mitigate the charge at the active plate of the capacitor. The energy in a capacitor is thus stored in an electron dance and back-fill property where electrons slow down and continue to move within the dielectric of the capacitor.

Eventually, when a capacitor is charged, the back-fill electrons are moving with the same root-mean-squared charge as the charging electron group. The dielectric is alive with kinetic electrons carrying as much energy back to the charging plate as the charging plate is attempting to dissipate to the return plate.

The electrons in a capacitor or a large mass may be seen to have two groups of velocities. The charged electrons move at a faster root-mean-squared velocity and have more kinetic energy. This kinetic energy dissipates as the electron moves through space. In a charged capacitor the two groups of velocities are the same.

Gravity and capacitance are similar phenomenon. Both have the kinetic charge and back-fill return of the electron. What becomes evident is that the back-fill return applies not just to electrons. Ions may be swept in the back-fill process. The kinetic electrons move from the center of the Earth outwards and then the back-filled ions and electrons move towards the center of mass. This is what pulls an apple to the Earth or what defines the orbit of the International Space Station.