Permittivity and Permeability of Materials Obstacle Course

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Permanent Materials

- 6061 3/8" Al rod stock
- Teflon
- Glass microscope slide
- HP Signal Generator (DC-1 GHz)
- Oscilloscope (at least 1GHz bandwidth)
- Miscellaneous electrical components

Materials to Borrow When Necessary

- Milling machine
- Lathe

Activities

Reading

1. Read the Wikipedia articles on permittivity and permeability. With the help of the instructor or TA try to achieve a physical understanding of just what the permittivity and permeability mean in a bulk material.
2. Read the first three sections of this paper (pages 1-27).

Permittivity of a Lossless Material From a Capacitance Measurement

Pay particular attention to the permittivity ($\epsilon$) / capacitance and permeability ($\mu$) / inductance associations.

1. Place three samples (air, Teflon, glass) between the aligned and polished ends of two 3/8" diameter, 1/2" lengths of 6061 Al rods. Measure the capacitances and from the known surface area $A$ and spacing $d$ determine the material's relative permittivity..
   

$C=\epsilon _{r}\epsilon _{0}{\frac {A}{d}}$.