Pulvinar

This is related to LZW compression and decompression...

I can see why you're confused-- LZW bit strings are not text strings. They just happened to be using the upper-case alphabet in their example. In LZW the symbols could represent unique patterns of any data, such as an image, and the binary codes for the symbols will be as long as needed.

What you're seeing with "OR" in the example is a new symbol being added to the dictionary that represents that pair of letters with a single symbol (whose bit pattern is just the next available code). It's the heart of the compression algorithm.

seems to me that the charge relates to the number of electrons in one plate as compared to the number of electrons in the other plate. The protons being safely sequestered within the nucleus, and out of capacitor functioning dynamics.

Except that the plates could be made of different metals with different electron densities and be different thicknesses, so we can't just compare electron counts. But yes, the difference between the charges of the two plates determines the field strength.

well, a fully charged 40 mfd 450V electrolytic capacitor will remain charged, disconnected and sitting on the bench, much to the surprise to someone coming along to pick it up....electrons need to flow in or out in order to create, dissipate or increase a charge, not for it to have a charge.

 

I don't really see the distinction there since the plates won't have a charge until it's created, but you've got the idea.

a form of potential energy is the charge in the case of the capacitor......whether or not the charge is stored in the dielectric, a charge field, or on the plates, or all 3 is a good question, but seems to me that if there were some stored potential energy within the dielectric, it would add to overall energy output as field collapse occurs as the capacitor gets discharged.....where else would it go? Heat perhaps?....edd

 

Yes, that potential energy in the dielectric gets added -- it's part of the whole, just not a necessary part.

I thought I remembered reading that in a dielectric, the orbits of the electrons of the atoms in the dielectic material would be elongated by the field and the charge would be stored in the amount of elongation in those orbits.....I didn't think much of it at the time, but that explanation didn't seem correct at least in some cases such as air gap. The energy stored in the electric field sounds more likely...but how is that field sustained without an accordant number of electrons sitting on the negative plate? So, isn't the field more a resultant of the stored energy, than the actual storage mechanism?...edd

Electric charge is an excess or a deficit of electrons relative to the number of protons in a material, not a slight displacement of them. Electrons need to be able to flow into or out of the material for it to have a charge, and that normally only happens with conductors, such as the plates. The slight displacement of electrons in a material dielectric requires a force (the electric field) and is a form of potential energy, but it's not a charge.

The electric field is sustained by the charged plates (assuming no external circuit), and will be reduced by a material dielectric's slightly-displaced electrons.

hoola, I think I see what's confusing you here: the energy in a capacitor is in the electric field created by the charge, not the charge itself. A dielectric is an insulator so no charge can flow in or out of it to build up. That includes a vacuum as a dielectric, which has the baseline permittivity (ε0, 8.85 pF/m). Material dielectrics are compared to ε0 for relative permittivity. In those, the electrons are slightly displaced by the field, thereby partially counteracting it and thus increasing the capacitance.