An atmospheric energy harvester floating in the Venusian atmosphere is modeled as an ideal parallel plate capacitor with circular horizontal conducting mesh plates. The upper region is negatively charged and the lower region is positively charged.
The model is based on the following engineering specifications:
Take the permittivity of the atmosphere as ε0=8.85×10−12 F m−1\varepsilon_0 = 8.85 \times 10^{-12}\text{ F m}^{-1}ε0=8.85×10−12 F m−1.
State the direction of the electric field lines between the upper and lower plates of this harvester model.
Suggest why the actual electric field lines in a real atmospheric harvester would differ from those of the ideal parallel plate capacitor model.
Calculate the potential difference (p.d.) V V\,V between the upper and lower plates.
Calculate the capacitance C C\,C of this model capacitor.
Calculate the magnitude of the charge Q Q\,Q on one of the plates of the capacitor.
The harvester can release stored energy via controlled discharge pulses directed to a ground receiver on the planetary surface. An atmospheric probe nearby has accumulated a net charge of 85 C and is floating at an altitude of 4.2 km above the surface. The planetary surface has an electrical potential of 0 V.
Assuming the probe behaves as a point charge, calculate the magnitude of the electrical potential V V\,V of this probe relative to the surface.
A controlled discharge pulse from the probe to the surface has a duration of 25 ms. The probe discharges at a constant rate and is completely uncharged after the pulse. Calculate the number of electrons reaching the ground in 0.80 ms.
